The Monster and Other Stories

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Synopsis for The Monster and Other Stories
The story takes place in the small, fictional town of Whilomville, New York. An African-American coachman named Henry Johnson, who is employed by the town's physician, Dr. Trescott, becomes horribly disfigured after he saves Trescott's son from a fire. When Henry is branded a "monster" by the town's residents, Trescott vows to shelter and care for him, resulting in his family's exclusion from the community.

These three stories in the book focus on human actions and reactions. “Monster” is particularly interesting as it deals with a black man, Henry Johnson, who saves his employer’s son from a fire, but in the process becomes horribly disfigured.

The employer, a doctor, does what he can for Henry Johnson, and supports him. The reactions of the town people play a central role in the story and how they deal with a physically and mentally disfigured man in their town. It makes the reader think also about race and if that made any difference in the story. “The Blue Hotel” is another story that reads like good fiction, but it has an underlying plot of how random actions lead to a certain outcome.

“His New Mittens” is a child’s story filled with the emotions and logic of a child. From peer pressure to embarrassment and from resentment to belonging. A very well told story.

This collection gives the reader three great stories they probably never read or for that matter heard of. To most people, Crane would seem to be the “one hit wonder” writer of Red Badge of Courage. This collection shows that there is much more depth to the writer than just a war story writer. Very much worth the read.

Facts and Trivia:Crane began writing The Monster in June 1897 while living in Oxted, England with his longtime partner Cora Taylor.

Despite his previous success—The Red Badge of Courage had gone through 14 printings in the United States and six in England—Crane was running out of money. To survive financially, he worked at a feverish pitch, writing prolifically for both the English and the American markets. He later remarked that he wrote The Monster "under the spur of great need", as he desperately required funds.

In August of that year, Crane and Cora were injured in a carriage accident while visiting friend Harold Frederic and his mistress Kate Lyon in Homefield, Kenley; after a week of recuperation, they followed the couple on vacation to Ireland, where Crane finished the story.

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