Author Stephen Crane's Style: The Open Boat, the Red Badge of Courage, the Bride of Yellow Sky and More

Color symbolism can captivate a wide range of cultures that pulls on their emotional and subconscious strings. Author Stephen Crane's work did just that utilizing the meaning of colors meshed together with realism to create multiple points of view and stimulate the minds of his readers. Ultimately leaving different opinions of his work from the vast cultures that have been able to enjoy his ironies. You will find that the use of color symbolism in Stephen Crane's stories will leave debate on exactly how he was trying to express himself to his readers. Some of his best, often contemplated work was the Open Boat, the Red Badge of Courage, the Bride Comes to Yellow Sky, and the Blue Hotel where this particular writing structure was evident.

As colors are used for "canvasing", or painting a picture for readers of the surrounding environment, Crane uses them as symbols sometimes even without giving one. "None of them knew the color of the sky" left a lot of room for thought for the readers in the very first sentence of "The Open Boat". As the story moved on it was evident that the danger the four men were enduring, the color of the sky was oblivious to them, as their concern was concentrated more on the cold crashing waves, sharks, or weak dingy they were all sharing and just trying to survive a situation that had was never thought to happen. Crane would continue to use colors to blindly describe different settings of environment that were mixed with emotion. "The black waves were silent and hard to be seen in the darkness" leaves you pondering if he is saying they are black because he cannot see them in the dark, or if he is associating them with death rolling upon them.

Many cultures believe that black represents many different things in life. The Western cultures believe black is more hidden, mysterious, an adventure into the unknown. Above all else it is associated with death and worn to funerals, and yet to Native-Americans it is considered a good color because it is the color of soil that gives life from the earth. Others associate black with ethnicity, elegant and formal dinners, power, sophistication and many other concepts throughout the world. Ironically the color black is not technically a color at all, but an absence of all colors.

Another great association of the story is when Crane uses the color gold as a symbolism to describe the color of the reflection in the distance as the night settled upon them. Gold is seen as wealth by many, but in this instance it could also be seen as optimism or good health. I believe that is what Crane is portraying as he calls this the great furniture of the world. Being optimistic that they will once again in their weak conditions be able to see home and cherish the simple things in life. There is also another color small bluish color he sees towards the northern horizon that gleams off the water as well. Describing it as furniture as well it can only be said that he might be noticing a lighthouse from a distance but I believe it's the closest thing they have seen to something to form the shape of land at this point in the story. The colors themselves creating an everlasting imagination of sitting in the water in the middle of nowhere with nothing else to think about, and so you change the scene into a positive one for all to see.

War, danger, determination, passion, and love are just a few things people associate with the color red. Some exclaim rage, anger, courage, and willpower are more suited as does Stephen Crane in "The Red Badge of Courage". A story about a soldier who flees his post, only to realize his mistake after many events and becomes one the best soldiers in the regiment. The title comes from Crane's interpretation of a battle wound representing courage for staying in the battle and not fleeing. After the soldier (Henry) finds his way through the woods to a wounded camp he hears men talk about how proud they were of themselves for being wounded in the war as opposed to running away.

You could also contend that the color "red" would determine that of love, and devotion to one another as soldiers during the second half of the story. As Henry watches a fight from a far, a scared soldier comes out of nowhere and hits Henry with the butt of his gun splitting Henry's head wide open. Many thought he had been shot and cared for him all the while it was from hiding. Then when he finds out that his friend Jim Conkin has been shot, he tries to help him hold on from the inevitable. Conkin dies which spurs Henry's anger to wind up being a great soldier. I would also almost say Crane is using red for the readers and Henry to take notice of what is going on around. As red is considered a very visible color, as to why stop signs and stop lights are red, Crane I believe could be trying to prove that there is only one color in war, the color of bloodshed.

Crane's work in "The Bride Comes To Yellow Sky" is a masterful title in itself as although it was the name of the city in Texas that the story was built around, a reader could read more into the storyline and realize that because yellow is considered to be associated with joy, happiness, and intellect that it reflected solely on the character Jack who comes to Yellow Sky as the town Marshal. Married, it is not the conventional way Marshals live as they are constantly interacted in situations where they could leave any loved ones behind. Feeling guilty Jack relinquishes his duties and becomes a normal citizen of the community which yellow could also be perceived as cowardly in this instance. Although later on when confronted by the town drunk, intellect comes into play realizing that his decision to deal with Scratchy (the town drunk) without a gun was the person he had become.

One of the most confusing symbolism of colors in my opinion that Stephen Crane used was in his short story "The Blue Hotel". After reading over the multiple meanings of the color blue, it's hard to determine exactly why the hotel itself was painted blue, but because it is confusing, it's the most intriguing. Four gentlemen who are nothing like one another seclude themselves into the Palace Hotel to play a friendly game of cards. The main character is paranoid over the stories he has heard about the West and when he catches another player cheating his thoughts become realizations as he starts a fistfight with the other player. Eventually, he (Swede) is murdered in another fight at the local saloon caused by his own fears.

As blue is pronounced as a color often associated with depth and stability while symbolizing trust, loyalty, wisdom and truth I am beginning to believe that the point of the Palace Hotel being blue was a mockery of the story. Although shown to us as a building where people are well trusted I am starting to believe that it was a point that Crane was making to show that even for someone that is a paranoid schizophrenic, the walls will still close in and collectively collapse around you if your fear controls you. Setting the building apart from the others in color could also constitute how within the walls of the hotel society was different from the surrounding area. After thinking about this I am even more impressed with this story.

Crane has many other works that also used the symbolism of color to bring together with natures surroundings and build the readers imagination although not in the title itself. Although it is a fantastic way to mix color and nature, regardless it is up to us to decide and interpret what Crane is trying to tell us. Where one may understand seeing a black wave, another may wonder how he actually saw a black wave in darkness surrounding him or why he thought it was black in the first place. As those who understand that red is used to describe the color of blood throughout, others may find the devotion to one another easier to bare. Living in a city with yellow in it's name could be foreseen as happiness and jubilation at the beginning, but occasionally revert back to the new civilization meeting the new one. Then of course the irony of an old west town with a big blue hotel in it might be funny to the naked eye reader trying to paint that picture. However, using the hotel as a place of isolation where only good is done could possibly change their mind throughout the story. It's quite unfortunate that Stephen Crane died long before his time should have come, passing from tuberculosis at the ripe age of twenty-eight in the year 1900. Although a storied troubled life of his own, there was more work to be displayed whether through realism or symbolism or what his work was eventually known as naturalism. If only the green doctor would have arrived for us to experience more of Stephen Crane's work and naturalism.