Rebekah BrownApril 7, 2014Mrs. GibsonMonday/Wednesday 9:30 a.m.-10:45 a.m.Maggie: A realistic view of industrialized urban AmericaMaggie: A girl from the streets, is a realistic view of the underbelly of industrialized America. It's a story that doesn't hide the dirt and grime that comes with living in impoverished, highly populated areas. Young Stephen Crane does a very good job depicting the destruction of a young, beautiful, optimistic Maggie by forces beyond her own control. The novel's rather bleak realism was somewhat unknown at the time. Crane had to publish his book himself, because no publisher wanted to take the risk of such a negative novel about human nature. However, over time, his story quickly cemented its roots as a foundational pillar of American realism literature. At the beginning of the novella, Maggie's family is introduced, from her scrappy little brother Jimmie, to her short-lived brother Tommie, her alcoholic and mentally abusive child. mother Mary and her brutal father. Jimmie's friend Pete is introduced and becomes a mirror image of Jimmie later in the book. They are both portrayed as Don Juans, seducers of young women who treat women as objects rather than people. Maggie's father is as fleeting as her brother Tommie. However, he becomes a negative social factor in Maggie's life. Maggie's mother was a pivotal symbol of hypocrisy and pessimism throughout the book, from her drinking to her final comment in the book "I will forgive her" (Crane). From the beginning of the story, a gray and dreary New York is painted in the mind with the sad and depressing tone of the bustling metropolis. It's a town flooded with immigrant workers hoping to improve their lives and those of their middle of paper by the river just before she is found dead. The original excerpt was edited over the years to not include the small graphic description of him, but Stephen Crane still left the reader with the question of whether Maggie had been murdered or committed suicide. Perhaps murder would be a more bittersweet ending for this realistic tragedy Wecker, Helene. August 18, 2013. NPR. URL: http://www.npr.org/2013/08/18/189286463/pack-your-bags-3-books-about-coming-to-america These book review articles by Helene Wecker summarize and analyze Maggie as well as other classic literary works that chronicle the hardships of immigrants during the Industrial Revolution. From voyages across the sea, to blockades at Ellis Island (some being sent back to their home countries), to the harsh living conditions of the slums of New York and surrounding areas..