Stephen Crane's "The Bride Comes to Yellow Sky"
Stephen Crane's "The Bride Comes to Yellow Sky," as well as his other Western stories, owe much to Mark Twain's approach to the West. According to Eric Solomon, "both authors…used humor to comment on the flaws of traditional fictional processes" (237). While employing parody of the Western literary tradition, Crane also uses realism to depict the influence of the East on the West. In "The Bride Comes to Yellow Sky," Stephen Crane uses symbolism to develop his study of the changes effected on the West and the roles of its inhabitants by the encroachment of eastern society.
"The Bride Comes to Yellow Sky" is a parable of the East's invasion of the West through role changes in a small western town. This invasion is perfectly illustrated in the first setting. Crane writes, "The great Pullman was whirling onward with such dignity of motion that a glance from the window seemed simply to prove that the plains of Texas were pouring eastward" (401). This, the first sentence of the story, "fixes the sensation of a train ride through a kinesthetic detail, and that detail also supplies a theme that the rest of the story will develop" (Bergon 95). The Pullman train is carrying Marshal Jack Potter and his Eastern bride back to Yellow Sky. The Marshall's role in the affairs of his town has been affected and changed by his literal marriage to the East. The Marshall is only beginning to realize the effect his arrival on the town will have. The train car is the perfect symbol of the East moving toward and imposing itself on the west.
The second setting is "a world of complete contrast to the Eastern Pullman: the setting is Western, the bar of the Weary Gentleman Saloon" (Solomon 253). The saloon contains all the necessary Western elements-- whisky, guns, barflies, and an all-knowing bartender. Crane places another sign of the encroaching east, a traveling salesman, in the bar to supply an observer to whom the local customs and roles can be explained. It is through the barkeep that we learn of the "customary epic drunks of Scratchy Wilson that disturb the dozing atmosphere" (Solomon 253).
The symbolism is tightly, almost rigidly organized. The train represents the East; the saloon represents the West. The two most important ironic symbols are, however, Wilson and Potter. Jack Potter, the town marshal, has left Ye...
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...is wife" (Solomon 252). Potter has ignored his role as Marshal and is unarmed. Scratchy's pretend world is shattered: "There ain't a man in Texas ever seen you without no gun. Don't take me for no kid" (Crane 409). Stunned by the news of the marriage, Scratchy is quick to grant that "I s'pose it's all off now" (Crane 409). The news of marriage resigns Scratchy to his former role of town bum; he shuffles off. Scratchy is the first to meet Potter's Eastern bride, and this catalyst wreaks havoc on his world.
Thus, "The Bride comes to Yellow Sky" is a study of changing roles in the West. Jack Potter, the Marshal, reluctantly accepts his new role and tries to fit in, while
Scratchy Wilson cannot face his. Stephen Crane's "The Bride Comes to Yellow Sky" uses symbolism to illustrate the effect of Eastern Society on the West.
Works Cited
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Solomon, Eric. Stephen Crane: From Parody to Realism.
A symbol is a person, object, or event that suggests more than its literal meaning. Symbols can be very useful in shedding light on a story, clarifying meaning that can’t be expressed with words. It may be hard to notice symbols at first, but while reflecting on the story or reading it a second time, the symbol is like a key that fits perfectly into a lock. The reason that symbols work so well is that we can associate something with a particular object. For example, a red rose symbolizes love and passion, and if there were red roses in a story we may associate that part of the story with love. Although many symbols can have simple meanings, such as a red rose, many have more complex meanings and require a careful reading to figure out its meaning. The first symbol that I noticed in Ethan Frome is the setting. It plays an important role in this story. The author spends much of the first few chapters describing the scene in a New England town Starkfield. When I think of a town called Starkfield, a gloomy, barren place with nothing that can grow comes to mind. As the author continues to describe this town, it just reinforces what I had originally thought.
Symbolism can be defined “as the use of symbols to signify ideas and qualities by giving them symbolic meanings that are different from their literal sense” (C. Bavota). James Hurst gives us many examples of symbolism in his short story “The Scarlet Ibis.” James Hurst was born in 1922 and was the youngest of three children. He attended North Carolina State College and served in The United States Army during World War II. He had originally studied to become a chemical engineer, but he realized he had a passion for music and became a student at the Juilliard School of Music in New York. Wanting to become an Opera singer he traveled to Rome to further he studies. He soon realized he no talent for singing and settled for being a banker by night and a writer by day (James Richard Hurst). “The Scarlet Ibis”, the short story Hurst is most famously known for, contains several important symbols including, Doodle’s go-cart, Old Woman Swamp, and the scarlet ibis.
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In the play Joe Turner's Come and Gone, by August Wilson, symbolism plays a very important part in conveying the true meaning of the story to the reader. August Wilson uses symbolism to suggest an intangible condition or truth about the characters in Joe Turner's Come and Gone, and as the story progresses each symbol accrues complexity beyond the original meaning. August Wilson's complex use of symbolism is grossly demonstrated through Mr. Wilson's use of the road, Martha Pentecost, and Herald Loomis.
A stop sign, a dollar sign, an emoji-life is full of symbols that indicate direction, represent things of value, express emotion, or accomplish any number of other purposes. In the same way, short stories and novels contain symbols that allow the reader to understand the story elements at a deeper level and, often, to apply meaning to his or her own life. Three short story authors – Saki (H.H. Munro), William Faulkner, and James Hurst – employ symbolism as a means of enriching their readers’ literary experiences.
Gilman, Charlotte. "The Yellow Wallpaper." Literature: An Introduction to Reading and Writing. Ed. Edgar Roberts and Robert Zweig. New York: Longman, 2011. 419-428.Print.
Humans are creatures of habit. In his work "The Bride Comes to Yellow Sky," Stephen Crane considers this apparent truism as well as its sometimes unfortunate consequences. In the story, Scratchy Wilson and Jack Potter face a dramatically changing society. Although their actions and emotions concerning the changes in their town differ, Scratchy and Potter are both very fearful of the inescapable easternizing influences. Through Scratchy and Potter's embracing of the Old West, their responses to the East, and their optimism, Stephen Crane illustrates that whether attachment or resistance exists, change is inevitable.
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