The Blue Hotel Essay

In the short story “The Blue Hotel,” the author Stephen Crane is accomplished with his use of symbolism and details of setting to foreshadow what is to come in the story. From the moment the hotel owner, Scully, brings a Swede and two others to his Palace Hotel, there is tension. The Swede constantly acts strange and as the story progresses the Swede announces that he will be killed while at the hotel. Contrary to his belief, he dies by being slit in the throat at a bar. Crane uses the setting of the Wild West, a blizzard, and symbolic colors to express the central idea that people tend to prophesize the worst when in a new environment.
Starting with his broadest detail of setting, Crane uses the Wild West to create the main conflict of the story. The Swede is from New York which means that he has spent his life among tall buildings and in cities. So,

In the very beginning, Crane gives a detailed description of the Palace Hotel, most of it entailing the vast uses of the color blue. It is a light blue that “was always screaming and howling” (315) in a way that is “sufficiently enticing” (315). The color blue is often picked to show symbolism of some sort whether it is sadness or relaxation and peace. In this case, it is chosen represent an oasis among the bleak background. So, in other words, a safe place among the chaos. This creates irony because the Swede believes this is where he will die, but it is actually going to protect him from the danger of the real Wild West. However, the Swede leaves and he comes across the color red right before entering a bar. A “red light was burning, and the snowflakes were made blood colour as they flew through the circumscribed territory of the lamp’s shining” (330). Red is a symbolism that cannot be ignored. In all scenarios, it is a clear warning of danger or a sign to stop. Nonetheless, the Swede in all his madness, walks in and gets himself