Blue Hotel

The Blue Hotel

Steven Crane is not one of the most liked authors in the world. He tends to become to engulfed in the scenery around the action that is taking place rather than the action itself. When watching the movie, cannot experience this description since it is given to them. Details are very important for the readers because if the reader cannot see the same thing that the writer sees then the reader might lose interest in the story.

In the story “The Blue Hotel,” Crane uses his excellent setting and character description along with the physical, emotional, and intellectual responses of people under extreme pressure and the betrayal and guilt he shows between the characters to help the reader better understand the story or poem. Crane shows these characteristics in almost everything he writes.

In “The Blue Hotel,” Crane does an excellent job of describing the setting to you in every way possible. For example in the beginning of the story “The Blue Hotel,” he says “the hotel 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.” He does this type of depiction on every single thing he describes. Then in paragraph three he says, “A little Irishman wore a heavy fur cap squeezed tightly down on his head. It caused his two red ears to stick out stiffly, as if they were made of tin.” In the movie you are left with no dialogue and all you can do is witness what is being presented. In the end Crane even goes into an in depth description of the bitter cold snow outside. From his description the reader can imagine more chilling scenery than that one that can be created by Hollywood.

Crane also does a good job of establishing his characters through one of his major themes; the physical, emotional, and intellectual responses of people under extreme pressure. Crane shows this in his characters to help the reader better understand what the character is going through. One example of this is when the Swede accuses Johnny of cheating in a card game. This offends Johnny and his emotional and physical reaction is to challenge the Swede to a fight. Crane stories consist of that moment when the characters confront the inescapable impasse of their situation, they are caught and boxed in by fate, and