The novel opens with a fight between kids from Devil's Row and Rum Alley, two different parts of town. A young boy named Jimmie is at the center of the fight, and is one of the novel's main characters. While he is fighting, a boy named Pete comes up and saves him from the other boys, who would surely have beaten Jimmie to death if they had the opportunity. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Shortly thereafter, Jimmie finds himself in another fight, this time broken up by his father, whose influence on Jimmie shapes the person he becomes. His father forces him home and we are introduced to Tommie and Maggie, who are Jimmie's younger siblings. Soon Maria, the mother, also enters the scene. She is a raging alcoholic, which in turn has made her not only a hateful and violent person, but also a terrifying one to be around let alone live with. Everyone in the family fears her, and her violent behavior is so bad that she drives her children to hide in corners whenever she is in one of her states. Even the smallest things, like when Maggie accidentally broke a plate while washing dishes, cause Mary to react extremely violently. Things got so bad that night that Jimmie had to ask the old lady who lived on the floor above them if he could stay the night, which was not unusual for him. She told him that she would let him stay with her for the night if he went to the bar and bought her a beer, but to her surprise she found her father there, getting the beer. When Jimmie returns home the next day, he finds his parents knocking him out, obviously after having been involved in another terrible fight the night before. Time passes and Tommie and his father die. Maggie has become a nice and balanced girl, despite her family life. Jimmie on the other hand takes after his father and becomes a mean, evil man, with no real purpose to live for. Maggie gets a job at a collar and cuff factory, where she works full time. Pete, now a wealthy, grown man, returns to Maggie's life and the two begin dating. It takes her to many events that she might not otherwise have seen. Shortly thereafter, a night comes when a bar refuses service to Mary, and she returns home in a rage. She takes her extreme anger out on Maggie by cursing her and calling her horrible names, and ends up leaving with Pete. The next night, Jimmie hears from a woman that the old lady overheard Maggie ask Pete if he loved her. He is enraged by this and is determined to find Pete so he can hurt him, so he and his friend find Pete one night at a bar where he works and get into a big fight. This results in the arrest of Pete and Jimmie's friend. Three weeks later, Maggie and Pete are at another bar and Pete's old friend Nellie shows up with her date. The two reconnect and begin to flirt, and eventually leave together, so Maggie returns home. Please note: this is just an example. Get a custom paper from our expert writers now. Get a Custom Essay When she arrives, her mother wastes no time in ridiculing her and reminding her what a terrible person she is. Mary humiliates her in front of all the neighbors and treats her as if she has some kind of illness. More time passes and Maggie goes to Pete while he is working at the bar, but he tells her to "go to hell". She walks the streets, rejected by almost everyone, and eventually ends up near a dark river, and the chapter ends abruptly. Next we come to the final scene where Pete is in a bar surrounded by girls, including Nellie. He is very drunk and as a result buys a lot of drinks and says he is.