Responsibility
By the end of The Blue Hotel, The Easterner suggests that everyone was responsible for the death of The Swede. This, sadly, might actually be true. Johnnie, being sore after playing a game of cards, took The Swede outside for a fight. After this fight, The Swede left the hotel and went to the bar where he ended up getting killed. The Cowboy does not want to admit that he did anything wrong, but The Easterner said that he say Johnnie cheating at cards, which was the reason The Swede got in the fight with him and left for his death.
Stereotypes
In the story, the characters that are guest to the hotel are only referred to by where they come from. This leaves the reader to assume a lot about their background, those assumptions being mostly negative things. Crane wrote the story this way so that the reader would not forget these stereotypes, and remember that they often do, in fact, hold true.
Sharp Divisions
From the very beginning of the story, things were divided. The blue hotel stood out amongst the brown plains that surrounded it. The travelers, although coming together, were very different from one another - especially The Swede. These division eventually led to fighting, which eventually led to death. If everyone could simply admit their flaws and mistakes and accept other people's flaws, mistakes, and differences, the world would be a much better place.
