The Blue Hotel by Stephen Crane

"The Blue Hotel" by Stephen Crane is a classic example of conformity vs.
Non-conformity.  To be more specific, the salient theme in Crane's work
is that of  the individual vs. society.   In this particular story, the
main character, the Swede, is above mentioned "individual," while the
rest of the guests of the Palace Hotel and the saloon represent
"society."  In a step away from the norm, Crane utilizes the Swede's
individualism not as object for sympathy from the reader, but rather as a
display of non-popular foreign ideas and actions.  The Swede's inability
to conform and integrate into "society" as a whole brings him a world of
troubles, which reach their climactic end in a place that, ironically,
was established for the society of the town.