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Analysis Of The Book ' The Luck Of Roaring Camp '

Decent Essays

The Human Behind Bravado
Bret Harte’s 1868 story “The Luck of Roaring Camp” illustrates how those who may act tough, still care on the inside. Harte’s story is depicting,m the lives of those who moved to mining camps in California during the Gold Rush. The gold rush started in 1848 and ended in 1855. The majority of those who moved were men of rough character, occasionally there was a woman. The bravado of these men is what made the camps seem like a harsh place to be. Some of these men “were actual fugitives from justice, some were criminal, and all were reckless” (Harte, 2013, para. 6). That is just the case in this story. There is one woman in the entire camp and she is known as Cherokee Sal. Cherokee Sal is a Native American woman who was known for her sinful actions throughout the camp. The men of Roaring Camp are stuck with her son when she dies after childbirth. The men are clueless at first because, “Deaths were by no means uncommon in Roaring Camp, but a birth was a new thing” (Harte, 2013, para. 3). Nobody knew who the child 's father was, but that’s not what the men cared about. The story shows how the life of this child can make the men throw off their false toughness and come together to care for Cherokee Sal’s son.
With Cherokee Sal’s passing, the men of Roaring Camp knew that the baby had no other family. The men all file through the cabin to see the baby and to leave items in a hat to contribute to the baby’s future. The next day, the camp had a meeting and

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