The Bride Comes to Yellow Sky: Theme of Symbolism - Essay Example

The Bride Comes to Yellow Sky: Theme of Symbolism "The Bride Comes to Yellow Sky" is centered on a man (Jack) and his bride making their way to Yellow Sky a town by train. They move into the little known town in Texas at a point when it had started civilizing or effacing from the Old West (Garrett-Petts 66-67). The wife of Jack, in this case, is important as she has been used to symbolize marriage as an institution that is civilized or an institution that characterize civilized people in a community that is impervious to change. This analysis mainly explores how symbolism is espoused in the short story "The Bride Comes to Yellow Sky". Towards the end, the analysis will also encompass the aspect of perception and reality to bring out the essence of marriage as they both relate to the theme of symbolism. As the story develops, the sudden stoppage of the stereotypical gunfight, a typical feature of the West, symbolizes the ending of an era, which is characterized by the Old West aspects. In this short story, the author used a four-part story to emphasize the interaction of people with their surroundings. As it will be seen, the train has been used by the author to symbolize modernity and thus anybody who boards the train seems to be civilized. With the components such as luxurious fittings, to the newly married couple, the train is like a foreign state. The author, in this case is using symbolism to portray the extent of advancement made in the town and at the same time portraying the couple as aliens who are self-conscious. The author has also introduced the idea of “childish things” as a critical to aspect to frontier setting or theme of change. For instance, in as much as Yellow Sky is civilized as depicted by its best railway infrastructure, it still has people who still cling to the old ways of doing things also described as “childish” ways. Scratchy Wilson is used to symbolize the uncivilized ways. As the author writes: “He puts on a maroon-colored flannel shirt made by some Jewish women on the Eastern Side of New York, and his red-topped boots are a typical wear of the little sledding young men on the hillsides of New England." In fact, from this statement, it can be deduced that the people living on the Eastern Side of New York as well as on the hillsides of New England are mostly immigrants who have not yet embraced the traditions of a civilized world. This is revealed at the end of the story when the author writes, "In the presence of this foreign situation, Scratchy was a simple kid of the earlier plains." At this point Crane also introduces the word “child or kid,” and is also symbolic. Furthermore, serves to reinforce his earlier statement that “Scratchy wears a red-topped boots that are a typical wear of the little sledding boys on the hillsides of New England." In general, all these statements indicate that Scratchy is a person with strong ties to the old, uncivilized West. Moreover, despite Scratchy being an aged man is portrayed not as a mature person, but as a child-man, symbolizing a grown up person who literally refuses to "mature." That is, he wears boots that are associated with kids, and also "plays" with the Yellow Sky town that is why for him it has been described as a "toy." Perception and Reality The idea of appearance and reality was first brought forward by Descartes in his quest to find out how the two terms interplay. In other words, appearance is not reality. In this short story, even though, he knows too well that he is guilty as a result of his criminal actions and being a traitor to his community, Jack takes everything serious just like many other protagonists in this short story. In fact, his perception of himself or self-conscious and his personal situation are actually not identified or shared by other characters in the story. For instance, at the barber shop, the conversation reveals the usefulness of Jack in containing Scratchy Wilson, but it completely fails to reveal or reflect the centrality or the position held by Jack in the community. In fact, what Jack had been doing affronts the set values in the community. For example, the Old West did not recognize the institution of marriage, but Jack went against this and married based on his believe that it was actually "safe" to get married as the author writes: “In taking a wife, it Jack broke with the Old West traditions….” and an indication that marriage was not embraced by the Old Westerners the writer writes: “Just like marriage is a foreign situation to Scratchy Wilson, the last vestiges or remains of the Old West …” (Garrett-Petts 67-68). The difference between reality and perception is vividly depicted on the train. According to the perception of the newly weds, everything in their surroundings was great an aspect that symbolized the beauty of their marriage. In reality this is not true as other passengers were not happy with the way the two were conducting themselves. The author also physicalized the theme of symbolism in the way the bride reacted upon meeting Scratchy. The author writes “She appeared like a slave to repugnant rites of passage, staring at the apparitional serpent" (Garrett-Petts 21). At this point, the author has allegorized or has simply attempted to elevate the unexpected meeting of the newly weds with Scratchy. The phrase "apparitional serpent," is espoused from the biblical setting where satanic forces were symbolized by snakes and they serve to introduce evil things into the new estate or Edenic estate. In this case, the new Edenic estate is the marriage of the newly weds, as the author writes: “To Jack, the house is his ‘citadel’ and marriage is his ‘new estate’." Apparently, the drunken Scratchy Wilson is the one being associated with evil or the apparitional snake, the newly weds are being compared with the innocent, biblical Adam and Eve whereas the "rite" is used to symbolize their fall from grace (Garrett-Petts 46). In conclusion, many themes such as irony, symbolism and even imagery are brought out in “The Bride Comes to Yellow Sky”. However, what captures the eye is artistic way used by the author to bring out many lessons out of a simple short story. Works Cited Garrett-Petts, W. Writing about prose fiction: a guide for the student critic. Peterborough, Ont: BRAD, 1999. Read More