Maggie Overmyer Analysis

Overmyer begins her critical essay with discussing the great skill that Crane possessed as a writer. She makes the point that even though he was very young when he first wrote Maggie and the work contains many flaws, one can still notice the amount of talent he had a writer. One of the most “noticeable virtues [of his writing] is the relation of structure to them” (Overmyer184). Many would say that Maggie has a weak or “flimsy” structure, Overmyer quotes John Berryman saying, “Crane had to rely on loose, episodic structure.” He then compares Berryman’s views to the views of Robert Wooster Stallman, who believes that Maggie has a definite structural pattern. Overmyer holds the opinion that the story has a strong controlling structure that combines with them to form something greater. She continues to discuss the different aspects of structure that the work or “novelette” holds. The structure is similar to a “play within a play”. Her views are described and greater explained with actual references to the text. The first

It is evident that in the story that no main character has a legitimate and clear view of life. She offers examples about each of the four main characters and how their views on life, affected their overall fate. For example, she discussed how Pete did not take his affair with Maggie seriously, and how he ultimately hoped to have a relationship with Nell, but Nell does not see him in a positive way and thinks he is a fool. Pete was not viewing this part of his life clearly because he wants a relationship with a woman who does not want him while all the long he is involved with a woman who does. Maggie is another example. She has the false perception that her relationship with Pete will last forever, but is extremely devastated when it does not. Therefore, her view of reality is most