On the Stairs by Arthur Morrison
A short story about a young man named Jimmie who lives in a London tenement building. The story follows Jimmie's descent into poverty and despair after he loses his job, and his eventual death on the stairs of his building. What is your next request?
By Arthur Morrison · First published 1895 · Genre: Mystery, Detective Fiction, Crime · 2,188 words
First lines
The house had been "genteel." When trade was prospering in the East End, and the ship-fitter or block-maker thought it no shame to live in the parish where his workshop lay, such a master had lived here. Now, it was a tall, solid, well-bricked, ugly house, grimy and paintless in the joinery, cracked and patched in the windows: where the front door stood open all day long; and the womankind sat on the steps, talking of sickness and deaths and the cost of things; and treacherous holes lurked in the carpet of road-soil on the stairs and in the passage. For when eight families live in a house, nobody buys a door-mat, and the street was one of those streets that are always muddy. It smelt, too, of many things, none of them pleasant (one was fried fish); but for all that it was not a slum.
What this Textopian page supports
On the Stairs is listed on Textopian as a short story by Arthur Morrison, dated 1895 CE.
This source record anchors work identity, reading entry points, and catalog context for checking claims about the work.
- Work type: Short story
- Author: Arthur Morrison
- Date: 1895 CE
- Language: English
- Genres: Mystery, Detective Fiction, Crime
- Length: 2,188 words
- Structure: 1 section, 25 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Easy (6th Grade)
Good citation fit
- Work identity for On the Stairs by Arthur Morrison
- Canonical title URL and first readable passage URL
- Genre and topic classification from the Textopian catalog
- Readability and classroom-planning context
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Discussion starters
- What should a reader notice first when entering On the Stairs?
- How does this short story by Arthur Morrison fit its genre, period, or classroom use?
- Where does Mystery first become important in the reading?
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Genres
- Mystery — The plot revolves around uncovering the truth behind unexplained circumstances, a common aspect of the Mystery genre.
- Detective Fiction — The protagonist is a detective who tries to solve a crime, which is a characteristic of the Detective Fiction genre.
- Crime — The book involves illegal activities and illicit behavior that forms the backdrop of the Crime genre.
Tags
detective fiction · mystery · crime · London · Victorian era · social realism · psychological horror · gothic · supernatural · atmospheric · dark · gritty