How Does Setting Impact the Characters in the Blue Hotel
The Blue Hotel | Themes
Determinism versus Responsibility
The author explores the theme of determinism, a philosophical point of view common in naturalist writing, but complicates the idea in the final section of the short story. Determinism is the idea that a set of circumstances, the environment, and a given personality dictate a person's fate. The outcome is inescapable, in effect leaving the character with no power or free will. The story mostly bears out this theme through the Swede, whose expectations of the dangers of the West, born of his readings of dime-novel westerns, leads inevitably to the fulfillment of his fears. His fear makes him act in a way that ensures he will meet with violence. Because of who he is and where he finds himself, there can be no other ending. He is as powerless to stop his own death as he is to stop the raging blizzard.
Part 8 ends with the Swede lying dead, his eyes staring at the message over the cash register, which reads "This registers the amount of your purchase." These words imply that the Swede's fate was the inevitable result of his actions. If the story ended here, the theme of determinism would be largely unmitigated. However, Crane ends the tale instead with a discussion between the cowboy and the Easterner about how things might have turned out differently. This raises the possibility that the Swede's fate was not determined beforehand but that the characters made choices that brought the end about and that even a slight change in the events of that day might have prevented the Swede's death.
Determinism does not include the possibility of morality, as it views people as subject to the same forces of nature as other creatures that act out of instinct and in response to those natural forces. The final section of the short story challenges determinism by suggesting humans have agency, choice, and morality. The Easterner claims that all the men contributed to the murder, saying every "sin" has a component of collaboration. He claims he in particular is responsible because he knew Johnnie was cheating and didn't say anything at the time. The possibility of morality and freedom of choice complicates the theme of determinism. Crane seems to hold determinism in tension with responsibility in this short story.
Alienation
The author explores the danger of alienation in "The Blue Hotel." Although the Swede arrives at the hotel with two other men, he quickly alienates himself from everyone at the hotel. His alienation is caused by miscommunication and assumptions. Initially included in the group gathered around the stove, the Swede's unexpected assertion about deaths in the hotel confounds his companions. The other men ask the Swede to explain himself. Rather than communicating the basis of his fear, the Swede isolates himself by assuming the other men are his enemies and by leaving the room to prepare to leave the hotel. His eventual departure from the hotel comes after he has irrevocably alienated himself from the others by beating up Johnnie. During the fight he fully expected all the men to join forces against him, further evidence that he saw himself as completely alone.
In an example of situational irony, it is the Swede's misguided attempt at connection in the saloon that leads to further estrangement and ultimately his death. The Swede's obnoxious manner alienates the barkeeper and the other men. When the Swede demands the men drink with him, the gambler claims he doesn't know the Swede and stabs the Swede, who has grabbed him. Even when he seeks companionship, the Swede is unable to obtain it. The danger of self-imposed alienation is that it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. Because he is convinced he is alone in a hostile environment, the Swede's behavior, based on this sense of isolation, leads to his very real alienation from those who might otherwise have included and accepted him.
Fear
From the very start of the short story, the Swede "resembled a badly frightened man." Based on the fiction he has read in dime novels, his fears of the dangers of the West and the strangers around him lead him to assume the worst and therefore to isolate himself. Under the added influence of alcohol, the Swede's fear manifests itself as aggression. First he is verbally aggressive. Then he becomes physically aggressive when he picks a fight with Johnnie and then the gambler. Tragically, his fears create the outcome of which he is most afraid: his own violent death.
The Swede evokes fear in others at times in the short story. When he accuses Johnnie of cheating, the card game erupts with rage as the men all shout at once. In the middle of the fight, Scully becomes alarmed at the fierceness of the brawl and is afraid for his son. When the Swede's drunken bravado turns threatening in the saloon, the barkeeper rushes out from behind the bar in alarm. It is reasonable to infer the gambler fears for his life when the Swede yanks him from his seat by the neck. He reacts by fatally stabbing the Swede. The result is that the fear of both the gambler and the Swede leads to the Swede's death. Although the Swede's fear of the West is initially unfounded, the actions that grow out of it are to be feared indeed. In this way "The Blue Hotel" serves as a cautionary tale bearing out the saying that there is nothing to fear but fear itself.
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