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

Maggie Johnson, the title character, is a young woman who grows up in the squalor and poverty of the Bowery in New York City’s Lower East Side. While her mother, Mary, is an abusive alcoholic and her brother, Jimmie, is a brute, Maggie manages to grow up a beautiful young woman with the hope and desire for a better way of life. Maggie’s downfall, however, occurs as the result of her love for Pete, a young man who appears to be confident and sophisticated, but who nevertheless abandons her. As a result of that abandonment, Maggie becomes a prostitute in order to earn a living, which further causes her to become the object of scandalous talk in the neighborhood. In the end, Maggie succumbs to her terrible environment and lifestyle, but the reason she dies is very unclear—she may have been a murder victim or, possibly, taken her own life. Nevertheless, Crane’s message is very clear— Maggie is the victim of the poverty she is born into and, most tragically, cannot escape.
Jimmie is Maggie’s brother and Mary’s son. Jimmie, the first character we hear about, is in the midst of a street battle. He is violent and devoid of compassion for the other children. He also lacks the ability to understand his own combative behavior. Having seduced and abandoned women he is guilty of the same abusive treatment as Maggie’s seducer, Pete. Nevertheless, Jimmie hates Pete for what he has done to Maggie, while never recognizing that he has behaved the same way. Ironically, instead of having sympathy for Maggie, Jimmie blames his
sister for causing the scandal. Though he has acquired the brutish characteristics necessary of the urban poverty which has molded his personality, Jimmie’s survival is simply that and nothing more.
Mary is Maggie and Jimmie’s mother. She is an abusive and vicious alcoholic, who is given over to uncontrollable outrage, spending much of her time destroying her physical environment. Her rage is so terrifying that Maggie runs away. Indeed, she is even the butt of joke within her own rough neighborhood. Nevertheless, Mary Johnson also has the audacity to criticize Maggie’s behavior as immoral. She is also extremely manipulative as evidenced by her staging a scene of mourning for the daughter whom she never loved.
Pete is a friend of Jimmie Johnson and a very affected bartender. As a result of his talk about money and his pretense to offer a better way of life, he succeeds in seducing the innocent Maggie Johnson. However, he soon loses interest in Maggie when his attention is turned to an equally pretentious and manipulative woman named Nellie. As it turns out, Nellie has no love for Peter, but has merely been using him for his money.