Crane’s writing style in “The Blue Hotel” is simultaneously journalistic and literary. Take the following passage, for example, which comes near the end of the story, as the Swede starts a fight with the gambler:
“What! You won’t drink with me, you little dude? I’ll make you, then! I’ll make you!” The Swede had grasped the gambler frenziedly at the throat, and was dragging him from his chair. The other men sprang up. The barkeeper dashed around the corner of his bar. There was a great tumult, and then was seen a long blade in the hand of the gambler. It shot forward, and a human body, this citadel of virtue, wisdom, power, was pierced as easily as if it had been a melon. The Swede fell with a cry of supreme astonishment.
This passage opens with straightforward dialogue, followed by simple, journalistic descriptions of the movements in the bar—the Swede “grasp[s] the gambler” and “drag[s] him from his chair,” the other men “spring up,” the barkeeper “dashe[s] around the corner of his bar,” etc. From here, Crane’s writing style shifts dramatically, becoming much more poetic as he describes the Swede’s body as a “citadel of virtue, wisdom, power,” using a simile to capture how it “was pierced as easily as if it had been a melon.” He concludes the passage with imagery, encouraging readers to hear for themselves the Swede’s “cry of supreme astonishment” as the gambler stabs him.
The journalistic elements of Crane’s style ground readers in the action of the story, and the more literary elements help readers understand the emotional weight of what is happening. Had the narrator merely “reported” on the events of the stabbing, readers would not be able to understand the devastating effects of this act of violence.
