Analysis of The Outcasts of Poker Flat by John Oakhurst
John Oakhurst is the main character in “The Outcasts of Poker Flat”. John is an outstanding person and has some phenomenal traits. Such as that he is unusually calm, courageous, and modest.
John has shown numerous times in “The Outcasts of Poker Flat”, that he is an extraordinarily calm person. One time in which Mr. Oakhurst showed extreme calmness is when the men come to take him away, and he just took what is coming. That to me shows extreme calmness. Another time when John Oakhurst shoes his trait of calmness is when he has to walk on foot back to Poker Flat to save Piney. John just said that he would try, and off he went. No worries or second thoughts about it. Those two things to me, show that John Oakhurst is a extremely calm person.
John, the gambler, is an extremely courageous person. He has proven this by a number of actions in this story. First of all he shows tons of courage by not getting scared when the travelers and him get snowed in. If it where me I probably would have run off like Uncle Billy did. Another example of when Mr. Oakhurst showed courage was when he kicked Uncle Billy to stop him from laughing. Most people would have just told him to stop laughing. But not Mr. Oakhurst, he just gave him a swift kick in the stomach. That to me shows the utmost courage in the world.
Another one of John’s traits is that he is overwhelmingly modest. Mr. Oakhurst’s modesty is proven numerous times in this short story by Brett Harte. One of those times is when John puts the death card on the tree, he doesn’t boast about dying while trying to save a life. He simply states that he ran out of luck on a certain day. Another time in which John displayed modesty is when he never boasts of winning all that money during card games.
The main character, John Oakhurst, was a good man throughout the story. In the beginning, Mr. Oakhurst also gave Duchess his horse to ride on since she only had a donkey, and it was uncomfortable on the journey for her, as shown in paragraph 7, ‘he insisted upon exchanging his own riding horse, "Five Spot," for the sorry mule which the Duchess rode.’ One of the main reasons we know he has hidden goodness is that he stayed with all of the women when he could’ve left them like Uncle
In “The Outcasts of Poker Flat,” by Bret Harte, his portrayal of the “outcasts” in the story contradict with their stereotypes. This is seen with all four outsiders, but specifically with the gambler, Mr. Oakhurst. When thinking of a gambler, the words selfish, careless, unreliable, and irresponsible come to mind. However, Bret Harte contrasts with this stereotype by making Mr. Oakhurst a good hearted person. For example, when the Duchess declared she could go no farther, the gambler never once “thought of deserting his weaker and more pitiable companions.” Surprisingly, the gambler, who is thought to be undependable and self-absorbed, never had the idea to desert his companions. Another instance where Mr. Oakhurst breaks the common stereotype
John Oakhurst is a outcast is because he gets kicked out of Poker Flat by the secret committee. The evidence that supports that answer is that the secret committee was getting rid of the people that was improper to the town and so was Mr. John Oakhurst. Then also how there where two men that was hanging from a tree that the towns people had hung up there because of something they did that was not good to the town. The evidence that support’s that is in regard of two men who were then hanging from the boughs of a sycamore in the gulch, and temporarily in the banishment of certain other objectionable characters. That’s the second reason why I think he is a outcast of Poker
Mark Twain best described courage when he said that, “Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear - not absence of fear” (Twain). Both in The One Who Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey and Watership Down by Richard Adams, the authors deal with the topic of courage and each share a similar view on it as this quote. Indeed, both authors suggest that courage is not accumulated simply by acts of heroism, but rather by overcoming fears and speaking one’s mind as well. These books are very similar in the way that bravery is displayed through the characters in an uncommon way. Firstly, an example of bravery
The public when the women first came out writing stories they had no clue what to think about their writings. It wasn’t like the traditional men writing where it kept the reader on the edge of their seats and being entertained. The women wrote more of a darker kind of story to where some people would call it a horror story, it was the first time that women had a voice. Women often talked about one thing and it was freedom, they always feel like they have been trapped. Also men wanted to inform and they had a lot of humor in their stories, where the women did not. Female authors had a much darker, melancholy storyline to their writing, while male authors wrote primarily to entertain their readers.
Courage is an act of sacrifice that allows you to face danger without showing fear. A time he showed courage was when he threw the first punch at the rumble between the Greasers and Socs. He threw the first punch for pride, he threw it for loyalty, but he was courageous while doing so. As Ponyboy stated on page 142, "... He was ashamed to be on our side..." It took a lot of courage to throw the first punch being on a side you were ashamed of being on. He was ashamed because the person he punched was what he could've been and that crushed Darry. It would take a lot of courage to look after two adolescent boys while they are growing up. Darry could've gone to college, become a national football player and have a better life than what he had. Darry instead sacrificed that to keep his brothers together after the death of their parents. If Sodapop and Ponyboy could stay together, Darry would've gone to college. Darry was incredibly courageous to give that up for his brothers.
The story appears to be revolving around deviance. Deviance is defined as the violation of norms, whether the infraction is as grave as murder or as trivial as driving over the speed limit. However, what makes something deviant is not the act itself, but the reaction to the act. In this story, both Robby and John are deviants. John violated his society norms by doing something that is not expected of him. He became a scholar, married a white woman. This is not a bad thing in itself but the way John accomplished it is not good either. John pushed away his family and deliberately distanced himself from his Homewood community. This suggests that deviance is neutral in itself; it can be negative or positive. It is also relative, as it can be positive from one side and negative from the other. People often th...
While in Meet John Doe, Long John Willoughby is shown to be a wreck. He is a homeless man who almost made it to the big leagues but never did because of an injury. He is shown to be a simple man, frustrated with his failure to make it to the big leagues but good at heart. When c...
Courage exists in several forms in Harper Lee’s novel, To Kill a Mockingbird. As defined by Atticus Finch, real courage is “.when you know you're licked before you begin, but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what” (149). The novel explores the how this real courage can be shown in different ways through the lives of many characters in Maycomb, particularly, Tom Robinson, Mrs. Dubose, and Atticus. Their courage is evident through their lifestyle, actions, and beliefs. One of the characters who showed real courage is Tom Robinson.
Based on the Merriam Webster dictionary, courage is defined as the,“mental or moral strength to venture, persevere, and withstand danger, fear, or difficulty.” In the play, the characters are tested and forced to make life or death decisions, with
In the book, Children of the Lamp The Akhenaten Adventure, by P. B. Kerr there is a character named John, one of the protagonists in the story. John is immature because he always wants to use his powers for fun, he is always joking around, and above all, he enjoys playing jokes on his twin sister. John, as I mentioned before, has a twin. This twin is named Philippa, and they share a very special connection. But that does not stop John from making jokes and pranking her whenever he can. Also, John likes to just overall mess around in any important adventure, including when they get trapped. John is a major part of the plot, and he helps Philippa and Nimrod face the antagonist, the Ifrit tribe.
The narrator, John, is intelligent but both boring and bored – a silent observer who scarcely shows a significant amount of humanity. In fact, this strange personality of John becomes exceedingly apparent from the very first line of the book, “Call me Jonah. My parents did, or nearly did. They called me John.” (Vonnegut 1). John’s introduction demonstrates wonders about how he views the world. He is an observer – a note taker – and his actual identity and humanity aren’t immensely important to anything (a fact which he is painfully aware of). His interactions with other characters are often bland or awkward, and his constant use of sarcasm ends up showing how cynical the world looks through his eyes. The conversation he has with Dr. Breed shows the observant aspect of John, though in that case he is actually performing an interview (Vonnegut 42). That being the case, his demeanor doesn’t change from that conversation to when he isn’t giving
However on the other side John Proctor the stories protagonist portrays “the kind of man, even tempered, ...
John, the narrator's husband, represents society at large. Like society, John controls and determines much of what his wife should or should not do, leaving his wife incapable of making her own decisions. John's domineering nature can be accredited to the fact that John is male and also a "physician of high standing" (1). John is "practical in the extreme. He has no patience with faith, an intense horror of superstition, and he scoffs openly at any talk of thi...
To be courageous, it doesn't mean you have to save a city, or fight against an evil villain (although being courageous). To be courageous, all you have to do is be brave and express yourself. In the book "Jasper Jones", Charlie shows courage by doing just that! The book “Jasper Jones”, written by Craig Silvey that has been awarded the Michael Printz Award, starts off with the main character, Charlie, who soon to his un knowing, is being called upon by someone knocking on his window. He looked over and saw him… Jasper Jones. Jasper was considered by the town as a hooligan, a good for nothing, a criminal. But, Jasper needed his help. Charlie, then, goes with Jasper and starts what would be an adventure of twists and turns, truth and