The Outcasts of Poker Flat”
In the short story “The Outcasts of Poker Flat” by Bret Harte we see a reoccurring theme with the characters within the story. Most of the characters in “The Outcasts of Poker Flat” seemed to be “bad guys”, majority prove by the end of the story that they were genuinely good people. The theme that even wicked people can change is very prevalent with three characters. The town of Poker Flat was determined to get rid of specific characters that were cause for trouble and harm to the community. John Oakhurst, The Duchess, and the owner of a brothel Mother Shipton were the troublemakers that they had to get rid of.
Mother Shipton, the first troublemaker, was a prostitute in the gambling town of Poker Flats. Mother Shipton had that “bad girl” mentality for being a prostitute. Mrs. Shipton and the other characters in the story were banished from Poker Flats and would later find themselves snowed in at a cabin in the California Mountains. While snowed in the reader can see Mother Shiptons' perceived character change. They had little to no food and their ...
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.”
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.
Here are something’s that I’ve found in the story of The Outcast of Poker Flat. The first reason why I think that Mr. John Oakhurst is a outcast is because he is nothing but a gambler that does nothing but causes trouble with most people. Then plus it doesn’t say that he has a family or friends so that makes him a loner which he is a outcast. The next one is that two or three men, conversing earnestly together, ceased as Mr. John Oakhurst had approached the mens and they had changed signifiant looks. But that is one reason why I think that Mr. John Oakhurst is a outcast is because all the people in the town and how they act and look at him like he is the bad guy which
No matter what actions or words a mother chooses, to a child his or her mother is on the highest pedestal. A mother is very important to a child because of the nourishing and love the child receives from his or her mother but not every child experiences the mother’s love or even having a mother. Bragg’s mother was something out of the ordinary because of all that she did for her children growing up, but no one is perfect in this world. Bragg’s mother’s flaw was always taking back her drunken husband and thinking that he could have changed since the last time he...
The mother is a selfish and stubborn woman. Raised a certain way and never falters from it. She neglects help, oppresses education and persuades people to be what she wants or she will cut them out of her life completely. Her own morals out-weight every other family member’s wants and choices. Her influence and discipline brought every member of the family’s future to serious-danger to care to her wants. She is everything a good mother isn’t and is blind with her own morals. Her stubbornness towards change and education caused the families state of desperation. The realization shown through the story is the family would be better off without a mother to anchor them down.
People from different social classes lead different lives and treated differently by others. Society never promotes equality but categorizes them. In Bastard Out of Carolina, unfair treatment provokes characters who are in the bottom of the society and destroy them mentally. The author, Dorothy Allison tells in the novel of how anger could build up from the social inequities and personal insecurity that possibly burns one's true identity.
The story also focuses in on Ruth Younger the wife of Walter Lee, it shows the place she holds in the house and the position she holds to her husband. Walter looks at Ruth as though he is her superior; he only goes to her for help when he wants to sweet talk his mama into giving him the money. Mama on the other hand holds power over her son and doesn’t allow him to treat her or any women like the way he tries to with Ruth. Women in this story show progress in women equality, but when reading you can tell there isn’t much hope and support in their fight. For example Beneatha is going to college to become a doctor and she is often doubted in succeeding all due to the fact that she is black African American woman, her going to college in general was odd in most people’s eyes at the time “a waste of money” they would say, at least that’s what her brother would say. Another example where Beneatha is degraded is when she’s with her boyfriend George Murchison whom merely just looks at her as arm
Section 1 The Woman On The Street: In this short section Jeannette Walls tells a story the recently happened to her rather than during her childhood. Jeannette Walls is taking a ride in a taxi on the way to a party in New York City. On the way she sees her mother, who is homeless, picking through the garbage. After a few moments of watching her mother, she asks the driver to take her home. Alone at home while her husband is at work she thinks about her mother's lifestyle and calls a friend who keeps in contact with her mother to setup a meeting with Rose Mary, her mother, at a chinese restaurant. At the restaurant Walls discusses her mother's lifestyle and asks what she can do to help because she is ashamed of Mary. Mary proceeds to tell Jeannette that being shameful is foolish and to accept her way of life.
The first character the book introduces to the reader to is Rorschach, Walter Joseph Kovacs, one of the main characters. Rorschach reveals his past and why he wears a mask on page eleven. Walter’s past is revealed in chapter six when he is examined by a psychiatrist. The psychiatrist gives Walter ink blots and his first vision is of his mother and a man. Also on chapter six, the reader, see that his mother was a prostitute who worked out of her home. Her reasons for practicing prostitution appear when she interacts with Walter. On page four of chapter six, Walter walked into his mother’s bedroom while she was entertaining a man. As soon as his mother realizes he is watching she hits him across the face. "You little shit! You know what you cost me, you ugly little shit. I shoulda listened to everybody else! I shoulda had the abortion." (Pg.4, chap.6, panel 6-7) Walter’s mother did’nt hesitate to physically or verbally abuse him. Her first reaction was to punch him in the face. This reflects the issue of a chain of a abuse. Walter’s mother was probably abused in more ways than one by her parents. Through her behavior of name calling and the rage she portrays it is most likely she was subjected to the same as a child. She basically told Walter that she didn’t want him and regretted having him. She neglects Walter of attention and love, just as she was by her parents. Both Walter and his mother are dealing with issues of neglect and a craving for attention. As a prostitute, we see on page three in chapter six Walter’s mother substitutes sex for love, attention, beauty, and care. She begs her male friend to stay, "Oh baby, please, listen. he’s kinda backwards. Please don’t get mad." She begs the man to stay because having sex makes her feel beautiful because the men want her and touch her. In chapter 6 on page three she says, "Oh you’re hurting me." She says this to her male customer, she did not make him ...
Ms. King masterfully downplays the importance of the little convent girl by not giving her a name, even the steamboat captain and crew members refer to her as "the little convent girl". As a result, the reader is led to believe that the story is not really about the little convent girl. She is merely the instrument chosen by the author through which the reader will experience a steamboat adventure. King further misleads the reader by offering paragraphs of information about the complexities of navigating the river, the habits of the crew members, and the skill of the steamboat pilots. On those occasions that the reader is provided bits of information about the little convent girl, King immediately misdirects the reader back to the overt theme of a steamboat adventure.
Narrated by the mother of two daughters, the story opens with an examination of one daughter's favoring of appearances over substance, and the effect this has on her relatives. The mother and her younger daughter, Maggie, live in an impoverished rural area. They anticipate the arrival of the elder daughter, Dee, who left home for college and is bringing her new husband with her for a visit. The mother recalls how, as a child, Dee hated the house in which she was raised. It was destroyed in a fire, and as it was burning, Dee "(stood) off under the sweet gum tree... a look of concentration on her face", tempting her mother to ask, "'why don't you do a dance around the ashes?'" (Walker 91) She expects Dee will hate their current house, also. The small, three-room house sits in a pasture, with "no real windows, just some holes cut in the sides" (Walker 92), and although, as Dee asserts, they "choose to live" in such a place, Dee keeps her promise to visit them (Walker 92). Her distaste for her origins is felt by her mother and Maggie, who, in anticipation of Dee's arrival, internalize her attitudes. They feel to some extent their own unworthiness. The mother envisions a reunion in which her educated, urbane daughter would be proud of her. In reality, she describes her...
The writer Bells Hooks remembers her mother as a young fifties women who loved learning from the commercials and magazines about motherhood. She had learned about not letting the children know about grown-up problems so, she would discuss the problems with her husband in their room than in front of their children. She had married the writer’s father after a divorce with two children. She loved fun and freedom just like her husband. She was really happy when she had finally left her mother’s house which was full of old traditions and morals.
Jeannette Walls was born into a poor family who often had to live homeless and without food. The environment in which she grew up in is what gave her the characteristics she possesses. One trait that describes Jeannette is that she is very adventurous. Since she was constantly exposed to new surroundings, she became curious of them. While she was homeless in the desert, she would play a game with her father called Monster Hunting. She grew to not be afraid of anything, since she could fight off these so called “monsters.” Also, Jeannette is very decisive. To get away from Welch, a poor town in West Virginia, she made sure that she would get enough money to move to New York. She did this by getting a job to save up money for a bus ticket and for college. Along with this, Jeannette is very ambitious. She worked very hard to get accepted into college by working for the school newspaper, since she wanted to become a journalist. On the other hand, Melba Patillo was born into a middle class family who lived in Lit...
Through the crime committed by Minnie Wright, three women grow together and establish that justice for all is deeper than finding the culprit. Justice occurs in all things, in hiding the clues by Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters, in the quiet dignity they both have by helping their friend, and by proving that women are capable of anything they are determined to accomplish.
Marie, who is a product of an abusive family, is influenced by her past, as she perceives the relationship between Callie and her son, Bo. Saunders writes, describing Marie’s childhood experiences, “At least she’d [Marie] never locked on of them [her children] in a closet while entertaining a literal gravedigger in the parlor” (174). Marie’s mother did not embody the traditional traits of a maternal fig...