In “The Blue Hotel” Stephen Crane uses behavior to illustrate how misconceptions affected the life of the main character, the Swede. The Swede’s novel based perception of the West caused his fears to be projected through his change in behavior. The once “shaky” Swede becomes aggressive and challenging towards the others after having something to drink with Scully, the hotel owner (116).
The Swede’s misconception of the West influenced his changing behaviors towards the others which resulted in his death. The Swede’s fear and unease about being in the west was made clear as “His eyes continued to rove from man to man” (116).
The Swede “resembled a badly frightened man” and he feared his life would be taken like in the many dime novels he had read (116).
He thought everyone was out to get him. He isolated from the others and was mostly silent until he felt threatened. He makes his fear obvious as he eagerly answered Scully, ‘”I know I won’t get out of here alive.’ ” (119).
In an attempt to get the Swede not to leave the hotel Scully took him upstairs and offered him some whiskey, which would relax him and put him at ease. The Swede’s change in behavior was evident as him and Scully entered the room like “two roisterers from a banquet hall (122).
The Swede whom was often silent now spoke “arrogantly, profanely [and] angrily” (122).
The Essay on Behavior Change The Primary
The primary goal of my behavior change project is not to quit smoking, but to cut back on the amount of cigarettes that I smoke per day. Since I enjoy smoking after I eat, I plan to allow myself a cigarette after each meal, after that I am allowing myself three other cigarettes per day. This will total six cigarettes per day, which may seem like a lot to some people, but this is a dramatic ...
The Swede “seemed to have grown suddenly taller; he gazed brutally disdainful into every face” (123).
After joining in a card game he accused Johnnie, Scully’s son, of cheating as he called out ‘”You are cheatin’!’ ” (124).
This was a strong accusation to make at someone especially on their territory. The once fearful Swede was now challenging Johnnie in a fight. The Swede and Johnnie’s anger is present as they “leaped forward and crashed together like bullocks” and began fighting in the blizzard. There was chanting and grunting as the two went at each other like animals in the snow. They were so indulged in the heat of anger they were unaware of what was going on around them. The fight ended in the Swede’s victory as Scully announced, ‘”Johnny is whipped.’ ” (127).
The once scared Swede walked through the snow with conceit as he left the hotel. His once civilized behaviors were now of a salvage. His high sense of power stayed with him as he drank some whiskey and bragged about his victory in a nearby a saloon. He was very demanding and tried ordering people to drink with him. Once he realized that no one would celebrate with him “[He] grasped the gambler frenziedly at the throat, and was dragging him from his chair” (132).
The Swede now dead “fell with a cry of supreme astonishment” to the floor (132).
Stephen Crane uses the Swede’s paranoid behavior to illustrate his fear of the “Wild West” to us. After drinking some whiskey, the Swede begins challenging the people around him. This challenging behavior results in the Swede’s death. Throughout the story the Swede stays isolated from the others. At first it is because of his fear of them then he believes he is better than them. These behaviors were all a result of the Swede’s misconception of the West which was derived from literature he had read from dime novels..
