The Blue Hotel | Themes & Symbolism

The Blue Hotel Significant Topics

Fear

Probably the most over riding theme in the Blue Hotel is fear. It appears in all the characters who have any role in the story at all. Patrick Scully is at first fearful of losing any of his guests that might otherwise be attracted to his hotel, and also of losing any existing guest to a competitor. However, his fears heighten as he becomes concerned with the possibility that the actions and words of the Swede might offend his existing guests, therefore he tries to address both. His fear takes on a more personal note as he becomes afraid that his son might be coerced into actually fighting the Swede, and when it is inevitable, he is fearful for his son's safety. Finally, Scully is fearful that his son is hurt seriously. His fears are generally real, and escalate as the story unfolds.

The next character introduced that exhibits fear...
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