Maggie's Gift

I read many short stories in Angels and Other Strangers by Katherine Paterson , one of which was called Maggie's Gift. This story starts in the two-room apartment of Mr. McGee. It is lonely and has only one bed, one couch, an eight-inch TV, a mini-kitchen and a small radio. Mr. McGee has no car. Mr. McGee has bean soup, and has fifty dollars that has to last several months. Right off the bat, you can use the setting details to conclude that Mr. McGee is not the richest person in the world. You can assume, if Katherine Paterson is a good writer, that the details in setting throughout the rest of the story will support this theme.

Another well described setting in this story is the city in which he lives. Though the exact location of this place is never stated, you can get a good feel for what it is like by the many details. There is a restaurant that is called the Dairy Maid (obviously this is not gourmet, not New York City, not the Pacific Rim) There is a local salvation army and three department stores he visits, one of which is called Woolworth's (maybe a local Von Maur but that is not mentioned because Paterson wants to dominate a poor feeling in the story)

There are two referenced churches in Maggie's Gift; one was Mr. McGee's and the other was Ms. Trainor's, the kind and "cute" lady who helps Mr. McGee give the best Christmas present: a home for those who don't have one. We know from one scene that his church is not beat up, under budget or in need of anything. There is a crèche and "...the great tree with many decorations, trying to make up a little for the barren apartment..." as you can see, there is one exception to the "poor" setting of this story. The church. Still, anybody can come to the church no matter how poor. This church has nothing to do with Mr. McGee's financial life: nobody pays to go to church! Ms. Trainor attends a different church than McGee. Hers is simply described as a building. We do know, however, that there is an office that she work in with a cubicle and a "denominations office" Small? I think not.

Lastly, there are off-site locations: New York and Hawaii. I think that these locations are used in the story to emphasize how poor he really is. Ms. Trainor is going to be visiting her finance's parents in New York. Also, Mr.McGee was invited to Hawaii (upon the courtesy of his son-in-law's rich father) but that is just a dream, as it would crush his pride. If he funded himself he would be literally dead if there were no such things as soup kitchens and the Salvation Army.

In conclusion, Maggie's Gift is packed with details that support the setting. Katherine Paterson skillfully spreads them out and rather than being literal and direct, gives clues and SENSORY IMAGES to create a brilliant short story--Maggie's Gift.