The Outcast Of Poker Flat Isolationism Essay

There are many ways that people can isolate themselves. Isolation is not always something brought upon one’s self. Isolation can be optional, or a person may have no option in isolation. Stevie Smith, Nathaniel Hawthorne and E.A Robinson show, develop, and illustrate the theme of isolation in their short story and poems.

Isolation is a feeling one gets when you feel like you are not wanted by society also, misunderstood by the people around you. Someone going through depression and his cries have been ignored. The phrase “I was much further out than you thought” (3). Far out in the water and the distance felt from other people mentally that they did not notice. The fact that they can misinterpret a cry for help as something mistaken for friendly waving. They did not understand of the person and how isolated the person was.

A deadly war causes a mother to look frantically for her children after their separation. An isolated child sits alone while the other children play and laugh. A father holds his son’s hands before he passes on his deathbed. Isolation and separation causes many depression and heartbreak. Isolation is not a choice, but separation is, it causes many to create barriers and to move away. Fitzgerald and Chua both explore these ideas of separation and Isolation in The Great Gatsby and “love song, with two goldfish”. In The Great Gatsby and “Love song, with two goldfish” Isolation and separation negatively affects the characters because of time, obsession, and wealth/status.

In the following short stories Eveline written by James Joyce, The Story of An Hour written by Kate Chopin, and A Rose For Emily written by William Faulkner we find that isolation is a popular theme throughout the stories. There are several factors in each one of the stories that makes us feel the isolation that each one of the women in the stated stories felt. Weather it is Eveline feeling stuck at home due to a request for her to tend to her family and resume the place of her deceased mother. Or Mrs. Mallard with her feeling that “it was only yesterday that she felt that life might be too long” (228). Along with Miss. Emily who seemed isolate her self form the word by closing her door for good. In the three

Isolation is the separation from others and/or society whether it be physically or emotionally. In the novel Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, I believe that a central theme is that the isolation from family and society, especially at a time when one is faced with difficulty, can have a negative effect on a person. The main characters in the story, Victor Frankenstein and the monster, both experience the same suffering of being alone in different ways. The negative consequences are the death of their loved one and eventually the end of their own.

By taking the reader through Ethan Frome’s winding emotional journey, Edith Wharton in Ethan Frome, examines the effects of both physical, as well as emotional isolation on the human condition. The novel is set in the frigid winter, likely in the late 1800’s, in the rural, secluded, fictional town of Starkfield, Massachusetts. Ethan’s downtrodden farm is on the outskirts of this already remote, small community. Wharton strategically uses the isolated setting, Ethan’s unmitigated poverty and his loveless marriage, to cut her protagonist off from desperately needed meaningful connections. First, the failing health of his elderly parents forces Ethan to forego his dreams of a urban engineering career, to return to his isolated rural farm,

Total Opposites In the short story "The Outcasts of Poker Flat" by Bret Harte, the author uses characters in the story that have very similar characteristics, except for one, "Uncle Billy." John Oakhurst is a big time gambler in Poker Flat. He took large sums of money from many people in town. The residents of Poker Flat were very upset with him always winning bets and all of their money. Out of all the people that are banned from Poker Flat, Oakhurst possesses the best qualities out of the group. The people of the town were attempting to clean up Poker Flat, but they really only rid themselves of one thief and three good hearted people that had some bad breaks. The other people that were forced to leave were "The Duchess" and "Mother

Isolation is the main theme which influences the reader. Before talking about isolation what is it and how does that affect the reader? Isolation is one of the Canadian themes; it is a state of being alone, complete separation of others. The book revolves around isolation since Karim’s family went to Montreal to their grandmother and then his friend left Lebanon and went to Paris. After some time everyone left Karim and he was lonely since Nada died because a building collapsed. Karim wanted to live in Lebanon while his family decided to leave, “A few days before the bombing resumed, Karim’s parents together with their youngest sons flew to Montreal in

Isolation, meaning a state of separation, is often misperceived by many as people frequently believe that isolation is always a negative state of being; that isolation due to emotions is non-realistic, and that isolation is always involuntary. These myths are commonly accepted; however, the novel Crow Lake takes a different stand from these myths. Mary Lawson, author of the novel, demonstrated isolations in many of its forms through the protagonist, Kate, and a small, desolated rural community that represented the primary setting of the novel, Crow Lake. By doing so, Lawson reveals the counterfactual nature of these myths and thus correcting the misconceptions that the society has about isolation.

The novel opens, twenty years later, in Starkfield with The Narrator who develops the desire to know all about Ethan Frome’s past life. His curiosity gets him bits and pieces from the locals, but Ethan Frome remained mysterious. Due to a horrendous blizzard, The Narrator is given the opportunity to live in Ethan’s past and answer all of his questions. The reader starts off with the knowledge of Ethan Frome’s younger life. He desired to become an engineer ,but while pursuing his dreams, his father passes away and his mother becomes very ill. During that winter, Ethan hires Zeena, his cousin, to take care of his mother because he realized that it was too much for him to do on his own. When his mother passes away, he suffers from isolophobia, the fear of isolation, and decides to marry Zeena. The reader is made aware that the environment is cold representing a sense of isolation from the outside world. The Narrator finally learns about the “smash-up”(Wharton 1) according to the locals, that threw away all of Ethan Frome’s chances of escaping prison, also known as life.

A powerful tool can be found in technology, and it may not seem this way today in modern times. If technology today was obtained by any in later periods of time it would create a God whoever controlled it. If one piece of tech was to be acquired by any of the stories I would use the story Outcasts of Poker Flats. Consequently, after being stranded in a snowstorm they were in need in food and a way that the food would not spoil.

In his short story “The Outcasts of Poker Flat,” Bret Harte uses prostitutes, robbers, and gamblers as an analogy to discourage the settlers of San Francisco from thinking that they are any better than the Wiot Indians. In reality the settlers and the Indians are all sinners, so for the settlers to persecute the Indians is hypocritical. Harte also uses the eponymous, Mr. John Oakhurst, to discuss the idea that fate is inevitable, but people who change their actions can change their outlook of fate. Harte uses Mr. Oakhurst's gambling thoughts and terms to provide the reader with an understanding of his outlook on fate. The first time we see Mr. Oakhurst's thoughts on fate is when Harte writes that Mr. Oakhurst “was too much of gambler not

What is Isolation? Isolation is the act of separating something from other things. Some may relate isolation to a disease or as to just being a “loner”. To feel isolated and lonely you feel like there is no hope, no future, no dreams or goals in store for you. Which in John Steinbeck’s novel Of The Mice and Men, shows all throughout in the characters. The novel takes place in Soledad, which Steinbeck describes as a very depressing environment, especially since the characters and migrant workers are being faced with dealing with The Dust Bowl and Great Depression. Another aspect of isolation is shown through the characters is the idea of the American Dream. Steinbeck hints to us that even through hard work and prosperity, it is unattainable which is represented through every character during this vulnerable period. Going further with The American Dream, that is all Forrest strived for in the film Forrest Gump. Forrest’s three important goals he strived for was to be loyal, help as many people as he could while still fulfilling his dreams, and to be non-judgemental. Unfortunately Forrest is very familiar with being judged and feeling unaccepted, being that when he was younger he had trouble walking and needed assistance which resulted in being bullied. Portraying throughout both the novel and the film, The American Dream and Isolation play a major role.

When the term “isolation” is used, most people think of it as an action performed in solitude. It brings to mind an empty space in which one person resides, far from all others. However, isolation does not always occur in a singular sense. In “The Masque of the Red Death” by Edgar Allan Poe, isolation is used by a large population as a means of safety. In “The Thing Around Your Neck” by Chimananda Ngozi Adichie, isolation occurs among crowds of people and even in the company of someone close to one’s heart. In both aspects, isolation serves to exemplify the broken portions of life. Isolation is a destructive force and as a theme, isolation serves to exemplify a particular viewpoint and worldview while serving as both a cause and effect.

This concept deals with a person, or people feeling isolated from everyone else. No one cares about other people’s problems or issues unless it deals with their own. The human condition is filled with cold hearted people. Relating back to the poem that is based off of The fall of Icarus, Icarus is the one in alienation. Furthermore, the poem exclaims, “In Brueghel’s Icarus, for instance: how everything turns away...from the disaster,” (lines 14-15, page 1178).