Stephen Crane (1871-1900), the naturalism, American writer. Stephen
Crane was well known for his naturalist style during his time. Naturalism in literature was a philosophy used by writers to describe humans in regards to the influences and interactions within their own environments. The characters described in the naturalist literatures were usually in dire surroundings and often from the middle to lower classes. Despite their circumstances however, humans within the naturalist literature were able to eventually overcome their situations by some form of courage or heroism, which Crane found to be consistent in all of the cultures and settings he often studied. After schooling at Lafayette College and Syracuse University, he worked in New York as a freelance journalist. His short stories and experimental poetry, also anticipated the ironic realism of the decades ahead. In his brief and energetic life, he published fourteen books while acting out, in his personal adventures, the legend of the writer as soldier of fortune. Among one of his works include "The Blue Hotel." "The Blue Hotel by Stephen Crane is a story about three travelers passing through Fort Romper, Nebraska. Pat Scully, the owner of the Palace Hotel, draws three men, a cowboy, an easterner, and a Swede to his hotel that is near the train station. In the hotel the three
men meet Johnnie, son of Scully, and agree to play a game of cards with him. The moment that the Swede arrives at the "The Blue Hotel" it is somehow, in the Swedes mind, transformed into a wild west hotel, by the many dime novels he has read, which made him even more uneasy about staying at the hotel. In one of the initial scenes his fear is evident as the nervous Swede announces that he knows that he wont get out of there alive. The Swedes fear of dying had made him want to leave the hotel, but Pat Scully, the owner of the Blue Hotel, attempted to get him to stay by showing him