Beginning of Essay
The world of Stephen Crane’s novel, Maggie: A Girl of the Streets, is a dark, violent place. People curse one another openly and instigate fights over petty issues. The intense poverty of the populace leads to a feeling of general despair and creates a lac ....

Middle of Essay
.... children. The novel opens with a scene of violence. Two different groups of boys are engaged in a bloody scuffle. Crane writes, “A very little boy stood upon a heap of gravel for the honor of Rum Alley. He was throwing stones at howling urchins from Devil’s Row who were circling madly about the heap and pelting at him” (Crane 3). That the kids are battling for the so-called “honor of Rum Alley” (Crane 3) shows that the kids are trying to gain a position of power through battle. If they can injure those who stand in their way in front of everyone else they will earn the respect and, therefore, the control and power ....