Literary Analysis of Bret Harte’s ‘The Outcasts of Poker Flat’

• John Oakhurst, gambler, stepped into the main street of Poker Flat on the morning of the twenty-third of November, 1850, he was conscious of a change in its moral atmosphere since the preceding night. Two or three men, conversing earnestly together, ceased as he approached, and exchanged significant glances. There was a Sabbath lull in the air, which, in a settlement unused to Sabbath.
• The outcasts make their way to Sandy Bar, the next town over, which isn’t as refined as Poker Flat and is therefore likely to be more welcoming to the outcasts. The journey is difficult, though, as the town is one full day of intense and difficult travel away, the mountain pass is steep and narrow, and the cold air is harsh and unforgiving.
• Oakhurst is banned from Poker Flat He meets the other exiles, and they go to Sandy's Bar Meets Tom Simpson Uncle Billy escapes from the camp and steals the mules Mother Shipton starves herself and dies in order to save her daughter Piney Tom Simpson is sent to Poker Flat to.

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‘The Outcasts of Poker Flat’ is a short story by Bret Harte. Written in 1869, it portrays one of the social realities happening within the period. The story remains to be a critique surrounding the labels and prejudice against people who are engaged in prostitution and gambling. Through the use of effective wordplay, Harte is able to advance the development of the story and its characters. Despite ending as a tragedy, the story presents important lessons and themes that enable readers to appreciate the realities that people had to accept in America’s Wild West.

One of the themes highlighted by Harte in his work reflects the pretentiousness and hypocrisy of the people within the Poker Flat Community. Arguably, their inclination to banish four people due to their ‘negative’ contribution to the town remains to be founded with hypocrisy as people consider the acts of gambling and prostitution a significant way of life in the Wild West. From the perspective of Harte, his depiction of John Oakhurst, Duchess and Mother Shipton personifies these characters to be innately good despite their association to what local townsfolk consider as deviant and destructive (Kolb 54). As readers progress in the story, they are able to find out about the kindness of each one, except maybe for Uncle Billy and portray the community as hypocrites in trying to label these people as evil.

Survival and sacrifice are also correlated themes evident in the story. As the outcasts try to survive the situation they were put in, it demonstrated the value system of each one. For instance, the decision of Mother Shipton to starve herself demonstrates her compassion and willingness to prolong the life of other outcasts before herself (Harte 1). The same can also be seen with Oakhurst as he hanged himself in a desperate attempt to enable others to survive and let them have the remaining ration. For Harte, the depiction of these characters indicates their willingness to serve the interests of other people such as Tom Simson. Likewise, it also argues that for people to survive there must be someone who is willing to sacrifice something. All these enable readers to realize and question whether or not the outcasts, except for Uncle Billy, deserve to be treated in such manner.

Another noticeable facet in the story is how Harte effectively develops the character of John Oakhurst. Specifically, his expertise in poker provides a powerful symbolism that enables readers to appreciate its relevance in the development of his personality. The most evident comes from the realization of how poker shaped Oakhurst identity. Here, he particularly demonstrates aptitude in understanding the different scenarios given to him and the foresight of what can potentially happen. Given these skills, he is able to masterfully outwit people and get their money in the process. However, there are also related challenges and misfortune associated with playing the game. Arguably, the thing that separates Oakhurst from the rest is his willingness to accept misfortune and bad luck as part of reality. Seeing this, Harte then connects the game of poker to human nature and the necessary maturity it requires people to effectively master the game, both good and bad.

Overall, Bret Harte’s ‘The Outcasts of Poker Flat’ remains to be story that captivates and critiques the hypocrisy of society surrounding the promotion of certain values and ideals. By focusing on the good quality and attributes of the outcasts, the piece is able to demonstrate the hypocrisy of the Poker Flat community as well as the struggle of people the outcasts in order to help others survive. Likewise, Harte’s use of words and symbolisms enable readers to undermine the challenges experienced by the outcasts, only to learn that they will die in the end. Putting these ideas altogether, Harte is able to bring forward the prejudice of American society and how imposing values to people further disengages the people to certain roles and functions.

Works Cited

Harte, Bret. ‘The Outcasts of Poker Flat’ Gutenberg.org.Web. Accessed 29 August 2014.

Kolb, Harold. Jr. ‘The Outcast of Literary Flat: Bret Harte as Humorist’ American Literary Realism 1870-1910, 23.2(1991): 52-63.

Scharnhorst, Gary. ‘Bret Harte, Unitarianism, and the Efficacy of Western Humor’ Literature and Belief, Literature and Belief, 21.1(2001): 93-102.

The story is located in Poker Flat, a small Californian community. Certain inhabitants of Poker Flat feel that the community is going down the hill. They have lost a lot of money and the morals of people are thought to be sinking. Consequently a secret committee is elected. This committee decides who will be killed and who expatriated. On November 23, 1850 four people are exiled. The party 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. The four characters get together and leave Poker Flat, heading for a one day’s journey to a nearby camp. After hours of traveling, Oakhurst’s companions get tired, and despite his remonstrances they decide to stop and rest.

The Outcasts Of Poker Flat

Meanwhile, Oakhurst encounters young runaway couple, Piney Woods and Tom Simons, heading to Poker Flat to get married. 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 spent 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. Oakhurst wakes up in the early morning and notices it started to snow. Furthermore, he discovers that Uncle Billy has been up long before him and now is gone with all their horses and mules. The rest of the group has no other choice than to wait for ten days until they run out of provisions. As the days go by, Mother Shipton dies of starvation, as she tries to save food for ‘the child’ - Piney. Oakhurst decides that Tom has to go to get some help and he fixes him some snow shoes. Then he tells the two women he will accompany Tom ‘as far as the canyon’. Duchess and Piney stay in the cabin and when their fire dies they fall asleep hugging each other. They look so peaceful and innocent, that when the “law of Poker Flat” finds them, they are unable to tell which one is the sinner, so they turn away and let them be. As for the last, Oakhurst commits suicide.