The Blue Hotel

The Palace Hotel, the titular “blue hotel,” stands out against the gray landscape of Fort Romper to such an extent that those who see it are “overcome.” It is a singular enticement in this rural Nebraska locality and, combined with the charms of its proprietor, one that is nearly irresistible to travelers. The symbol of the blue hotel thus parallels the story’s fatalistic energy in which certain destinations seem inevitable, even when the routes that lead there are far from linear. The Palace Hotel similarly does not entirely make sense—the blue paint attracts scorn—but nonetheless works: It “display[s] delights” and proves Pat Scully “a master of strategy” (363). The hotel itself is the first piece of questionable logic that readers are asked to accept in a story that is full of questionable logic.

The blizzard that rages throughout the duration of “The Blue Hotel” offers another subverted trope. While Crane’s continual references to the weather suggest that the story will involve a conflict between man and nature, nature ultimately proves itself so indifferent to man as to have no effect on the Swede’s fate. The cowboy “[hopes they] don’t git snowed in, because then [they’d] have to stand this here man bein’ around with [them] all the time.