The Swede comes to the Blues Hotel with the assumption that he will witness, if not be involved in, robberies and murders. The Swede was already experiencing inner fears about the West and when he was invited to join a friendly card game with Johnnie and the other customers of the Blue Hotel, his fears were heightened.
What is the significance of the Blue Hotel in the book?
The blue color of the hotel is a testimony to the owner’s conceit. Scully imagines himself to be an exemplary host and entrepreneur. Rather than viewing the Blue Hotel as a tranquil haven, the Swede believes it to be a frontier outpost fraught with danger. In the end, his irrational fear becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.
What is the social problem in the Blue Hotel?
The primary social concern in Stephen Crane's "The Blue Hotel," set in a very small Nebraska prairie town called Fort Romper (probably Omaha), is the plight of the stranger in the midst of a seemingly threatening group of "insiders" whose ways and attitude toward the stranger are difficult to understand, even though there is no language problem.
How does the Swede behave in the hotel room?
The Swede suddenly becomes alarmed and wildly asserts that he will be murdered in the hotel that night. The Swede’s peculiar behavior is a puzzle to everyone except the Easterner. He understands that the poor foreigner’s view of the West has been distorted by dime novels.
Why is the Blue Hotel Blue in Outer Banks?
The blue color of the hotel is a testimony to the owner’s conceit. Scully imagines himself to be an exemplary host and entrepreneur. Rather than viewing the Blue Hotel as a tranquil haven, the Swede believes it to be a frontier outpost fraught with danger.
What is the source of Swede's fear in the Blue Hotel?
The Swede comes to the Blues Hotel with the assumption that he will witness, if not be involved in, robberies and murders. The Swede was already experiencing inner fears about the West and when he was invited to join a friendly card game with Johnnie and the other customers of the Blue Hotel, his fears were heightened.
Who is responsible for the Swedes death in the Blue Hotel?
The cowboy suggests the bartender bears responsibility for the Swede's death because he didn't stop the fight before it got out of hand, yet the cowboy fails to consider how he, himself, did the same thing back in the hotel— and, according to his own logic, thus played a role in the Swede's death as well.
Who is the Swede in the Blue Hotel?
The Blue Hotel Swede Stephan Cane is the author of “The Blue Hotel” set at the Palace Hotel in Fort Romper, Nebraska in the 1900s. Patrick Scully is the owner of the Palace Hotel, Johnnie Scully is Patrick's son. The Swede is the dominant character who is eventually killed by the gambler.
What is the falling action of the Blue Hotel?
When the men refuse to drink with the Swede, the men get into a fight–during the brawl, the Gambler pulls out a knife and stabs the Swede, who dies on the floor of the bar. The story ends sometime later, when the Easterner and the Cowboy meet up after the Swede's murder trial.
What is the story the Blue Hotel about?
The Blue Hotel is a short story by Stephen Crane published in 1898 in two installments. It tells the story of a group of people who experience something extraordinary in the middle of their ordinary lives. It features a style of writing not common in American literature of that time, expressionism.
What is the theme of the Blue Hotel?
By far the most important theme in the story is alienation and its dangerous consequences to the individual who feels estranged from the surrounding group, becoming vulnerable to the point of paranoia and self-destructive behavior.
Who wrote The Blue Hotel?
Stephen CraneThe Blue Hotel / AuthorStephen Crane was an American poet, novelist, and short story writer. Prolific throughout his short life, he wrote notable works in the Realist tradition as well as early examples of American Naturalism and Impressionism. He is recognized by modern critics as one of the most innovative writers of his generation. Wikipedia
Why does the Swede panic in the middle of the first card game and offer to leave the hotel?
2. In the short story, The Blue Hotel by Stephen Crane, why does the Swede panic in the middle of the first card game and offer to leave the hotel? The Swede lost all of his money to the men and thinks they are going to kill him if he can't pay. The Swede realizes he left one of his bags at the train station.
What is the meaning of The Blue Hotel?
Stephen Crane's short story, "The Blue Hotel", uses the elements of fear and control to transport the reader from the beginning to end.
What is the POV of The Blue Hotel?
Points of View Crane writes the Blue Hotel exclusively from the third person point of view. The reader sees the story unfold from a subjective point of view, feeling a desire to help Scully, a feeling of sympathy for Johnnie, and a feeling of repulsiveness towards the Swede (at least initially).
Who said that the blizzard and the blue hotel foreshadow the subsequent fistfight and stabbing
Robert Louis Stevenson once wrote that in a good story, terrain and atmosphere should express and symbolize the characters and action. Crane follows Stevenson’s injunction, as the images of the blizzard and the “screaming blue” hotel foreshadow the subsequent fistfight and stabbing. In fact, just as the blue-legged heron “declares his position” ...
What is the blue color of the hotel?
The blue color of the hotel is a testimony to the owner’s conceit. Scully imagines himself to be an exemplary host and entrepreneur. Rather than viewing the Blue Hotel as a tranquil haven, the Swede believes it to be a frontier outpost fraught with danger. In the end, his irrational fear becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.
What does Crane offer the Swede?
He provides them with (baptismal) water, shows the Swede icons (pictures of his children), and offers him (sacramental) libation . Crane even describes the stove as like an altar that hums “with godlike violence.”. In the end, the deluded Swede runs from the safety of the temple and meets his fate in the hellish saloon.
For Teachers
This lesson plan is based on the CALLA approach and teaches the learning strategy Personalize to help students understand the story.
Words in This Story
whiskey - n. a strong alcoholic drink made from a grain (such as rye, corn, or barley)
Sections 1-3
Patrick Scully owns the Palace Hotel in Fort Romper, Nebraska. It is painted a very obvious hue of blue. Scully goes to the train station every morning to solicit hotel guests. On this winter day, Scully brings back three guests: a quiet Easterner, a nervous-looking Swede, and a rugged cowboy.
Sections 4-6
While Scully and the Swede are in the bedroom, the Easterner, the cowboy, and Johnnie talk about the Swede and his strange behavior. The Easterner believes the Swede is simply a very frightened man, but Johnnie and the cowboy do not understand why he would be.
Sections 7-9
The cowboy wishes he could fight the Swede, but Scully concedes that the Swede won the fight against Johnnie fairly. As he leaves, the Swede wishes to pay Scully for his services. Again, Scully declines his offer. In a last parting shot, the Swede mimes the cowboy’s shouts of “kill him” from the fight.
What was the name of the Swede who tacked on the face of the storm?
THE Swede, tightly gripping his valise, tacked across the face of the storm as if he carried sails. He was following a line of little naked gasping trees, which he knew must mark the way of the road. His face, fresh from the pounding of Johnnie's fists, felt more pleasure than pain in the wind and the driving snow. A number of square shapes loomed upon him finally, and he knew them as the houses of the main body of the town. He found a street and made travel along it, leaning heavily upon the wind whenever, at a corner, a terrific blast caught him.
What was the Swede's supper like?
AT six-o'clock supper, the Swede fizzed like a fire-wheel. He sometimes seemed on the point of bursting into riotous song, and in all his madness he was encouraged by old Scully. The Easterner was incased in reserve; the cowboy sat in wide-mouthed amazement, forgetting to eat, while Johnnie wrathily demolished great plates of food. The daughters of the house when they were obliged to replenish the biscuits approached as warily as Indians, and, having succeeded in their purposes, fled with ill-concealed trepidation. The Swede domineered the whole feast, and he gave it the appearance of a cruel bacchanal. He seemed to have grown suddenly taller; he gazed, brutally disdainful, into every face. His voice rang through the room. Once when he jabbed out harpoon-fashion with his fork to pinion a biscuit the weapon nearly impaled the hand of the Easterner which had been stretched quietly out for the same biscuit.
Who said "That's the dod-dangest Swede I ever see"?
AFTER the departure of Scully the three men, with the card-board still upon their knees, preserved for a long time an astounded silence. Then Johnnie said: "That's the dod-dangest Swede I ever see."
What color is the Palace Hotel at Fort Romper?
THE Palace Hotel at Fort Romper was painted a light blue , a shade that is on the legs of a kind of heron, causing the bird to declare its position against any background. The Palace Hotel, then, was always screaming and howling in a way that made the dazzling winter landscape of Nebraska seem only a gray swampish hush. It stood alone on the prairie, and when the snow was falling the town two hundred yards away was not visible. But when the traveler alighted at the railway station he was obliged to pass the Palace Hotel before he could come upon the company of low clap-board houses which composed Fort Romper, and it was not to be thought that any traveler could pass the Palace Hotel without looking at it. Pat Scully, the proprietor, had proved himself a master of strategy when he chose his paints. It is true that on clear days, when the great trans-continental expresses, long lines of swaying Pullmans, swept through Fort Romper, passengers were overcome at the sight, and the cult that knows the brown-reds and the subdivisions of the dark greens of the East expressed shame, pity, horror, in a laugh. But to the citizens of this prairie town, and to the people who would naturally stop there, Pat Scully had performed a feat. With this opulence and splendor, these creeds, classes, egotisms, that streamed through Romper on the rails day after day, they had no color in common.
Why does the Blue Hotel take place?
The reason why most of the events take place at the Blue Hotel is because it shows the development of the Swede from fearful outsider to boasting troublemaker. It also sets the reader up for his eventual transition in this plot of “The Blue Hotel” into the saloon (the quintessential “Old West” setting) and makes the “dime store” theory more profound. When we find out that Johnny was cheating, we see that it does not matter in the end, that what was important was the Swede’s reaction.
Who wrote the Blue Hotel?
For background, here is a plot summary of “The Blue Hotel” by Stephen Crane. This list of important quotations from “The Blue Hotel” by Stephen Crane will help you work ...
Who is the antagonist in The Blue Hotel?
Some say it is the Swede while others contend it is the town or outside influences—that the antagonist is not even a human. The Swede is the major antagonist of “The Blue Hotel” by Stephen Crane because from the very beginning he makes those around him angry and uncomfortable—even before he begins to fight and becomes obnoxious.
Why is the dime store a critique of the dime store perceptions of the Old West?
This is a critique of the dime store perceptions of the Old West because they portray the Old West as a violent playground of gamblers and swindlers. It also almost seems as though the Swede is trying to provoke a response (especially at the saloon) that fits into his version of what the Old West is supposed to be.
Where does the Blue Hotel take place?
To summarize, “The Blue Hotel” by Stephen Crane takes place at the Palace Hotel which is near a train station in rural Nebraska. The proprietor of the hotel, which is painted blue and is something of an attraction/eyesore in town, is named Scully. He meets a man at the train station whom we only know simply as “The Swede" throughout the entire story and persuades him to stay at his establishment. Scully also gets “The Easterner" and a cowboy to stay the night as well. When the three arrive at the hotel, they notice that The Swede is acting strangely. He seems convinced that everyone is trying to kill him, including the Scully’s son, Johnny.
What is the theme of the Blue Hotel?
One of the themes in “The Blue Hotel” revolves around male bravado and it should be noted how he is increasingly boastful as he gets drunk—a complete change from the cowardice he displayed before.
Who is the narrator of the story The Swede?
The narrator in this short story by Stephen Crane describes how the other two residents of the hotel, the Easterner and the Cowboy are baffled and begin to get angry at The Swede’s behavior while Scully, trying to keep his guest happy, attempts to console him.
When was the Blue Hotel written?
The Blue Hotel first appeared in 1898 in a collection of Crane’s short stories entitled, The Monster and Other Stories. It is perhaps the most widely-read of all the tales in the collection and while it may seem, on the surface, to be a rather straightforward story about a man who gets in trouble after a stay at the Palace Hotel, ...
Who does Scully meet at the train station?
He meets a man at the train station whom we only know simply as “The Swede" throughout the entire story and persuades him to stay at his establishment. Scully also gets “The Easterner" and a cowboy to stay the night as well. When the three arrive at the hotel, they notice that The Swede is acting strangely.