The Bride Comes to Yellow Sky

The train symbolizes the inevitable encroachment of the lifestyle of the urbanized East into the untamed Wild West, which is one of the primary themes of the text. The train is “rushing forward with such steady dignity of motion,” (16) illustrating that the values and traditions of the Wild West are being replaced as surely and as rapidly as the progress of an oncoming train. Its interior represents the relatively comfortable domesticated conditions of the urbanized East; the train offers “dazzling fittings,” polished surfaces, and artwork painted on the ceilings. The presence of a dining car is also illustrative of this advancing lifestyle, for instead of having to hunt, skin, and cook a meal—a difficult and time-consuming task required by life on the frontier—passengers dine without having to lift a finger. Instead, they are waited on by a servant class. Despite the idealization of life in the American frontier popularized by westerns, Jack Potter and his bride are impressed by the trappings of this luxurious life. As the bride says, “It’s fine, isn’t it?” (17).