Jan McCutcheon
English 48B
Journal for Crane






Author Quote: “To him the police were always actuated by malignant impulses and the rest of the world was composed, for the most part, of despicable creatures who were all trying to take advantage of him and with whom, in defense, he was obliged to quarrel on all possible occasions” (Norton 965).

Internet Quote: “Prolific throughout his short life, he wrote notable works in the Realist tradition as well as early examples of American Naturalism and Impressionism. He is recognized by modern critics as one of the most innovative writers of his generation” (wikipedia).



Summary: The story takes place in the Bowery of New York city. The main character, Maggie lives with her drunken, brutal parents and two brothers. She begins dating Pete, a friend of her older brother Jimmie. He seems like a night in shining armor to her, in his white jacket and his fancy job as a bar tender. He shows her a world she didn’t know existed, which seems like the height of sophistication, due to her lack of worldliness. The neighbors begins to gossip about her relationship, and her brother goes to beat up Pete, although he does wonder, several times, if the girls he dates might also have brothers who object. Pete dumps Maggie, she returns home, but her mother and brother throw her out, and she turns to prostitution to survive. When Jimmie hears that Maggie is dead, his mother goes into a fit of remorse and finally says she “forgives her.”


Response: Crane’s story is written in the Naturalist tradition where a character in the depths of society starts out in bad circumstances that continue to get worse. His writing is very colorful, almost like a painting, and the dialog shows the brutishness in the way the characters talk. Maggie and Jimmie are the products of a bad environment that they can not seem to escape. Jimmie grows up to be a brute like his late father. Maggie turns to prostitution. Mary, their mother laments about how Maggie could have “gone to the bad” after all the good mothering she did, while in reality, she was arguably the worst mother in history. Maggie leaves home and goes with Pete because she sees it as away to escape her dreary apartment and her raging lunatic mother. Jimmie beats up Pete for “ruining” his sister, even though he has “ruined” many women like her himself. The double standard that it sex is acceptable for the males but a huge scandal for the females is a big part of Maggie’s problem. She sees no hope for the future in her dreary factory job, and clings to Pete as a savior, only to find out, he’s not much help either. He quickly dumps her when Nell returns to the scene, “a woman of brilliance and audacity,” who makes Maggie look shabby and pale by comparison. Maggie finds herself in a situation where she can not stay with Pete, can not return home to her family, and can not support herself, and is forced to turn to prostitution. The story points out the hard life of poor people and the few options they have available to them.