City of Orphans

The moment the newsies take up arms and follow Maks to rescue Willa is triumphant. Their action is a show of solidarity for their fellow newsies and for all lost children of the city. With power in their numbers, they can stand up to Bruno and his gang in retaliation for all the terror he has wrought upon them. The ferocity with which they attack the dilapidated building is a summation of all their repressed aggression and pain from a life spent living on the edge of adversity. As with all mob violence, however, the rabble devolves into uncontrolled chaos. Just as the newsies’ anger intensifies with the Plug Uglies cornered, the building catches fire. Maks is overwhelmed at what he has started. He must find Willa, whom he knows is on the second floor but for which there is no usable staircase. This challenge symbolizes Maks’s predicament for most of the narrative. He or someone he loves is in peril and there is no perceivable path to relief. Such is the state of many imprisoned in poverty. Without help, there is no safe pathway out and up to a better life.

Maks also displays a kindred love for Willa in the melee of the confrontation. He looks past Bruno and the Plug Uglies with a solitary focus on finding Willa. Maks shows no penchant for violence, a striking character trait as he has spent so much time on the streets. He eschews the chance at revenge in favor of saving his friend. Several factors contribute to Maks’s lack of aggression. First, he has been raised in a home where peaceable living has been modeled. Papa is a sensitive man, not a stern, cold patriarch. Second, life with five siblings has taught him forbearance and grace. This decency serves him well at this moment as he saves himself and Willa from injury. Though his heroic ascension of the broken stairs is exciting, it is his display of maturity in the face of chaos that is most notable.

Amid the confusion of the violence and fire, Bruno has found a way to shimmy himself out of the secret passageway and into relative safety. He endures an internal struggle to understand what has transpired. He is worried about the rest of his gang, but moreover, he is incensed at Maks for humiliating him. Both his physical body and his internal psyche are wounded. Maks has exposed his vulnerability, that he has always been alone in his struggle to survive. Despite his tough exterior, he is just another orphan on the streets trying to survive. This reminds him of Brunswick’s power over him. He refuses to be a victim to his circumstances and resolves yet again to take charge of his destiny and rid himself of the forces that persecute him. Ironically, he is roused back to reality by a police officer’s tap on his shoulder. Bruno has evaded the police in his criminal life and by all intents and purposes should be arrested on the spot. The cop, however, is just telling him he cannot stay where he is. He must get back on the move, the way he has always been forced to live. His frustration intensifies when he finds the theater closed, preventing him from having his regular meeting with Brunswick, the source, he feels, of all his problems. He casts his gaze to the Waldorf and watches as scores of people go about their business unchecked. Meanwhile, he is chastised by a police officer for merely standing on the street. Abject poverty, distress, and lack of structure have pushed him to his physical and emotional limits. He longs simply for a quiet place to sleep and cannot muster enough funds, even from what he has stolen, to pay for room and board for one night. His primitive nature surfaces as he angrily grabs a shovel, promising to make Brunswick pay and foreshadowing dark moments to come.