In the first part, Crane uses imagery and a simile to describe the train's environment to the reader, as Potter himself explains various features of the train to the bride.
He pointed out to her the dazzling fittings of the coach; and in truth her eyes opened wider as she contemplated the sea-green figured velvet, the shining brass, silver, and glass, the wood that gleamed as darkly brilliant as the surface of a pool of oil.
The image of the bride's eyes opening wider and wider as she gazes around at the decorations of the train car highlights her unfamiliarity with luxury. Her eyes seem to reflect the brilliance of the train car. It is worth noting that the narrator does not describe the soft, polished, and gleaming surfaces directly, but rather describes them by way of her gaze. Moreover, the reader does not merely see these surfaces through her gaze, but through her gaze as it is directed by her husband. The narrator makes note of people's gazes and glances repeatedly throughout the story's first part, which offers valuable insight into how people understand each other and their surroundings.
Each of the specific aspects of the interior that the narrator notes—the velvet, the brass, the silver, the glass, and the wood—gives this passage a sensory quality. Most of this tactile and visual imagery connotes luxury, which both Potter and the bride reveal their unfamiliarity with through their unabashed attention to it. Although most of these textures are hard, they are described using a fluid, viscous diction. Most notable is the simile in which the wood is compared to a pool of oil, which indicates that it is clean and polished. The apparently liquid nature of these surfaces goes hand in hand with the plains of Texas that they see through the window, which the narrator describes in the opening passage as "pouring eastward."
In the initial paragraphs of the story's first part, the narrator uses detailed imagery to describe the physical appearance of the man and woman. Both remain anonymous in the earliest paragraphs, which contributes to the "underclass countenance" that Crane carefully imparts on them. Contrasting their body language and clothing with those of the other passengers, he shows that the married pair have temporarily set foot into a world whose rules they do not know.
No human appears in the story's very first paragraph, which Crane devotes to the passing landscape. In the story's second paragraph, however, the narrator describes the man's face—"reddened from many days in the wind and sun"—and body language—"his brick-colored hands were constantly performing in a most conscious fashion." Although it is still unclear what the man does for a living, the mentions of his red-tinged skin and focus on his active hands give the reader the impression that he works under the sun. It's evident that he feels ill at ease in the luxurious environment of the Pullman Passenger Car, and seems likely that he belongs out west, where the train is headed.
Crane devotes the subsequent paragraph to the bride's appearance.
The bride was not pretty, nor was she very young. She wore a dress of blue cashmere, with small reservations of velvet here and there, and with steel buttons abounding. She continually twisted her head to regard her puff sleeves, very stiff, straight, and high.
Like the man, the bride continually looks at her clothing, which suggests that she is unfamiliar with both its appearance and the physical sensation of wearing it. Her predominantly cold coloring, a result of the blue dress, sets up an interesting contrast between her and her husband. Whereas red is the main color in the paragraph in which he is introduced, the third paragraph is blue. The warm coloring of the man and cold coloring of the woman give the impression that a certain distance remains between them. It is possible to interpret this distance as simply a result of how early they are in their relationship. Another possible interpretation is that the distance is a result of their separate, gendered spheres: once they leave the train and enter their married life, his will be the public sphere while hers will be the domestic sphere. In the nineteenth century, the cult of domesticity contributed to strict gender roles. Nevertheless, women often held and exercised substantial power within their own sphere.
Although the woman is associated with the color blue, it is important to note that she shares some of her husband's red tint. The scrutiny of the passengers around her makes her blush. Through this, flushed skin is reinforced as a sign of not belonging. While the man's red skin connotes his hard work, it connotes her embarrassment. In spite of this nervous non-belonging, the narrator underlines that the couple is "evidently very happy." Once their dialogue begins, some of their stiffness and discomfort melts away. The other passengers continue to scrutinize them for their social blunders, but their elated pride over a new chapter seems to make them immune to some of this scrutiny.
In the first paragraph of the story's second part, the narrator uses visual imagery and alliteration to set the scene of Yellow Sky, gradually zooming out from the initial setting of the Weary Gentleman saloon, to the street outside, and finally to the broader Texan landscape.
For the time being, the main details offered about the saloon are the people in it. Six men sit at the bar: a talkative drummer, three silent Texans, and two silent Mexican sheepherders. A drowsy dog lies just outside the front door. The description then passes fluidly out into the street, which contributes to the sleepy atmosphere already indicated in the details given about the saloon.
Across the sandy street were some vivid green grass-plots, so wonderful in appearance, amid the sands that burned near them in a blazing sun, that they caused a doubt in the mind. They exactly resembled the grass mats used to represent lawns on the stage.
In the first part of the sentence, Crane's use of alliteration offers a soothing, rhythmic quality that undergirds the sleepy yet radiant visual imagery. The overall feeling of emptiness and silence is countered by the burning sands and blazing sun, which stand in juxtaposition to the vivid green grass-plots that look so good they seem artificial.
Immediately after this description of the street, the narrator zooms out further, describing both the infrastructure and natural landscape more broadly.
At the cooler end of the railway station, a man without a coat sat in a tilted chair and smoked his pipe. The fresh-cut bank of the Rio Grande circled near the town, and there could be seen beyond it a great plum-colored plain of mesquite.
The man without a coat is the first person mentioned in the scenery outside the saloon. His stillness adds to the overall atmosphere, while the smoke emitting from his pipe contributes another texture to the multilayered Yellow Sky surroundings. At first, it is tempting to picture the water of the Rio Grande circling near the town, like the smoke circling in the sky from the man's pipe, but the narrator doesn't actually say anything about the river itself. The only element of the Rio Grande that is mentioned is its bank. The greenness suggested by this bank is complemented by the plain of plum-colored mesquite trees in the distance.
Overall, the imagery in the beginning of the second part paints a rich picture of Yellow Sky and its surroundings. On the one hand, the stillness and silence in the descriptions fulfill the reader's expectations of a small town in western Texas. On the other hand, the town is not simply dusty or barren. It contains unexpected colors and textures that connote life. These sentences are the first part of the story to take place off the train, and the reader builds mixed expectations of Yellow Sky and how the story will unfold there.
The still, silent atmosphere that Crane develops in the beginning of the second part is interrupted when Scratchy Wilson emerges as a character in the story's action. The first paragraphs of the third part, which feature his arrival, are rich with figurative language. The many instances of imagery, metaphor, and simile in these paragraphs enhance the explosive effect of Scratchy Wilson's appearance.
The man’s face flamed in a rage begot of whiskey. His eyes, rolling, and yet keen for ambush, hunted the still doorways and windows. He walked with the creeping movement of the midnight cat. As it occurred to him, he roared menacing information.
In the initial sentences of this paragraph, Scratchy Wilson is both indirectly and directly compared to an animal. The first sentence employs two layers of metaphor: the man's face is flaming, a flame that has been spawned by whiskey. Before his movement is explicitly likened to that of "the midnight cat," the descriptions of his eyes and body language already lead the reader to visualize him as a prowling, hungry animal. Moreover, he isn't simply shouting, but roaring.
In the rest of the paragraph, the animal comparison recedes into the background as the narrator's gaze focuses on his dextrous hands and pulsating neck.
The long revolvers in his hands were as easy as straws; they were moved with an electric swiftness. The little fingers of each hand played sometimes in a musician’s way. Plain from the low collar of the shirt, the cords of his neck straightened and sank, straightened and sank, as passion moved him.
It has already been established that Scratchy Wilson moves and shouts like a wild animal. Here, the narrator emphasizes that his animalistic behavior does not preclude litheness or agility. The simile, claiming that he holds the revolvers in each of his hands as if they were straws, shows that Scratchy Wilson has experience and skill with guns. In fact, the narrator specifies that his skill is "electric," describing his little fingers playing them as though they were musical instruments. Crane extends this instrument comparison to Scratchy Wilson's neck. Metaphorically referring to his veins as chords, he describes them pulsating through the fabric of his shirt as his anger flares up.
The atmosphere produced by the imagery, metaphors, and similes in this paragraph contrasts sharply with the atmosphere aboard the fancy train in the first part or in the quiet town in the second part. All of these comparisons and details come together to develop Scratchy Wilson as a frightening figure, possessing the gross motor skills and voice of a beast as well as the fine motor skills of a talented musician.
