28 pages • 56 minutes read
The Bride Comes to Yellow Sky
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Symbols & Motifs
The Train
The train symbolizes the inevitable encroachment of the lifestyle of the urbanized East into the untamed Wild West, which is one of the primary themes of the text. The train is “rushing forward with such steady dignity of motion,” (16) illustrating that the values and traditions of the Wild West are being replaced as surely and as rapidly as the progress of an oncoming train. Its interior represents the relatively comfortable domesticated conditions of the urbanized East; the train offers “dazzling fittings,” polished surfaces, and artwork painted on the ceilings. The presence of a dining car is also illustrative of this advancing lifestyle, for instead of having to hunt, skin, and cook a meal—a difficult and time-consuming task required by life on the frontier—passengers dine without having to lift a finger. Instead, they are waited on by a servant class. Despite the idealization of life in the American frontier popularized by westerns, Jack Potter and his bride are impressed by the trappings of this luxurious life. As the bride says, “It’s fine, isn’t it?” (17).
Guns
Guns symbolize masculinity, which is valorized in westerns. The challenge of this hypermasculine archetype by domesticity and the encroachment of the more restrained society from the East Coast is among the primary themes of the text. The finale of the western generally culminates in a shootout, with a stock character “good guy” defeating the villain who contested the frontier’s moral code. However, in the story, Potter’s marriage prevents this climax. Because he has no gun, he is not able to perform as expected, and Scratchy Wilson is left with no outlet for his drunken rage. The absence of Potter’s gun domesticates him and truncates the argument. Guns are such a fixture of masculinity in the story, especially for a lawman, that Scratchy can fathom the marshal’s unarmed state only as a sign that he just left church, the only space in which a Western man would appear without a gun.
Scratchy, likewise, finds his masculinity neutered or moderated by proxy. He carries with him two “long, heavy, blue black” guns (22). However, despite the potential to commit great violence with his guns, the townspeople’s comments indicate that there is a performative aspect to his behavior. The saloonkeeper locks the door to prevent his entry, but he is presented as harmless when sober; Scratchy shoots at the door but does not harm anyone, and his power is minimized, despite his weapons. As he roams through the streets shouting threats and shooting mindlessly, “the calm houses preserved their dignity at the passing of this small thing in the middle of the street” (22). The house—the realm of the woman and the symbol of domesticity—is impervious to Scratchy’s bullets. No ranting, raving, or shooting can stop the advance of a new civilization.
Stillness and Silence
The figurative Death of the Wild West is a central theme of the story. Therefore, it is filled with motifs associated with death, including stillness and silence. When Scratchy walks through the town screaming obscenities, they echo through “a seemingly deserted village” and ring “against walls of silence” (22). Once he arrives at Potter’s house, it presents “the same still front” as the other homes and stands empty, regarding him “as a great, stone god might have done” (23).
The combined effect of the stillness and silence suggests abandonment and impending death. This contrasts with the bustle and liveliness Potter and his bride experience on the train. The town of Yellow Sky is in the process of being figuratively entombed, and with it the culture of the Wild West, despite Scratchy’s spirited efforts to keep the image of the gunslinging villain alive. In the end, he is just one man yelling powerlessly in a vast, empty space.
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By Stephen Crane
