Analysis of Stephen Cranes, Maggie: A Girl Of The Streets Essays

Analysis of Stephen genus Gruss, Maggie A Girl of the StreetsToday in modern America, it has become almost impossible to avoid the tales of horror that badger us almost anywhere we go. Scandals, murders, theft, corruption, extortion, abuse, prostitution, all common occurrences in this day in age. A hundred years ago however, people did not fall upon the world in quite such an open manner despite the fact that in many ways, similarities were abundant. Peoples lives were, in their views, free of all evil and pollution. They assumed they lived peaceful lives and those around them lived the same flawless lives untouched by corruption as well. Many were too blind to see beyond their own homes and into the lives of others who dealt with a more unfortunate fate. Those being the ones who lived in poverty, abuse, and other harsh conditions which were finally exposed to America in 1893 by a 22-year senile college free lance writer who simply wished to show things as they appeared to him bitterly real. Stephen Crane was Americas first realistic writer who exposed the realities of the slums, tenement living and other unfavorable conditions to a very nave American audience. Through hard work and his great devotion to the examination of the darker side of life sentence Crane finally was able to publish his novel in which explored his experiences of the saucy York slums. Through his great use of dialect, irony and realism in his novel Maggie A Girl of the Streets Stephen Crane is able to accomplish his goal of creating a vivid picture in his readers mind, portraying the harsh, abusive conditions of the many lives condemned to this fortune.Stephen Crane began his quest for the truth in the summer of 1889 while visiting his brother who lived in New Jersey (Peden, 104). While living with his brother Crane was worn to the idea of realistic writing. He would travel to New York on almost a daily basis to witness and experience the poverty and abusive conditions of t he slums (Colvert, 104). During his visits to New York Crane was able to establish an understanding and develop a feeling for what life was like in the slums. He soon acquired a craving for laissez faire and a yearning to express his experiences. He began his mission by placing upon himself the desire to become his own individual, separating himself from other writers of the era by using his unique sprint of r... ...Garland, Hamlin. Maggie A Girl of the Streets. The Arena June 1893. Rpt. inTwentieth Century literary Critcism. Ed. Dennis Poupard. Vol. 11. Detroit Gale, 1983. 121.Karlen, Amo. The Craft of Stephen Crane. Georgia Review Fall 1974 pp 470-84. Rpt. in The Chelsea House subroutine library of Literary Criticism.Moses, Edwin. Stephen Crane. Magills Survey of American Literature. Ed.Frank N. Magill. Vol. 2. New York Marshall Cavendish Corp., 1991. 427-41.Peden, William. Stephen Crane. Encyclopedia Americana. 1998 ed.Pizer, Donald. Stephen Cranes Maggie and American Natu ralism. Criticism Spring 1965 168-75. Rpt. in The Chelsea House Library of Literary Criticism. Ed. Harold Bloom. Vol. 10 New York Chelsea House Publishers, 1989. 5858-53.Quinn, Arthur Hobson. The Journalists. American Fiction An Historical and searing Survey. New York Appleton Century-Crofts, Inc., 1936. 521-49.Seymour-Smith, Martin. Stephen Crane. Funk and Wagnalls Guide to Modern Literature. New York Funk and Wagnalls, 1973. 37-40.Walford, Chester L. Stephen Crane. Critical Survey of Long Fiction. Ed. FrankN. Magill. Vol. 2. New Jersey Salem Press, 1983. 638-47.