1890 Irish Slums
Title
1890 Irish Slums
Subject
Maggie: A Girl of the Streets by Stephen Crane
Description
"Eventually they entered into a dark region where, from a careening building, a dozen gruesome doorways gave up loads of babies to the street and the gutter." (6, Crane)
This particular quote is almost an exact description of the image I have found. During Crane's description of the dismal setting of the impoverished area of New York, he really brings out naturalism here. The setting in this sentence is written as though it is the subject, which really adds to the effect that Crane is trying to convey to the reader. This quote is also very interesting because it is a clear example of how people, or "babies" in this specific quote, were "responding to the stimuli" of the environment of the time. Crane describes it in this way to really bring out the idea that the people in these poor areas had no power or control over their environment because it had sucked the life out of them. It is almost ironic how this quote gives nonliving objects humanlike characteristics and vice versa. The use of phrases like “careening building” and “a dozen gruesome doorways gave up loads of babies” really depicts Crane’s view of naturalism in that the environment determines the individual.
This particular quote is almost an exact description of the image I have found. During Crane's description of the dismal setting of the impoverished area of New York, he really brings out naturalism here. The setting in this sentence is written as though it is the subject, which really adds to the effect that Crane is trying to convey to the reader. This quote is also very interesting because it is a clear example of how people, or "babies" in this specific quote, were "responding to the stimuli" of the environment of the time. Crane describes it in this way to really bring out the idea that the people in these poor areas had no power or control over their environment because it had sucked the life out of them. It is almost ironic how this quote gives nonliving objects humanlike characteristics and vice versa. The use of phrases like “careening building” and “a dozen gruesome doorways gave up loads of babies” really depicts Crane’s view of naturalism in that the environment determines the individual.
Creator
Jacob Riis (How the Other Half Lived)
Source
Roberts, Hannah. "The Slumdogs of New York: Remarkable Images Open a Window into the Squalor and Deprivation Endured by Immigrant Families in an Unrecognisable 19th Century America." Mail Online. Associated Newspapers, n.d. Web. 11 Nov. 2015. <http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2089243/Slumdogs-New-York-The-remarkable-images-capturing-immigrant-families-unrecognisable-19th-century-New-York.html>
Publisher
Daily Mail
Date
10/28/15
Contributor
Adam Monticollo
Coverage
1890s
Original Format
Photo
Files
Collection
Citation
Jacob Riis (How the Other Half Lived), “1890 Irish Slums,” Three Decades of NYC, accessed April 30, 2024, http://www.loyolanotredamelib.org/en203/items/show/69.