Crane includes multiple points of view to show us the power of an outsider's perception. We get at least nine different spectators in the first chapter , each with their own view of their environment. The book's third person narration even gives us a point of view to view the other points of view through. It acts as an objective outsider looking at the world, narrating it for us. It describes people by their physical attributes first; for example, Pete's character arrives on the scene, being introduced to us as "a lad of sixteen years" who boastfully saunters down the avenue. Jimmie's father is similarly introduced as "a man with sullen eyes." Interestingly enough, we are not given people's titles like "Jimmie's friend Pete" or "Jimmie's father." Rather, we get to know characters through their physical characteristics and actions; who they are is directly linked to what they do and how they interact in their environment (a very naturalistic phenomenon).
Jimmie challenges this in chapter four while being a truck driver. After his father and brother died, "he menaced mankind at the intersection of streets" (19). He is becomes a truck driver and disregards any conventions in society that demand him to respect others. He purposefully picks fights, drives on sidewalks with no care whether he will hurt anyone; in summary, he thinks the world revolves around him, rather than being one working part in a functioning community. He doesn't care what people think of him, and picking fights and getting arrested don't seem to bother him either. Maggie, in contrast, is the quiet observer who lets the world act around her. Her chapter is interjected by one-word paragraphs that describe the two men's interactions in a clinical, matter-of-fact tone; for example, "He was telling tales to Jimmie" or "The two held a technical conversation." The outsider's point of view that Crane returns to in chapter five is meant to be ironic. We are observers of the "technical" conversation between the two men, which is really just a rant session of one man's stupidly selfish story about proving his strength to men that walk into his bar.
Technical conversation, indeed--ok, very capable grasp here of naturalism and the idea that
ReplyDelete*The book's third person narration even gives us a point of view to view the other points of view through
which sounds odd but is actually very significant...but why does Crane want us to study this? You seem to suggest it's a study of limited selves interacting with environment. How does irony fit here?