The poetics of Stephen Crane’s late novels” I. Introduction. II. The contribution of S. Crane to the development of American naturalism

Chapter 17 continues Maggie’s tragic story several months later on a rainy evening, amidst “the gloomy districts near the river, where the tall black factories shut in the street.” Various men, “wet wanderers,” make disinterested comments to her, quickly explaining why they are unable to engage her services. Finally, Maggie is accosted by a huge fat man in greasy clothes. As he begins to follow, the reader is left to imagine the outcome of this sad encounter as we lose sight of their destination. The scene is dark and foreboding. “At their feet the river appeared a deathly black hue.” In Chapter 18 the scene returns to a very drunk Pete, sitting in a secluded section of the saloon, cavorting with several giggling women who “nod their heads approvingly” at him. One of these silly women is Nell. They are all only interested in his buying them drinks. During his long and intoxicated protestation of benign goodwill Pete will eventually collapse. However, before this calamity befalls, Pete, “[o]verwhelmed by
a spasm of drunken adoration,” gives Nell money while making an empty declaration of his love for her, to which act of kindness Nell responds by calling him “a damn fool.” Chapter 19 begins with Jimmie delivering the terrible news of Maggie’s fate in a pathetically brief and deadpan announcement, equally as dismissive as the description of the death of Tommie in Chapter 4. “A soiled, unshaven man pushed open the door and entered. “‘Well,’” said he, ‘Mag’s dead.’” In response to this tragic news, Mary Johnson, who has been “eating like a fat monk in a picture,” launches into a highly melodramatic and wholly unconvincing act of uncontrollable grief and mourning. In a word, Maggie’s mother makes a complete spectacle of herself. “The neighbors began to
gather in the hall, staring in at the weeping woman as if watching the contortions of a dying dog.” And her feigned
forgiveness of her daughter, her “disobed’ent chil,” is equally as empty. In a story in which the survivors are utterly and absolutely unable to extricate themselves from the impoverished world of the Lower East Side, an early death is Maggie’s only means of escape. With the encouragement of the attendant mourners who now believe that Maggie’s sins will be judged by a higher authority, Mary Johnson finally decides to forgive her daughter, when it no longer matters.
As a consequence, Maggie’s mother casts her daughter out as a bad seed. After being abandoned by Pete, she is driven into prostitution and eventually commits suicide. The girl becomes the victim of her social background simply because she lacks the ability to adapt to the Bowery milieu.
“The problem this story hings on is not primarly a social one , and Crane is not merely content with studying the causes and consequences of prostitution. Mainly concerned with the “soul “ of the young prostitute , he tries to challenge the beliefs of Sunday school religion. Can an “occasional street girl “ be expected to end up in Heaven, irrespective of the indignant frowns of “ many excellent people? The answer is never made explicit in a narrative brimming over theirony, but it could not be other than positive “ [ Cazemajou Stephen Crane p 30 ]
As Ch. Ch. Walcutt wrote that “ Maggie falls because “environment is a trementdous thing in the world “ , because although she was romantic nobody is interested in her fate …. Her only possible escape from a life of moral degradation ( committing suicide ) “[ Walcutt p30 # Seven novelists]