Читать реферат по английскому: "Stephen Crane Essay Research Paper Stephen CraneToday" Страница 1

(Назад) (Cкачать работу)

Stephen Crane Essay, Research Paper

Stephen Crane

Today in modern America, it has become almost impossible to avoid the tales of horror that surround us almost anywhere we go. Scandals, murders, theft, corruption, extortion, abuse, prostitution, all common occurrences in this day in age. A hundred years ago however, people did not see the world in quite such an open manner despite the fact that in many ways, similarities were abundant. People’s lives were, in their views, free of all evil and pollution. They assumed they lived peaceful lives and those around them lived the same flawless lives untouched by corruption as well. Many were too blind to see beyond their own homes and into the lives of others who dealt with a more unfortunate fate. Those being the ones who lived in poverty, abuse, and other harsh conditions which were finally exposed to America in 1893 by a 22-year old college free lance writer who simply wished to show things as they appeared to him: bitterly real. Stephen Crane was America’s first realistic writer who exposed the realities of the slums, tenement living and other unfavorable conditions to a very na?ve American audience. Through hard work and his great devotion to the examination of the darker side of life Crane finally was able to publish his novel in which explored his experiences of the New York slums. Through his great use of dialect, irony and realism in his novel Maggie: A Girl of the Streets Stephen Crane is able to accomplish his goal of creating a

Parra 2

vivid picture in his reader’s mind, portraying the harsh, abusive conditions of the many lives condemned to this fortune.

Stephen Crane began his quest for the truth in the summer of 1889 while visiting his brother who lived in New Jersey (Peden, 104). While living with his brother Crane was drawn to the idea of realistic writing. He would travel to New York on almost a daily basis to witness and experience the poverty and abusive conditions of the slums (Colvert, 104). During his visits to New York Crane was able to establish an understanding and develop a feeling for what life was like in the slums. He soon acquired a craving for individuality and a yearning to express his experiences. He began his mission by placing upon himself the desire to become his own individual, separating himself from other writers of the era by using his unique style of realistic writing as well as dialect (Cantwell, 141).

According to Hamlin Garland a well-known critic as well as a writer during this time, Crane, “…gives the dialect of the slums as I never before seen it written—crisp, direct, terse” (121). His use of dialect throughout the novel is virtually impossible to ignore. The choppy uneducated lines and dialogue shows the obvious knowledge of the way the poor lived and the purpose behind the writing. Crane was able to develop his own dialect which was reflected in his writings. His dialogue is perhaps the best aspect of his writing gained through his experience. Crane used dialect as the basis of his writings (Karlen, 5843). All other techniques fell into place and based themselves around this aspect (Karlen, 5843). Crane’s unique way of expressing the events that are taking place is perhaps one of the most admirable qualities of his writings. “The girl,

Parra 3

Maggie, blossomed in a mud puddle. She grew up to be a most rare and wonderful production of a tenement district, a pretty girl”(Crane, 16). Crane’s choice of wording in this description of a grown Maggie is one of the many examples of Crane’s unique choice of wording in contrasting Maggie, a beautiful girl, to a mud puddle, the tenements, which she’d grown up around. Amo Karlen describes this kind of writing as being one of Crane’s, “…little masterpieces of the most subtle and difficult prose effects—rhythm, assonance, alliteration—and full of premeditated irony or menacing beauty…”(5844). Aside from his contrasting views, the dialogue among Crane’s character’s is unavoidable and at times somewhat difficult to follow. “The conversation has the exactitude of the dull repetitious speech of half-drunken boasters, and Crane is responsible for the fictional theory that such repetition is realistic art”(Quinn, 534). Perhaps the best example of the uneducated dialogue between the characters is most evident at the beginning of the novel when Maggie and her bother Jimmy are just children. They have both just come home only to be greeted with the loud crying of a baby’s voice:

Ah, what deh hell!, cried Jimmie. Shut up er I’ll smack yer mout’. See?….The father heard and turned about. Stop that Jim, d’yeh hear? Leave yer sister alone on the street. It’s like I can never beat any sense into yer dammed wooden head (Crane, 7).

Scenes like these are typical in the opening chapters of the novel. His uncensored dialect help in the creation of Crane’s, “…modern slum-world, ferocious and sorid…”(Berryman58-59). It continues in this manner until Maggie and Jimmie are

Parra 4

introduced as young adults. The tone as well as the dialect of the book becomes much lighter and the tension between the characters lessens.

The main focus of the remaining chapters is the change of Maggie. After being introduced to Peter, one of Jimmie’s friends, Maggie undergoes a drastic change. She becomes aware of her surroundings and begins to take note of the world around her. Perhaps the greatest irony of the novel lies in this change that occurs to Maggie. When first introduced to Maggie, we are given a picture of complete and utter innocence. She is presented to us as a strong, defiant child battling to overcome life’s hardships. She is unaware of life beyond her way of living and is much too na?ve to realize how poorly she lives. All this changes when she meets Peter. She becomes more self conscious,

Похожие работы