Motley's Knock on Any Door is similar in many ways to Dreiser's An American Tragedy. This is especially true of the materials selected and the style in which the two books are written. Both novels deal with sensitive boys who desired to be different, but the warping influence of environment changed the course of their development. Instead of becoming upright, honest, and useful citizens, they became criminals. Society in both cases imposes on them the extreme penalty for its own preservation of law and order. The moral pointed in both instances is a paradox. Society must assume the responsibility for the crimes perpetrated by each boy; yet the same society must take the lives of the boys in order to protect itself.

Both writers use the technique of accumulation of details, and they insist on interpolations. At times the writing fascinates the reader by its clarity. Motley has some economy in his novel. Neither Willard Motley nor Theodore Dreiser is subtle, but Dreiser has more subtlety than Motley. Both authors impress the reader with their humaneness and the sense of compassion. Both men seem to admire the central character and display unquestioned honesty and integrity in reporting their cruel yet realistic fables. Both are naturalists and obey their compulsion to render the situation as truthfully and faithfully as their observational powers will permit. Dreiser's naturalism has more of the seemingly cosmic sweep than Motley's, but the latter has massiveness. Like James Farrell, Motley employs the shock technique, and in the deftness with which he handles his theme he recalls both Theodore Dreiser and James Farrell…. Simply stated, Motley advances the thesis that society, by providing unwholesome environment, corrupts the youth and is, therefore, responsible for the crimes they commit.

In its own terms, Knock on Any Door posits the sociological case study of Nick Romano. (pp. 178-79)

The picture in contrast from the sensitive altar boy, who was almost too handsome, to the conscienceless murderer presents one of the more effective and emotionally charged portrayals in modern American writing. (pp. 179-80)

Motley is not a moralizer as such, but the social commentary in his novel, Knock on Any Door, strikes with unmistakable force. He follows the principles of the school of naturalism very closely. This set of circumstances without God and without successful educative forces makes of Nick a pawn in the hands of malevolent society. Nick makes the decision through the exercise of his own volition after he has been warped by society's agencies which are theoretically designed to mold character and to develop upright citizens. (p. 184)

The characterization of Nick is the achievement in this book. He has a magnetism which works for him at all times in a rather satisfactory way. Somehow the author transmutes this same magnetism to the reader, and despite all of his obviously antisocial attitudes, Nick attracts and exacts sympathy. (p. 185)

The world created by Motley strikes with the power of reality in the best naturalistic tradition. For instance, observational ability to note the minute details of the underworld, that is to say, the truly seamy side of life, appears in his description of one of several dives. Life on Skid Row, which he incisively describes, is his contribution to protest literature. It has a certain shock value and is very suggestive of the danger awaiting the person who dares to travel its route. (pp. 186-87)

As an example of modern tragedy Nick Romano of Knock on Any Door illustrates the principle with pristine simplicity. Modern tragedy springs from a sympathy with the ordinary man who fails to achieve happiness or success in life. It is man in the clutch of adverse circumstances with its corresponding helplessness. (p. 189)

Even though Motley's Knock on Any Door is significant as a novel, and proves to be a remarkable first work, it has several flaws. The first defect and the most important, it seems, is the overall architectonic of the novel. It attempts to include too much. More economy for a fable of this type is required. Too many details and too many characters appear so that the reader may very well have difficulty in keeping in mind the threads and fortunes of all characters along with the narrative. The interpolation is too long. Actually, the Schultz family becomes a novella, thereby throwing the frame of the novel out of proportion…. Furthermore, the indictment of society may very well backfire because of the successful operation of the same forces for good in the lives of useful citizens.

Yet the flaws melt away in comparison with the positive virtues of the novel as an artistic accomplishment. (pp. 190-91)