 Beginning with Robert W. Stallman's 1968 Crane biography, several critics have explored the novel in terms of Christian allegory.In particular, the death of Henry Fleming's Christ-like friend, Jim Conklin, is noted for evidence of this reading, as well as the concluding sentence of chapter nine, which refers to the sun as "fierce wafer" in the sky.John Berryman was one of the first critics to interpret the novel as a modern wasteland through which the protagonist plays the role of an Everyman.