The need to embrace change and recognize it as a central part of life is quite a challenging task for most people, primarily due to the fear of discomfort that may emerge alongside with new concepts and ideas. In his short story, “The Bride Comes to Yellow Sky,” Stephen Crane exposes the depth and complexity of the process of reconciling with change by creating a powerful symbol representing the much-needed compromise. Although Crane’s wistful tone in describing the need to part with the established perspectives and lifestyles is evident in the story, he also assumes a mature stance of accepting change, representing it in the novel symbolically.
The concept of change as the inevitability that needs to be encompassed and integrated into one’s life permeates the entire narrative, quickly becoming its leitmotif. While the story incorporates several obvious symbols of change, namely, the bride and the train that the couple rides, the story also includes several more nuanced references to the importance of change. However, while the described symbols are quite explicit in their expression of the inevitability of change, the protagonist’s acceptance of change as a nonetheless important thematic element is significantly subtler. For instance, Crane depicts the innovative appearance of the train in exhaustive details, emphasizing its novelty: “the sea-green figured velvet, the shining brass, silver, and glass, the wood that gleamed as darkly brilliant as the surface of a pool of oil” (Crane). However, John’s attitude toward the technological miracle, while being clearly accepting, is significantly subtler: “He had the pride of an owner” (Crane). The portrayed attitude represents the core conflict of the story, specifically, john’s lingering between the acceptance of change and the resistance to it.
In fact, the story’s protagonist literally marries change since his wife as a character serves the function of representing the social change that Jack undergoes as he decides to start a family and assume responsibility. Thus, even though Jack’s decisiveness falters throughout the entire story and remains fluctuating up until the very denouement of the narration, the idea of change as an inevitable and integral part of life remains inseparable from his character: “He laughed, and groaned as he laughed, when he noted the first effect of his marital bliss upon Yellow Sky” (Crane). Furthermore, Crane makes a concerted effort to emphasize the inevitability of the symbolic change by dropping hints at it throughout the entire story. In fact, the described concept of unstoppable change is imprinted in the very title of the story. Namely, “The Bride Comes to Yellow Sky” serves to convey the sense of change approaching the town inevitably. Thus, using a combination of metaphor and metonymy to make the bride represent the change that the town is about to face and that John has already experienced, Crane creates a unique and rather intricate image.
The continuous emphasis on change as the necessary part of life is ubiquitous and uncompromising in the novel. Moreover, the fact that the intention of change does not come from the main character as much as it does from the symbols represented in the story, primarily, those of marriage and technological progress, allow promoting the idea that change does not need to be seen as the idea that has already been implanted into people’s nature and actively supported by reach individual. Quite the contrary, Crane insists that the necessity to accept and embrace change as a natural part of life progression is the core of the challenge and a necessary step in persona development. The significance of the personal progress observed with the acceptance of change is conveyed in the very behavior and emotions of the character, primarily, the description of his fear and how he handles it. The nervous nature with which John views the necessity of change is conveyed beautifully in the depiction of him waiting for the train: “But the hour of Yellow Sky, the hour of daylight, was approaching” (Crane). Thus, the inevitability of progress collides with the fear experienced by the protagonist.
While John is portrayed as a doubtful and uncertain yet genuine attempt at embracing change, the antagonist represents the need to cling to the old-fashioned ideas that have worn out their welcome. Specifically, the grotesquely exaggerated portrayal of Scratchy Wilson as a hyperbole of a raggedy cowboy looking for fights serves to prove the point of how unjustifiably pathetic the need to cling to the past actually is. In fact, the idea of the absurdity of forcing the ideas and traditions that should have been abandoned years ago to stay is represented in the very name of the antagonist: “’What did you say his name was?’ he asked. ‘Scratchy Wilson,’ they answered in chorus” (Crane). Indeed, “Scratchy Wilson” does not sound either particularly intimidating or especially grandeur; on the contrary, it evokes the opposite sentiment, ridiculing the idea of a rebellious Frontier-inspired stereotype of a character.
In a certain way, the character of Scratchy Wilson can be seen as the representation of the protagonist’s fear of embracing the change in its full extent. While John has mostly reconciled with the idea that the town residents are likely to see his unannounced marriage and the change in his attitude and lifestyle as a betrayal to their community, there is lingering fear portrayed in his mannerisms and behavior. This fear culminates in John entering the saloon and having to face Scratchy Wilson, a remnant of his past and the very embodiment of it.
Therefore, Scratchy Wilson himself acknowledging the legitimacy of John’s change and recognizes his right to take his life in a new direction represents the resolution of John’s internal conflict. Allowing him to face his fears, the specified point in the narration outlines the importance of personal change that is symbolically incorporated into the very fabric of the story. Although John’s wife’s passivity and compliance with the traditional gender norms and roles could be seen as a step backward in the promotion of the idea of change, the overall story supports the need of confronting fears associated with accepting change.
Though there is a certain nostalgic tone in Crane’s narration, pointing to the fact that he recognizes the cultural value of the past, the is still an obvious understanding of the importance of change voiced in the novel through the use of symbols indicating the changing nature of reality. Starting with the very title of the narrative and ending with the unique traits of the character described in the story, “The Bride Comes to Yellow Sky” breathes with the concept of change, promoting the importance of alterations to the reader actively. Though some of the choices that Crane makes in the development of his secondary characters, primarily, John’s wife, could be questioned, the general idea of change as something that is not to be feared but, instead, to be embraced is represented masterfully in the narrative.
Work Cited
Crane, Stephen. “The Bride Comes to Yellow Sky.” WSU.edu, n.d., Web.