The Bride Comes to Yellow Sky

By the time “The Bride Comes to Yellow Sky” was published in 1898, the days of the Wild West were ending. The construction of transcontinental railways allowed passengers to comfortably reach distant cities, thereby connecting the coasts. The train ride from San Antonio, where Jack Potter and his bride were wed, to Yellow Sky is significant because it reflects these recent developments.

The inevitability of the progression from Eastern US values and mores to Western ones is evident in Crane’s opening line: “The great train was rushing forward such steady dignity of motion that a glance from the window seemed simply to prove that the flatlands of Texas were pouring toward the east” (16). The description of “rushing forward” indicates the speed of this development, and the perception that the flatlands are “pouring toward the east” suggests that the West is being overtaken by the East, as if by an inescapable force.

The train ride also reveals the presence of a servant class steeped in established hierarchies; these structures will supplant the efforts of free-wheeling individuals who seek to create their own destinies, entrenching them in clearly defined social networks and roles that govern their interactions.