The Bride Comes to Yellow Sky

Analysis

The Bride Comes to Yellow Sky” by Stephen Crane, is a short story about a man, his wife, and a town drunk who he comes in contact with at the end. The author writes in third person and uses a lot of dialogue throughout the story. At first the story appears simple and basic, but the meaning behind these basic every day experiences is more when one looks deeper in to the story. The beginning of the story takes us to the place where Jack and his new wife are on their way home. They have just been married without the townspeople knowing about it, something Jack and his wife are secretly both ashamed of. Jack especially is nervous because he thinks of the duty he has to the community, because he is the town marshal. The author reveals the authors personality through vivid description of the characters themselves. He describes the wife, who is never given a name, as “not pretty nor was she very young.” He shows the way she acts, which reveals her part in the story. The author also uses personification, similes and metaphors throughout the story as he vividly describes the scenery, and the characters. “As darkly brilliant as the surface of a pool of oil” is an example of a simile. The point of the story, and the point the author is trying to make is made obvious through the way he describes things in the story. Everything represents something. The drummer is referred to as innocent, Scratchy is referred to as a kid when the author says, “the man was playing with this town; it was a toy for him.” Every character has a greater purpose than what he or she appears to have. Towards the end, Scratchy the town drunk comes face to face with Porter and his wife. They have a little argument but one can tell that nothing bad is going to happen, because of the lightness of the mood the author writes in. When Potter tells Scratchy he doesn’t have a gun, and is in fact married, Scratchy becomes disappointed and walks away.

Response

This short story seemed difficult to follow at first, not because it was hard to read, but because, for me, it was hard to find a deeper meaning to a story that didn't seem like it had one. As I reread it I understood more of what the author is trying to get across, but yet I feel as if I don't fully understand what he's trying to convey. I realized that everthing represents something, as does everyone, the style he writes in makes me think that. The story was good, the purpose to me is still unclear.