The Outcasts Of Poker Flat

Another local-color characteristic that Harte used in Tennessee’s Partner was the development of characters based on their setting. The reader never feels like he knows much at all about any of the characters – even Tennessee and his partner – at all. In fact, neither does the narrator. But through the use of description, the two main characters become more stereotypes of miners in the Gold Rush era; they were typical rugged, gambling, scorched-skinned, strong, simple womanizing men.

In Bret Harte’s “The Outcasts of Poker Flat “(1869), the mining camp of Poker Flat believes the only way to become a town is to banish a group of people called the ¨outcasts¨. However, many of the steps taken to get rid of this group are just as wicked as the crimes committed by the outcasts . Through conflicts between different groups of people, the story conveys the theme that hypocrisy leads to the realization of truth. Some of the main hypocritical events in “The Outcasts of Poker Flat” are when the townsfolk want to rob Oakhurst, when Oakhurst helps Tom Simson, and when the Duchess and Piney are thought of as equal when found dead.

Mark Twain's story, "The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County," and Bret Harte's short story, “The Outcasts of Poker Flat” is both works in the Western genre and portrays culture in the West. However, both stories being similar in setting, the two stories are still very different.

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

Intro - In The Outcasts of Poker Flat, Bret Harte creates John Oakhurst to be morally ambiguous to express that one should not judge others at first glance.

In August 1868, Bret Harte published a book called "The Luck of Roaring Camp." There was a group of miners that lived in a strictly male dominant society...except for the fact that there was one woman. Her name was Cherokee Sal, and she got pregnant while she was living there. The baby played a very significant role in the story because it changed everyone's lives in that camp. In "The Luck of Roaring Camp," Bret Harte uses the birth of a baby as a transformative figure in men, and to symbolize that their luck had run out in the end.

The Outcasts of Poker Flat Summary and Analysis Poker Flat, a small town in rural California, is experiencing some turmoil in its infrastructure; after an incident involving a large loss of money, horses, and men, a secretive committee in the town decides to purge itself of undesirables, either by hanging or exile. Among those exiled are John Oakhurst, a gambler, Uncle Billy, a drunkard, and two prostitutes, Duchess and Mother Shipton. They attempt to travel to a nearby town, but after several hours they decide to rest in a cabin, and are intercepted by Tom Simons and Piney Woods, two fresh-faced young people who are heading to Poker Flats to get married. In the night, Uncle Billy runs off with the horses and some provisions, leaving the

From the beginning moments in the story of The Outcasts of Poker Flat, starting when there is talk in the town of Poker Flat about plans to rid the community of improper persons gambling main character, John Oakhurst, contained himself and remained cool and collected about the situation he was becoming aware of. Bret Harte’s use of voice portrays a calming effect for the reader that lessens the dramatic upsets of the situations in the story being told. The town of Poker Flat was determined to get rid of a specific four characters who were cause for trouble and harm to the community, the expert gambler John Oakhurst, a prostitute referred to as “The Duchess”, the owner of a brothel whom they called “Mother Shipton”, and a suspected thief and drunk “Uncle Billy”. Throughout the story multiple situations arise among the characters that are cause for distress and concern, but the voice Harte uses to tell the story reduces the concern of the readers.

Why do we judge people by what they have done and not what they are doing in the world right now? In the short story the Outcasts of Poker Flats, a group is outcast because of who they were and for their previous actions, they have done absolutely nothing wrong in the present. During the story a secret committee had determined to rid the town of all improper persons (para. 3). Everyone who was doing or had done wrong was to be banished or killed.

In “Outcasts of Poker Flat,” Bret Harte uses morally ambiguous characters to explain how a character’s moral ambiguity is significant to a work of literature. Morally ambiguous characters are characters whose behavior discourages readers from identifying them as purely evil or purely good. Bret Harte uses several characters in his literature that can be seen as morally ambiguous characters. Three ways that he wrote about ambiguous characters was by using citizens that are hiding behind “wild and wooly costumes,” characters that are paradoxical, and his use of commentary to create a contrast within his characters.

Chased by a mob led by Aycliffe, Crispin meets a juggler. Both reach The Great Man tavern to rid Crispin from Aycliffe. However, the inn’s demolished by a mob. Crispin escapes, though Bear is captured. Afterwards, Crispin forces Aycliffe to allow him to free Bear. At some point, a fight forms between Aycliffe, Crispin and Bear. The fight is won by Crispin and Bear, nonetheless lost by the unlucky steward. Safe from a cruel society, he never ever returns to Stromford.

It is never revealed whether Oakhurst’s stoicness is the product of courage or of fear. If Oakhurst is essentially courageous, then this would mean that his coolness was not just a show, but rather his true personality, and something that he uses as a tool to make the best of rough situations. However, Oakhurst may instead have been essentially fearful, meaning that his coolness was result of necessity, in a

Their points of view about playing cards differ because, Matthew says he needs to study for the test tomorrow because he's not ready. In the passage it says, “I’ll help you get out your art supplies, but then you need to leave me alone for a while because I have to study for my test tomorrow.” This example shows that he doesn't want to play cards because he needs to study for the test. Another example from the passage is, “but once Mom’s card is finished, I want to play a game.” This example shows that no matter what Matthew tries to do she will still want to play cards with him.

4. The climax of the story is found when Jack and his newfound friends come up upon some robbers in the house the animals and Jack were planning to occupy that evening. Jack skillfully devises a plan to rid the house of the robbers and uses his animal friends to help him. With teamwork, the plan becomes a success and they are able to spend the night in the house the robbers had just fled from. This paragraph from "How Jack Went to Seek His Fortune" unravels the climax of the story and allows readers to engage in a suspenseful event, and it states,

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