The Bride Comes to Yellow Sky

The Bride Comes to Yellow Sky Stephen Crane took a unique approach to storytelling when he wrote “The Bride Comes to Yellow Sky”. He did not just focus on the hero alone; he also talked about the bride and included her in the title to advertise her importance in the story. The symbolism in this story makes it more interesting. The role that each character in a story plays is very important, though each character’s idea of their own part may not be the identical as other characters’. For example, Jack sees his role as the town sheriff, though the Bride, and now Scratchy, sees him as the husband. With more of the story having been written, we maybe would have seen that the people of the town share Jack’s understanding of his role as the sheriff. The bride sees herself in a different way as well. She, having come from a different scenery with a different role before she got married, feels out of place, while Jack has more confidence in her, and sees her simply as his wife, and not to cook. “It was quite apparent that she had cooked, and that she expected to cook, dutifully”. (254).
The way each character views their role defines much of the way the story carries out. The idea that the other characters have of another character’s role determines quite a bit of how they interact with each-other. We see this in the final section of the story, when Scratchy’s determined idea of Jack’s being ‘the sheriff’ is torn down and exchanged with his understanding of Jack as a married man. The difference, even if only in his mind, is drastic, and completely changes the way he interacts with Jack.
In this story, the “glittering” parlor car symbolizes the transformation in the Bride’s life. It contrasts with her “plan, underclass countenance” (254) and represents her new life as a wife instead of a cook. But it also creates a mood of anxiety or worry. The Bride is not yet at ease in her new lifestyle and role, and she projects it outside and inside. Inside, she views other