Read more
When the Trescott family’s home catches fire, Henry Johnson, their African American coachman, is disfigured while attempting to rescue their son Jimmie. Out of gratitude, Dr. Trescott not only saves his life, but gives him a home on the family property, an act of mercy that ignites Whilomville’s racial biases. The Monster and Other Stories is a collection by Stephen Crane.
About the author
Stephen Crane wrote this novel with no first-hand familiarity with war, but it was praised by Civil War veterans as an authentic depiction of their battlefield experiences and emotions. Crane was interested in war stories and enjoyed creative writing as a child. He began his professional career as a journalist at the age of 16, and later became a war correspondent in the Greco-Turkish conflict and the Spanish American War in Cuba. Other important works include the novel Maggie: A Girl of the Streets; short stories "The Open Boat," "The Monster," and "The Blue Hotel"; and poems "The Black Riders" and "War is Kind." Stephen Crane died of Tuberculosis at the age of 29.
Summary
The Monster and Other Stories (1899) is a collection of short fiction by American writer Stephen Crane. “The Monster,” a novella, was originally published in 1898 in Harper’s Magazine and has since been recognized as one of Crane’s most important works, a story which critiques the racism prevalent in American society. In 1899, it was published alongside “The Blue Hotel” and “His New Mittens” in The Monster and Other Stories, which was the last work by Crane to be published during his lifetime.
In “The Monster,” set in the fictional town of Whilomville, an African American coachmen employed by the wealthy Trescott family is horribly disfigured while attempting to save their young son Jimmie from a house fire. Despite his gruesome injuries, Henry Johnson survives, and Dr. Trescott gratefully nurses him back to health and offers him a place to stay on the family property. Meanwhile, the white townspeople, who view Johnson as a monster, vilify the Trescotts for transgressing the unspoken rules of racial segregation. As Johnson attempts to return to some sense of normalcy, he is rejected both by the African American and white communities, and retreats into a lonely, quiet life. “The Blue Hotel” is a story of violence, fate, and hatred, of a place where loneliness reigns among strangers, and where fear is a troublesome friend.
With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Stephen Crane’s The Monster and Other Stories is a classic of American literature reimagined for modern readers.
