The Quiet Stranger and the Narrator

In the book, Maggie: A Girl if the Streets, by Stephen Crane, Jimmie, the brother of Maggie, and Pete, the boyfriend of Maggie get into a heated fight in the bar at which Pete works. Jimmie goes to the bar to confront Pete because he recognizes that Pete is not good for Maggie and is hurting her emotionally. Throughout this scene the readers are shown the growing conflict and tension through the actions of a man referred to as ‘the quiet stranger’, along with the well articulated dialogue and description told from the narrator’s perspective. ‘The quiet stranger’ is only given a couple of mentions in very brief sentences, but his presence is very effective in the way Crane uses him to show the progression of the fight scene. The way Crane places these sentences throughout the text, we are able to see a direct correlation between the actions of ‘the quiet stranger’ and the description of the fight given by the narrator.

         Crane uses ‘the quiet stranger’ as a way to describe how the fight between Jimmie and Pete is escalates. Crane uses short, but potent lines to express this to his readers. In the beginning of the chapter he starts by introducing ‘the quiet stranger’ ordering a drink at the bar, “Pete, in a white jacket, was behind the bar bending expectantly toward a quiet stranger. ‘A beeh,’ said the man. Pete drew a foam-topped glassful and set it dripping upon the bar.” (Crane 50) As one might notice in this quote everything is very calm, there is no conflict and there is no sense of tension. As the scene goes on, Jimmie enters the bar and confronts Pete, during which, we get a glimpse of ‘the quiet stranger’ for a second time, “The quiet stranger moved himself and his glass a trifle further away and maintained an attitude of oblivion.” (Crane 51) We can now recognize that the tension in the room is building, but it is not completely out of control. This is evident because ‘the quiet stranger’ is described to be oblivious to the altercation between the two men. A short while later we hear about ‘the quiet stranger’ again, “The quiet stranger looked at the door calculatingly.” (Crane 52)  Because he has now not only noticed the conflict, but began to look toward the door, thinking about leaving, we can assume the tension between Jimmie and Pete is rising at a rapid rate. The next we hear from ‘the quiet stranger’ he has gotten out of his seat and started moving toward the door, “The quiet stranger moved modestly toward the door.” (Crane 52) Now that he has actually gotten up out of his seat tells us he is nervous of what might happen. This helps to suggest that the fight between Jimmie and Pete is becoming dangerous to be around. In the chaos of the fight, ‘the quiet stranger’ suddenly disappears from the scene, “The quiet stranger suddenly vanished.” (Crane 54) Because he ‘suddenly vanished’ we can infer that the fight was so intense the two men did not even realize ‘the quiet stranger’ left the building because they were so caught up with their frustration and anger for the situation. The last we hear about ‘the quiet stranger’ is when the fight has gotten so out of hand that the man is thrown out onto the sidewalk. “The quiet stranger had sprawled very pyrotechnically out on the sidewalk.” (Crane 55) The use of the word ‘pyrotechnically’ alone gives us all the information we need about the results of this fight. The word refers to fireworks which are contraptions that explode in the sky. We can infer that the intensity of the fight, for lack of better words, exploded out onto the streets.

         Along with using ‘the quiet stranger’ to describe the progressive fight between Jimmie and Pete, Crane also uses detailed description and dialogue told through the perspective of the narrator. We are told about Jimmie and Pete’s movements and how they respond to one another. Between the combination of ‘the quiet stranger’ and the narrator’s descriptions, we see the same event through two different viewpoints. ‘The quiet stranger’ is an outsider looking in and the narrator is a more direct lense to the situation, however,  the reactions of ‘the quiet stranger’ and the descriptions of the narrator coincide with each other. This helps give readers a broader understanding of how the scene played out.

         To sum up, Crane uses ‘the quiet stranger’ and the narrator to tell of the same event, even though ‘the quiet stranger’ was an outsider looking in and the narrator was told from a direct view point. Crane told ‘the quiet stranger’s’ part using one line at a time, each describing an action that was representative of what the narrator was telling us about the fight between Jimmie and Pete.