How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
She dragged him to an unholy sink, and, soaking a rag in water, began to scrub his lacerated face with it. (2.17)
We get a characteristic Crane jab here: Mary Johnson may bathe her child, but she does so in an environment devoid of holiness. In other words, she may be their mother, but she's no role model—there's nothing devout about her or her home.
Quote #2
They had a lurid altercation, in which they damned each other's souls with frequency. (2.29)
This depiction of Mr. and Mrs. Johnson shows the mockery these two make of religion. Damning each other has no meaning because neither of them cares a bit about what God thinks. They're all bluster.
Quote #3
The old woman was a gnarled and leathery personage who could don, at will, an expression of great virtue. She possessed a small music-box capable of one tune, and a collection of "God bless yehs" pitched in assorted keys of fervency. Each day she took a position upon the stones of Fifth Avenue, where she crooked her legs under her and crouched immovable and hideous, like an idol. (3.2)
The people in Maggie only use religion when it benefits them. The downstairs neighbor may show some decency to Jimmie, but she has her own scam going on out in the mean streets of the Bowery.