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Motifs are recurring structures, contrasts, and literary devices that can help to develop and inform the text’s major themes.

Sunlight and Shadow

Sunlight and shadows are recurring images in the story, as mechanisms that either reveal things or hide them. In room 207, a pool of sunlight slowly makes its way into the room as Scallen and Kidd wait for the train to arrive, and it expands as the minutes go by. The room brightens in this way as details of the story emerge and more is revealed about each character. The shadows play a more ambiguous role. There are deep shadows at various locations around the town, including under the eaves of nearby buildings, in doorways, and along the platform at the train station. The shadows make ideal hiding places for someone who may be planning an ambush, or otherwise doesn’t want to be seen, and Scallen reflects several times on who may be watching from these shadows waiting for a chance to pounce. The shadows are thus dangerous but can also be a refuge. For example, Scallen laments the fact that room 207 has windows that face the street and allow more visibility. A darker room, where they could hide, would be safer. This ambiguity of the relative safety of remaining unseen mirrors some of the moral ambiguity of the characters’ actions.

Steam and Mist

Steam and mist cloud over the landscape, hiding things from view and making matters less obvious and clear-cut. Scallen and Kidd arrive in Contention in the early hours of the morning, at an hour when the night mists are still on the ground. The mists are heavy enough at that hour that they obscure the land all around Scallen and Kidd, and there is almost complete silence as the two men ride into town. What events this fateful day will hold for the two men is equally obscure. When they arrive at the train station to catch the train to Yuma, the engine of the train spews steam and covers the train platform. The presence of steam and mist in both of these situations contributes to the mystery and uncertainty of the atmosphere. Steam and mists provide opportunities for someone to hide, and secrecy and obscurity is vital to Scallen’s mission. He has to hide Kidd in town until it comes time to catch the train. The steam and mist also act as a constant reminder of the threat to Scallen’s life. He cannot see his adversaries and does not know which direction they will come from.

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