The Outcasts Of Poker Flat Summary

As Tom grew older he began to take notice of his surroundings, the people around him and learnt how to see the light at the end of a very dark mental tunnel. Initially Tom didn’t want to come out of ‘the cave’, he wanted to be isolated from the rest of the world. Although as he got back into enjoying playing rugby at his school, Bennies, as well as running with his uncle Brendan, he began to become ‘Tom Brennan again’. When Tom started talking to the girl he liked, Chrissy, he became much more confident and starting to come out of the ‘dark tunnel’ he was seemingly trapped in. Not long after they started to go out with each other, with this completing Tom’s ‘comeback’ to being the person that he wanted to be. ‘…that was the morning Tom Brennan came back, forever.’ The only reason Tom Brennan went away was because of Daniel, his brother, who is not that much older than Tom, decided that driving while heavily intoxicated was a logical thing to

Tom is presented in his night ware and is seen with prostitutes. Tom’s lifestyle does not last for long and by the third scene he is seen to be in trouble by the bailiffs. The fiancée is now working as a milliner and kindly pays Tom’s bail. Although Sarah has saved Tom from the bailiffs, she cannot save him from himself. By the next scene he is marrying a wealthy old woman. The woman’s eyes glances towards the ring and Tom looks to her maid. In the background Sarah and her mother struggle by being restrained by other guest before they could object to anything. In the eighteenth century gambling was a reoccurring theme for a family could lose their fortunes in a day. “Later in the century, George III’s son, who later became George IV, had to ask Parliament for money to help him pay off his gambling debts. It was given to him but it was not long before he needed even more” (Harland). Like so many others in eighteenth-century Britain, Tom finds himself in debtors’ prison, quickly coming to the end of his tether. To

Tim Simson, a man that Oakhurst took money from in gambling, showed up with his fiance Piney at the outcasts’ camp. Oakhurst “won the entire fortune . . . then handed [Tim] his money back” (3). This represents Oakhurst as a hypocrite himself because a gambler’s purpose is typically to earn as much money as possible, and instead he gives the money back. This transaction of money between a good gambler and a careless gambler reveal John Oakhurst’s true identity as a kind, caring man.

Tom believes he is this woman’s hero. Throughout the story he sees himself protecting her from Stanley’s domination (Lessing 858). He feels he is not her harasser and that she must be aware of his love for her. His dreams of her have convinced him that meeting this woman is in his destiny. He doesn’t interpret her indifference as rejection as Stanley does and has no idea how he will suffer for it later. Far gone into his fantasy, Tom imagines the nearby crane aiding his heroic rescue of her.

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

1. In this criticism, Kolb gives us the overall reason why the town decided to kick people out of the town. The words “improper persons” mentioned in this is the basis of what the story is all about. All the people that have traits as a improper human will need to leave the town. This is a big part of the story, and is where people, like John Oakhurst, are being judged by people that don’t even know them very well.

Richard Connell and Shirley Jackson explore the perpetuation and condoning of human evils through storytelling in their short stories; “The Most Dangerous Game” and “The Lottery”. Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery” is a short story about a rural town, approximately 300 and it’s strange tradition. This “tradition” pertains to the people of the town all partaking in a “Lottery”. This Lottery’s objective is to draw a black marked note. He who draws the final marked note is sentenced to a ruthless, brutal and painful death by stoning. In Richard Connell’s “The Most Dangerous Game” a big game hunter by the name of “Sanger Rainsford” falls overboard and is left stranded on a ship-trap island. Rainford finds himself in a gigantic house. In the home,

The Story “The Outcast of Poker Flat” written by Brett Harte, is a story in which was set in the 1800’s where technology was unrecognized. The insertion of one piece of modern technology consequently would have changed the story in dramatic ways. Nevertheless the story of four troublemakers in which were banned from the town of Poker Flat due to their bad habits. Mother Shipton who was a madam along with her Duchess were banned for being moderate, a thief and a gambler joined the women later on. The group of troublemakers decided to sleep in a cabin by the mountains overnight, following next morning they wake up to find Billy, consequently known for being a thief, stole their horses as well as a majority of the group's supplies. Billy before long ends up dying along with the horses as they were trapped in the blizzard. Mother Shipton, the Dutchess, along with Tom Simson, and Piney Woods, joined them in the cabin while they were stuck to weather the blizzard.

In Shirley Jackson’s short story, “The Lottery,” a small village is preparing for an annual drawing, a tradition carried out for generations. During this ritual, the head of each household draws a blank piece of paper out of a black box. One piece of paper is marked with a single black dot and if chosen, the outcome is having the winner’s entire household draw out of the box. Whoever chooses the black dot out of the household is stoned to death by the entire village. In this instance, a husband wins to which his wife protests, and then she is the ultimate victim who is sacrificed. This story includes many literary elements like foreshadowing, warning of a future event, symbolism, symbols used in the story to represent ideas,and irony, when the contrary to what is expected to happen, occurs. Jackson uses foreshadowing, symbolism, and irony to prove the theme that it is foolish and barbaric to blindly follow tradition.

In paragraph one we are given the date of when the story is opening; November 23, 1850. Practically winter, this is when all the outcasts get cast off from Poker Flat for their crimes. They make

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

Hamlet will forever be known as a classic example of a morally ambiguous character. He is to choose between avenging his father's death, or standing back and doing nothing, thus a cycle of death and questionable actions creates his moral ambiguity. Since the early writings of Hamlet, morally ambiguous characters have been a reoccurring theme in literature. In Bret Harte's "The Outcasts of Poker Flat," four criminals in the Old West are exiled from their town, and the outcasts' morals are challenged. Throughout the story, the characters change, and the reader can not decipher if they are good or evil.

The Search of America In the speech “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?” by Fredrick Douglas, he talks of fettered liberty and a disregarded constitution. In “Songs of Myself” by Walt Whitman, one can see a young man’s journey to find a purpose within himself. In Bret Harte “The Outcast of Poker Flat”, is the story of a gambler, a duchess, a salon girl, and a drunk who become outcast.

In the short story “The Outcasts of Poker Flat,” by Bret Harte he uses diction to convey the hidden goodness in the so-called outcast. In “The Outcasts of Poker Flat” the town had come up with a secret committee to determine who shall be exiled. They decided that four of the townspeople should be exiled from Poker Flat for reasons like gambling, prostitution, robbery, and witchcraft. The four were banished from the town and if returned they would be hung. So the four headed of to Sandy Bar, a small town over the Sierra Nevada Mountains. During this time in Poker Flat the town was becoming a gold district. Also some hydraulic mining was done from the late 1850s through the 1880s. (W.B. Clark, Gold Districts of California, California Department of Conservation, Division of Mines and Geology, Bulletin 193, 1970.)

To any sports fan, names such as Babe Ruth and Joe Namath are synonymous with gods, geniuses and pioneers in their respective sports. However, amongst poker players; the name Doyle Brunson can often be referenced in the same manner as the Lord in Church. Brunson, now an old man with gray balding hair and more money than he could count, is still to be found at one of the many poker tables in the oasis in the desert we call Las Vegas. In fact, Brunson is so good, about twenty years ago he wrote a book to strengthen his competition. The book "Super System" is considered to be the poker bible as well as the foremost learning tool used by professional poker players. To this day it is the greatest publication on No Limit Texas Hold `em