See in text (The Outcasts of Poker Flat) The 'white-winged birds' here are doves, typically associated with innocence, unity, and purity. The color white is often associated with similar characteristics, and these two women surrounded by snow contributes to a tone of 'peace.'. 'The Outcasts of Poker Flat' is set near a California mining community during November of 1850. Experimenting with the effectiveness of vigilante justice, the residents of Poker Flat hope to improve the town by expelling a group of undesirables.
- The Outcasts Of Poker Flat Character Analysis
- The Outcasts Of Poker Flat Analysis
- The Outcasts Of Poker Flat Summary And Analysis
Summary
The story takes place in Poker Flat, a small California gold mining community. Certain inhabitants of Poker Flat feel that the community is going downhill. They have lost a lot of money, and worry that people's morals are sinking. Consequently a secret committee is elected. This committee decides who will be killed and who expatriated. One November morning, the stoic John Oakhurst, an avid poker player and the story's protagonist, notices a 'Sabbath lull' in the air on Poker Flat's main street and suspects the town is onto yet another round of exiling. On November 23, 1850 four people are exiled. The group consists of Duchess, a saloon girl, Mother Shipton, a madam, Uncle Billy, a local drunk and thief, and John Oakhurst, a poker player, who won a lot of money from the people sitting on the secret committee. They are instructed not to come back, on pain of death. The four characters get together and leave Poker Flat, heading to the nearby town of Sandy Bar, only a day's journey away but accessible only via a treacherous mountain pass in the Sierra Mountains range. After hours of traveling, Oakhurst's companions get tired, and despite his remonstrances they decide to stop and rest. Despite Oakhurst's warnings that they do not have enough food to survive, the rest of his party decides it can survive on liquor. Meanwhile, Oakhurst encounters a young runaway couple, Piney Woods and Tom Simons, heading to Poker Flat to get married and seek their fortune. Tom Simons, also called 'The Innocent,' has met Oakhurst before. They played Poker together, and Oakhurst won a great deal of money from him. Afterwards, he told Tom never to play poker again, and returned him his money. As a result of this Tom feels positively towards Oakhurst. He is thrilled to see him, and the young couple decides to spend some time with the group, obviously unaware of the fact that they were exiled for being immoral. Tom leads the group to an old cabin that he had found, and they spend the night. Upon waking, Oakhurst realizes that Uncle Billy has stolen off with the group's mules.
Analysis
In keeping with the story's roots in the Regionalism or 'local color' genre, Harte's story focuses on the particularities of one region, which in this case is a gold mining region around the Sierra Mountains in California. That said, Harte also departs significantly from the genre's focus on a region's everyday qualities, instead choosing to set the story in a time of crisis for the town of Poker Flat. Likewise, the story's protagonist, John Oakhurst, is at once a classically wise, stoic cowboy/gambler figure befitting his Wild West setting and a character in crisis himself; not only is he exiled, a disruption of his status quo, but he finds himself in a fatal situation where, unlike in the poker games to which he is accustomed, he cannot win. In these ways, Harte both adopts Regionalism and departs with its conventions, reworking the genre in order to highlight the hypocrisy that rules the otherwise classic Western town of Poker Flat.
The story also relies heavily on Biblical symbolism that positions John Oakhurst as a Christ figure. The narrative begin with the image of two men hanging from the boughs of sycamore trees in a gulch near the town, imagery that naturally calls to mind the two thieves that hung beside Christ during his crucifixion. In fact, the punishment that Oakhurst and his companions endure—exile into the wilderness—is loaded with Biblical allusions, particularly the story of Jesus' temptation by the devil in the desert and the story of the Israelites' exodus from Egypt. By referencing stories in which Christ (or Christians) suffer unjustly, this imagery implies that John Oakhurst is a martyr, persecuted for sins that he didn't commit.
In a broad sense, the opening of the story actually functions much like an allegory, as it lends characters names like Tom 'the Innocent,' whereas the exiles are earlier referred to as 'improper' in the eyes of Poker Flat. Even the names that refer to trees implicitly editorialize the characters' dramatic situation, as 'Piney Woods' and 'Oakhurst' refer to the idyllic yet tragic environment in which the characters find themselves. By referring to the pure environment in which the characters inadvertently serve a death sentence, these names automatically function as allegory, as they imply that John Oakhurst and Piney Woods are pure and innocent despite their dramatic situation.
This is heightened by the narrator's frequent use of hyperbole, which again serves to emphasize the unjust nature of the characters' situation. For example, the narrator says of Tom and Piney's kiss that it was 'so honest and sincere that it might have been heard above the swaying pines.' Against the backdrop of their unwitting encounter with sentenced criminals, this hyperbole functions to magnify the theme of innocence versus guilt.
The narrator makes heavy use of foreshadowing, as well. The ominous tone with which the story begins does not relax when the town's act of 'frontier justice' is achieved; instead it pervades the story, casting over all the event and actions a sense of the tragedy that will eventually befall the characters. The setting likewise serves to foreshadow the tragic ending of the story by functioning much like a character or divine being by interfering with the characters' journey in the form of landscape and weather. For example, the red dust of Poker Flat has an eerie, assaulting effect on Oakhurst and can perhaps symbolize the haziness of the truth for the supposedly upright citizens of Poker Flat.
The Outcasts Of Poker Flat Character Analysis
'The Outcasts of Poker Flat' (1869) is a short story written by author of the American West Bret Harte. An example of naturalism and local color of California during the first half of the nineteenth century, 'The Outcasts of Poker Flat' was first published in January 1869 in the magazine Overland Monthly. It was one of two short stories which brought the author national attention.
Plot summary[edit]
The story takes place in a Californian community known as Poker Flat, near the town of La Porte. Poker Flat is, in the opinions of many, on a downward slope. The town has lost thousands of dollars, and has experienced a moral decline. In an effort to save what is left of the town and reestablish it as a 'virtuous' place, a secret society is created to decide whom to exile and whom to kill. On November 23rd of 1850, four 'immoral' individuals are exiled from Poker Flat and warned not to return on pain of death. The first of them is a professional poker player, John Oakhurst. He is among those sent away because of his great success in winning from those on the secret committee. On his way out of town, he is joined by two women, the Duchess and Mother Shipton, and Uncle Billy, the town drunk and a suspected robber. These four set out for the Sandy Bar mining camp, a day's journey away over a mountain range. At noon, the group stops for a rest over Oakhurst's protests.
While on their rest, the group is met by a pair of runaway lovers on their way to Poker Flat to get married. Piney Woods is a fifteen-year-old girl. Her lover, Tom Simson, known also as 'the Innocent', met Oakhurst before and has great admiration for him, as Oakhurst won a great deal of money from Simson. Oakhurst had returned the money and urged Simson never to gamble again, as he was a terrible player. Nonetheless, Simson is thrilled to have come upon Oakhurst on this day, and decides that he and Piney will stay with the group for a while. They do not know that the group is one of exiles, and Simson assumes that the Duchess is Oakhurst's wife, to the amusement of Uncle Billy.
A decision is made for everyone to stay the night together, and they take shelter in a half-built cabin Simson has discovered. In the middle of the night, Oakhurst wakes up and sees a heavy snowstorm raging. Looking about, he realizes that Uncle Billy has fled with the group's horses and mules. They are all now forced to wait out the storm with provisions that will likely only last for another 10 days. After a week in the cabin, Mother Shipton dies, having secretly and altruistically starved herself in order to give her rations to Piney. Oakhurst fashions some snowshoes for Simson to use in traveling to Poker Flat for help, telling the others he will accompany the young man part of the way. The 'law of Poker Flat' finally arrives at the cabin, only to find the Duchess and Piney frozen to death and embracing in a peaceful repose. They look so peaceful and innocent that the onlookers cannot tell which of them had been exiled for her immoral behavior.
Oakhurst commits suicide under a tree by shooting himself through the heart with his derringer. A playing card, the two of clubs, is found pinned to the trunk with a note written on it:
BENEATH THIS TREELIES THE BODY OF JOHN OAKHURST, WHO STRUCK A STREAK OF BAD LUCK ON THE 23rd OF NOVEMBER, 1850, AND HANDED IN HIS CHECKS ON THE 7TH DECEMBER, 1850.
Characters[edit]
- John Oakhurst
One of the story's heroes, Oakhurst is occasionally frank but kind in motivation. He is chivalrous, insisting upon switching his good riding horse Five Spot for the mule of the Duchess and refusing to use vulgar language. He further shows his good nature by returning the $40 he had won from Tom Simson in a card game and saying, 'Tommy, you're a good little man, but you can't gamble worth a cent. Don't try it over again.' Oakhurst is not a drinker. He is cool tempered, even keeled and has a calm manner about him. He believes in luck and fate. His suicide spurs the question whether he was simply giving in to his bad luck or rather, decided he was no longer going to live by luck and took his life.
- The Duchess, a young woman.
- Mother Shipton, another woman.
- Uncle Billy, a 'suspected sluice-robber and confirmed drunkard'.
- Tom Simson, a naïve young man who has run away from the Sandy Bar mining camp with Piney Woods and who intends to marry her at Poker Flat.
- Piney Woods, a 'a stout, comely damsel of fifteen' who is engaged to Simson.
Film, TV or theatrical adaptations[edit]
Harte's story has been brought to film at least five times, including in 1919 with Harry Carey, in 1937 with Preston Foster, and in 1952 with Dale Robertson. The spaghetti westernFour of the Apocalypse is based on this story and another of Harte's stories, 'The Luck of Roaring Camp'.
The story also relies heavily on Biblical symbolism that positions John Oakhurst as a Christ figure. The narrative begin with the image of two men hanging from the boughs of sycamore trees in a gulch near the town, imagery that naturally calls to mind the two thieves that hung beside Christ during his crucifixion. In fact, the punishment that Oakhurst and his companions endure—exile into the wilderness—is loaded with Biblical allusions, particularly the story of Jesus' temptation by the devil in the desert and the story of the Israelites' exodus from Egypt. By referencing stories in which Christ (or Christians) suffer unjustly, this imagery implies that John Oakhurst is a martyr, persecuted for sins that he didn't commit.
In a broad sense, the opening of the story actually functions much like an allegory, as it lends characters names like Tom 'the Innocent,' whereas the exiles are earlier referred to as 'improper' in the eyes of Poker Flat. Even the names that refer to trees implicitly editorialize the characters' dramatic situation, as 'Piney Woods' and 'Oakhurst' refer to the idyllic yet tragic environment in which the characters find themselves. By referring to the pure environment in which the characters inadvertently serve a death sentence, these names automatically function as allegory, as they imply that John Oakhurst and Piney Woods are pure and innocent despite their dramatic situation.
This is heightened by the narrator's frequent use of hyperbole, which again serves to emphasize the unjust nature of the characters' situation. For example, the narrator says of Tom and Piney's kiss that it was 'so honest and sincere that it might have been heard above the swaying pines.' Against the backdrop of their unwitting encounter with sentenced criminals, this hyperbole functions to magnify the theme of innocence versus guilt.
The narrator makes heavy use of foreshadowing, as well. The ominous tone with which the story begins does not relax when the town's act of 'frontier justice' is achieved; instead it pervades the story, casting over all the event and actions a sense of the tragedy that will eventually befall the characters. The setting likewise serves to foreshadow the tragic ending of the story by functioning much like a character or divine being by interfering with the characters' journey in the form of landscape and weather. For example, the red dust of Poker Flat has an eerie, assaulting effect on Oakhurst and can perhaps symbolize the haziness of the truth for the supposedly upright citizens of Poker Flat.
The Outcasts Of Poker Flat Character Analysis
'The Outcasts of Poker Flat' (1869) is a short story written by author of the American West Bret Harte. An example of naturalism and local color of California during the first half of the nineteenth century, 'The Outcasts of Poker Flat' was first published in January 1869 in the magazine Overland Monthly. It was one of two short stories which brought the author national attention.
Plot summary[edit]
The story takes place in a Californian community known as Poker Flat, near the town of La Porte. Poker Flat is, in the opinions of many, on a downward slope. The town has lost thousands of dollars, and has experienced a moral decline. In an effort to save what is left of the town and reestablish it as a 'virtuous' place, a secret society is created to decide whom to exile and whom to kill. On November 23rd of 1850, four 'immoral' individuals are exiled from Poker Flat and warned not to return on pain of death. The first of them is a professional poker player, John Oakhurst. He is among those sent away because of his great success in winning from those on the secret committee. On his way out of town, he is joined by two women, the Duchess and Mother Shipton, and Uncle Billy, the town drunk and a suspected robber. These four set out for the Sandy Bar mining camp, a day's journey away over a mountain range. At noon, the group stops for a rest over Oakhurst's protests.
While on their rest, the group is met by a pair of runaway lovers on their way to Poker Flat to get married. Piney Woods is a fifteen-year-old girl. Her lover, Tom Simson, known also as 'the Innocent', met Oakhurst before and has great admiration for him, as Oakhurst won a great deal of money from Simson. Oakhurst had returned the money and urged Simson never to gamble again, as he was a terrible player. Nonetheless, Simson is thrilled to have come upon Oakhurst on this day, and decides that he and Piney will stay with the group for a while. They do not know that the group is one of exiles, and Simson assumes that the Duchess is Oakhurst's wife, to the amusement of Uncle Billy.
A decision is made for everyone to stay the night together, and they take shelter in a half-built cabin Simson has discovered. In the middle of the night, Oakhurst wakes up and sees a heavy snowstorm raging. Looking about, he realizes that Uncle Billy has fled with the group's horses and mules. They are all now forced to wait out the storm with provisions that will likely only last for another 10 days. After a week in the cabin, Mother Shipton dies, having secretly and altruistically starved herself in order to give her rations to Piney. Oakhurst fashions some snowshoes for Simson to use in traveling to Poker Flat for help, telling the others he will accompany the young man part of the way. The 'law of Poker Flat' finally arrives at the cabin, only to find the Duchess and Piney frozen to death and embracing in a peaceful repose. They look so peaceful and innocent that the onlookers cannot tell which of them had been exiled for her immoral behavior.
Oakhurst commits suicide under a tree by shooting himself through the heart with his derringer. A playing card, the two of clubs, is found pinned to the trunk with a note written on it:
BENEATH THIS TREELIES THE BODY OF JOHN OAKHURST, WHO STRUCK A STREAK OF BAD LUCK ON THE 23rd OF NOVEMBER, 1850, AND HANDED IN HIS CHECKS ON THE 7TH DECEMBER, 1850.
Characters[edit]
- John Oakhurst
One of the story's heroes, Oakhurst is occasionally frank but kind in motivation. He is chivalrous, insisting upon switching his good riding horse Five Spot for the mule of the Duchess and refusing to use vulgar language. He further shows his good nature by returning the $40 he had won from Tom Simson in a card game and saying, 'Tommy, you're a good little man, but you can't gamble worth a cent. Don't try it over again.' Oakhurst is not a drinker. He is cool tempered, even keeled and has a calm manner about him. He believes in luck and fate. His suicide spurs the question whether he was simply giving in to his bad luck or rather, decided he was no longer going to live by luck and took his life.
- The Duchess, a young woman.
- Mother Shipton, another woman.
- Uncle Billy, a 'suspected sluice-robber and confirmed drunkard'.
- Tom Simson, a naïve young man who has run away from the Sandy Bar mining camp with Piney Woods and who intends to marry her at Poker Flat.
- Piney Woods, a 'a stout, comely damsel of fifteen' who is engaged to Simson.
Film, TV or theatrical adaptations[edit]
Harte's story has been brought to film at least five times, including in 1919 with Harry Carey, in 1937 with Preston Foster, and in 1952 with Dale Robertson. The spaghetti westernFour of the Apocalypse is based on this story and another of Harte's stories, 'The Luck of Roaring Camp'.
Milton keynes wikipedia. Operas based on The Outcasts of Poker Flats include those by Samuel Adler,[1]Jaromir Weinberger,[2] Stanworth Beckler,[3] and Andrew Earle Simpson.[4]
The Outcasts Of Poker Flat Analysis
References[edit]
- ^'Archived copy'. Archived from the original on 2006-05-18. Retrieved 2006-08-09.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
- ^'Jaromir Weinberger – Outcasts of Poker Flat – Opera'. boosey.com.
- ^'Archived copy'. Archived from the original on 2006-07-18. Retrieved 2006-08-09.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
- ^Andrew Earle Simpson. 'Coming to The Capital Fringe Festival: 'The Outcasts of Poker Flat''. DCMetroTheaterArts.
External links[edit]
| Wikisource has original text related to this article: |
- The Outcasts of Poker Flat public domain audiobook at LibriVox
- The Outcasts of Poker Flat – Annotated text + analyses aligned to Common Core Standards
The Outcasts Of Poker Flat Summary And Analysis
