Similarities and differences in Crane and Dreiser's practice of realism - Essay Example

of Lecturer 30 May Similarities and differences in Crane and Dreiser's practice of realism In their of urban life in Sister Carrie and Maggie: A Girl of the Streets, both Theodore Dreiser and Stephen Crane are usually regarded as realist writers even though the two of them have different approaches to writing. It is therefore pertinent to analyze the similarities in Crane’s practice of realism and that of Dreiser, while showing the differences that exists between them in the process. Crane’s practice of realism is the same with Dreiser’s style in the sense that the two of them try to show the experience of people living in the urban city as this was evident in each of their works in Maggie: A Girl of the Streets and Sister Carrie respectively.

The two authors try to show the reality of living in an urban setting and the experiences of people living in the cities. The two of them usually talk about the experience and challenges faced by women living in the society and in the case of Maggie: A Girl of the Streets and Sister Carrie, they talk about the experience of women living in the urban society and the consequences that comes with them living in the urban society. The two authors depict life as a normal process. It is pertinent to note that the two authors have shown that one basic principle to live in the urban world is to be fit as they show the animalistic survival of the fittest principle in their works.

The difference that exists between the works of Crane in Maggie: A Girl of the Streets and Dreiser in Sister Carrie is in the ability of one of the authors to integrate emotions into his work. While Crane took cognizance of the people living in the urban settings with a consideration for their yearning for sympathy (Crane), Dreiser does not in any way consider any form of pleadings for sympathy or moral judgment (Dreiser), and this is the major difference between the depiction of realism by the two writers in the works considered.

The significance of the difference is based on the fact that, it shows that one of the authors tried to integrate emotions into their works. Thus, it could then be argued that Stephen Crane weaves a certain amount of emotion into his work, while Theodore Dreiser does not really integrate emotions into his work. Dreiser’s work is more of an acknowledgement of the sufferings of the people that he wrote about, while Crane moves further to show the yearnings of the people, while pleading for them in the process.

Work Cited Crane, Stephen. Maggie: A Girl of the Streets. Rockville, MD: Filiquarian Publishing, LLC, 2007. Print Dreiser, Theodore. Sister Carrie, ed. Donald Pizer. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 1991.Print