Although many of Crane's stories, even Maggie (1893, revised 1896; see separate entry), have been linked by the critics with "The Blue Hotel," on the basis of some aspects of plot, symbol, and narrative perspective, only "The Bride Comes to Yellow Sky" seems to have the most in its favor for drawing a comparison. Both stories are interpreted to signify "the passing of the old West," i.e., the taming of that ever-receding raw and dangerous frontier area, at that time being settled by ever larger numbers of people, thereby being made an ever more attractive region to live in. Both include an individual who is not sufficiently aware of those cultural changes taking place (the Swede in "The Blue Hotel" and Scratchy Wilson, the town badman, in "The Bride Comes to Yellow Sky"). The two stories also complement one another, according to some commentators: The impending fight...