The Monster and Other Stories

"The Monster and Other Stories" by Stephen Crane is as a compilation of tales from the end of the 1800s. The book uses engaging characters and striking backgrounds to discover complicated subjects, like how people live and what society thinks. The beginning story tells about a central character, Little Jim, and it brings up ideas about being innocent as a child, feeling guilty, and how Jim and Henry Johnson, a character that acts out difficult issues about race and how people treat each other, see things differently. First, the story is about Little Jim, a child playing make-believe while "driving" his cart when he unintentionally breaks a flower in his dad's garden. Jim's desire to please his father and his inner struggle are shown in this minor occurrence. In the meantime, Henry Johnson, the family’s African American stableman, is shown as a person who balances friendship with being an outsider, as he figures out how to be friends with the Trescott family while dealing with what society expects of him at the time. The first part sets the mode for deeply studying innocence, duty, and self, giving readers a look into how the characters' lives are connected.