Today's Date: September 29, The author, Stephen Crane , actually lived in the Bowery District of New York and witnessed firsthand the miseries that were commonplace among the denizens of the slum. As the fight becomes more serious, another boy named Pete intervenes and rescues Jimmy. Both parents are alcoholics, and the three children, Jimmy, Tommie, and Maggie are left to fend for themselves and hide from their tyrannical mother as best as they can.
Nonetheless, in all four works, Crane demonstrates his affinity for particular themes, including communication and failures of communication, human misconceptions, hypocrisy, naturalism, and to some extent, existentialism. Due to its scandalous and unconventional themes, Crane was forced to pay for the publication himself. Only one bookshop consented to sell the book. It bought twelve copies from Crane--and returned ten. Yet, the work caught the critical attention and praise of William Dean Howells, a respected author and literary critic. Crane had intended to travel to Cuba to witness and report on the Cuban insurgency against Spain.
The reality –Realism in Maggie: A Girl of the Streets
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Stephen Crane's first novel, Maggie: A Girl of the Streets is in some respects barely a novel at all. It is very short--in most editions, barely 60 pages long. This brevity is no mere superficial detail.