The short story “The Bride Comes to Yellow Sky” by Stephen Crane portrays the

characters and the plot in the opposite way the reader would expect in a western. The theme

portrays the death of western culture and the encroachment of Eastern culture into the west.

Crane represents these ideas with setting, irony, and characterization.

The setting is important to the theme because it describes a physical move from the east

to the west. The sheriff and his wife are on the train at the beginning of the story. This represents

the era Crane lived in towards the end of the 18th century (. Western expansion during this time

was a transitional period that brought eastern ideas to the west, therefore removing the

romanticized depiction of the west. When the couple arrives at Yellow Sky, a typical western

town is described. The events that occur in the story are out of place for the setting for the

purpose of showing the eastern invasion of western culture.

Irony drives the meaning of the theme across by placing the reader into a story with

expectations and doing the opposite of that. One way Crane uses irony is when the owner of the

saloon spoke highly of Scratchy Wilson. Soon after, “Turning quickly and easily, he fired the

guns at the bit of paper. He missed it by a half-inch.” (page 8). Gunslinging and marksmanship is

one of the most romanticized aspects of westerns with characters performing impossible feats.

The expectation of a typical western gunslinger is fouled by Wilson missing his shot soon after

being introduced in the story. Another instance of situational irony that contradicts typical

western story telling is how the conflict between Wilson and Jack is resolved. In most stories, the

conflict will resolve with the hero vanquishing the antagonist after a lengthy gunfight or a

dramatic duel. However, Crane chooses to end it with Wilson calming down by finding out Jack

had recently been married (page 10). This ending of the conflict is designed to be disappointing

to show how losing western culture would be disappointing.

 Characterization in westerns follows a very standard pattern in which certain tropes are

almost always filled. Crane begins the wife’s description by violating this and saying, “The bride

was not pretty, nor was she very young.” (page 1). In many western stories, the love interest is

the most beautiful person around and younger. She is also shy and awkward where the love

interest is usually confident and expresses their admiration for the main character openly.

Another character trope that found in almost any western is the villain. The villain is usually a

rugged, hardened person who is always a threat when they are around. The villain Scratchy

Wilson fails to live up to this as his outfit is portrayed as an eastern copy of western authenticity

and is generally well liked unless he’s drunk. Up until the end his behavior is dangerous and

typical of a villain, but the transforms into confusion as Jack shows him his wife. This confusion

turns into his disappointment with the lack of a fight Jack was willing to give him (page 10).

This characterization shift in his behaviors reflects the excitement of western culture, being

slowly absorbed by the dissatisfaction that comes of eastern culture.

These literary devices convey the theme of dying western culture and invading eastern

culture. Irony and the unsatisfying representations of character tropes portray Crane’s experience

with Western culture. The setting served to establish expectations of the story for Crane to bend

against a paint the picture of dying western romanticism.

Works Cited

Crane, Stephen. THE BRIDE COMES TO YELLOW SKY. 1898.