The Blue Hotel (Essay Sample)

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The Blue Hotel
The Blue Hotel, a short story by Stephen Crane revolves around a story that takes place at Fort Romper during winter. The story begins with Scully, the hotel proprietor, whom Crane explains that has a habit of meeting the local trains that stop at Romper every morning and evening and using his seductions on any guest by urging them to lodge his hotel. On one particular morning, Scully uses his persuasive and controlling power to convince the three visitors who came from the train station to stay at Palace hotel. The Palace Hotel is the pride of Fort Romper because of the light blue painting, compared to a shade on the legs of a heron. He collects three men: the Swede, Cowboy, and Easterner and escorts them to the hotel where they meet Scully’s son, Johnnie, playing High-Five cards with the old farmer. Scully’s daughters also live in the hotel.
As Johnnie and his father get the rooms ready, the visitors stay by the stove where Cowboy and the Easterner engage in a conversation. Contrarily, the Swede is fully engrossed in the details of the hotel. Later, Johnnie returns to entertain the guests where the four plays as the Swede announces that many people died in the lodge earlier. Johnnie and the other two visitors think he is insane as he incessantly claims that he will also die in the room. As the claims persist, Scully appears and takes Swede to his room where he tries to calm him down. He shows the Swede pictures of his late daughter, Carrie, and his oldest son, Michael, lawyer in Lincoln. After sharing whiskey with the Swede, Scully fails to take control over him. Eventually when both of them return to the main room, Johnnie and Swede resume cards playing. Apparently, the Swede has transitioned from being nervous, timid to acting offensive, domineering. Suddenly, he alleges Johnnie is cheating on the game, which the boy denies. In return, the boy tries to challenge the Swede to a fight in the freezing wind. Unfortunately, the Swede defeats him and then leaves the hotel and heads to saloon in town. Upon entering the salon, he asks the occupants to join him in drinking as he celebrates the victory. However, they are not interested. Offended by the Swede’s annoying behaviour, a local and reputable gambler murder him with a blade.
The last scene takes place in a little ranch near Dakota line months later. Talks between the cowboy and the Easterner depict this. The discussion is about who might take responsibility over the Swede’s murder where the Easterner confesses that Johnnie was truly cheating. He says that he should have been honest instead of leaving the Swede to fight it out alone. The Easterner goes ahead and accuses all the five- himself, the cowboy, Johnnie, old Scully and Swede for collaborating in the murder. However, the cowboy denies taking responsibility for the Swede’s murder (Crane, 1996).
Significantly, the writer uses figurative language, which involves the use of stylistic devices and several literary techniques to create effects in the reader and the society (Watson, 2008, p. 12).This story, employs the elements of fear as well as control from in the whole story. The title of the story do not exclusively show the relationship between the characters, but also how people conquer their own disturbing emotions such as fear, aspirations, and desire for control. Each character caught in a situation that causes the disturbing feelings responds differently. These emotions have affected Scully, the Swede, the gambler and the readers. The title portrays an aspect of symbolism. The opening description of the hotel by referring to it as “The Palace Hotel” is very significant as it gives the reader a feeling and sensation that the title has a hidden meaning. Personification is evident in this description of the hotel in that the writer gives it the ability to scream and howl. This suggests that there has been a series of murders in the room. The writer goes forth to depict the scary scene in the small hotel room by comparing it to a temple of the enormous stove that is hummed with violence. This creates control over the reader and creates caution among them.
Crane cleverly portrays nature by giving weather human qualities such as the ability to look out through small windows in the main room where the men could see a sea of snow, and the wind described as "huge arms" that attempted to embrace the flakes while they sped. The writer uses metaphors in describing the men going into the storm by using the phrase “as they plunged into the tempest as into a sea." This evokes emotions and show how wild and raging the snowstorm is. In addition, it captures the reader’s attention into imagining the mellow cry of blizzards.
When the old farmer who is originally playing cards quarrels with Johnnie, foreshadows Johnnie’s cheating. Presumably, he also believes that the boy cheated in the card game. This gives a hint on the boy’s predilection for cheating. In turn, this indirectly leads to the successive events that led to the Swede’s death. First, the climax of the story appears to be the fight between Johnnie and the Swede, however, as story continues the true climax happens when the gambler stabs the Swede to death in the bar. Irony exists in the conversation between the Easterner and the cowboy at Dakota line when the former reveals that Johnnie was truly cheating and the Swede’s allegation was correct. The Easterner acknowledges his responsibility in the death of the Swede as he takes a community perspective and blaming the entire social and cultural environment. However, the cowboy denies the allegations. As a result, it is evident that, the choices people make and the risks they take have consequences at the end. This discussion also provides expository details in regards to the fate and circumstances accompanying the death of the gambler.
Juxtaposition occurs when the writer introduces the Swede to the reader. The Swede does everything to the contrary of what others are doing. For instance, as the other visitors, the cowboy and the Easterner, engage in a conversation and Johnnie resumes the game with the old farmer, the Swede focuses on the details of the hotel. Fear is the major theme in the story as it affects every character that has any role ...