Critical Book review of Maggie: a girl of the streets
Critical Book Review of Maggie: A Girl of the Streets by Stephen Crane
The book Maggie: A Girl of the Streets was written by Stephen Crane in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The book was written at the beginning of the American tradition of Naturalism, which was a literary movement marked by realism and acknowledgment of social conditions. This book is a story of a girl trying to escape poverty and the author also shows the real world hardships of the lower class. I chose to read Maggie: A Girl of the Streets because I felt like it was something, that even today, people are going through, and I figured it could be pretty relatable and an easier read. The book starts out with Jimmie fighting some kids in Rum Alley. A boy named Pete comes up and ends the fight. Jimmie’s dad then comes and takes Jimmie home. When they were on the way home, they ran into Maggie and Tommie, Jimmie’s sister and baby brother. Maggie got onto Jimmie for fighting and he beat her up. They go back home and you are introduced to their drunken mother, Mary. The mother and father fought, causing the father to leave and go drink and leaving the mother in rage with the children. As the book goes on, Tommie and the father both die. Jimmie turns into a hard, aggressive man, while Maggie turns into a beautiful, hopeful woman. Jimmie becomes head of
Martino 2 the family after the death of his father. One day, Jimmie brought home, Pete, the boy who saved him in Rum Valley as kids. Maggie had a crush on him, looking at him as a high class guy with money and manners. Pete and Maggie begin dating, and Maggie looks at Pete as her future and her way out of poverty, but Pete looks at Maggie as an easy target. Maggie’s mother says that Maggie is a disgrace to the family and says she is going “to deh devil”. Jimmie says that Pete “ruined” Maggie, and one night he and a friend go jump Pete at the bar. After those fights, Maggie left home to go live with Pete.
The book Maggie: A Girl of the Streets was written by Stephen Crane in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The book was written at the beginning of the American tradition of Naturalism, which was a literary movement marked by realism and acknowledgment of social conditions. This book is a story of a girl trying to escape poverty and the author also shows the real world hardships of the lower class. I chose to read Maggie: A Girl of the Streets because I felt like it was something, that even today, people are going through, and I figured it could be pretty relatable and an easier read. The book starts out with Jimmie fighting some kids in Rum Alley. A boy named Pete comes up and ends the fight. Jimmie’s dad then comes and takes Jimmie home. When they were on the way home, they ran into Maggie and Tommie, Jimmie’s sister and baby brother. Maggie got onto Jimmie for fighting and he beat her up. They go back home and you are introduced to their drunken mother, Mary. The mother and father fought, causing the father to leave and go drink and leaving the mother in rage with the children. As the book goes on, Tommie and the father both die. Jimmie turns into a hard, aggressive man, while Maggie turns into a beautiful, hopeful woman. Jimmie becomes head of
Martino 2 the family after the death of his father. One day, Jimmie brought home, Pete, the boy who saved him in Rum Valley as kids. Maggie had a crush on him, looking at him as a high class guy with money and manners. Pete and Maggie begin dating, and Maggie looks at Pete as her future and her way out of poverty, but Pete looks at Maggie as an easy target. Maggie’s mother says that Maggie is a disgrace to the family and says she is going “to deh devil”. Jimmie says that Pete “ruined” Maggie, and one night he and a friend go jump Pete at the bar. After those fights, Maggie left home to go live with Pete.