Protagonist

Character Role Analysis

Maggie Johnson

Crane tricks us at the beginning of the book. He opens with Jimmie, so if it weren't for the title, we'd think that his life was the main attraction on these pages. But Maggie's title status isn't for nothing, and while her brother becomes a sort of living symbol for the terrible reality she lives in, Maggie is the character whose descent we most lament. After all, she isn't hard and ugly like everything around her—instead, she's just a super poor girl trying to hack it in a world that offers her no hope and no opportunity to thrive.