The Luck Of Roaring Camp Sparknotes

Francis Bret Harte’s sentimental short story “The Luck of Roaring Camp” illustrates that even the most rugged of men can change to the needs of a delicate situation. Harte describes in this short story of a situation taking place at “Roaring Camp”, a fictional gold digging settlement set in the 1850s, where reckless outlaws and refugees are entrusted with the task of taking care of an innocent, pure, baby which brings “The Luck” to their camp. Harte artfully utilizes the imagery depicted to portray the regeneration, or rather the new birth, of the camp and it residents due to its newfound “Luck”. The characters, who further emphasize the theme of conversion, makes the reader aware of the changes a newly converted man can undergo to suit his new situation.

Stirred by the influence of newborn life, the men of “Roaring Camp” began the subtle regeneration of their camp.

Among all the establishments in the camp, the cabin assigned to the baby "Tommy Luck", or "The Luck”, first showed signs of improvement. The narrator writes that the cabin “was kept scrupulously clean and whitewashed. Then it was boarded, clothed, and papered. The rosewood cradle, packed eighty miles by mule, had, in Stumpy's way of putting it, ‘sorter killed the rest of the furniture.’ So the rehabilitation of the cabin became a necessity” (Harte E-Book). Most if not all the men in the camp flocked to the cabin to repair it or to visit it’s new resident. "Tuttle's grocery", a bar known for its gun-slinging gamblers, also had to improve due to its competition with “The Luck’s” cabin. The narrator writes, “The men who were in the habit of lounging in at Stumpy's to see ‘how 'The Luck' got on’ seemed to appreciate the change, and in self-defense the rival establishment of "Tuttle's grocery" bestirred itself and imported a carpet and mirrors” (Harte E-Book). The improvement of those camp’s establishments were only few of the many plans to be set in

motion.
The defining characterization and coarse personalities of the men in Harte’s short story further underlines the change the men undergo to take care of a delicate baby. Kentuck, a man known for his unwholesome habits, is barred from holding “The Luck” to due his problems with personal hygiene. Through his need to hold the baby, Kentuck changes his hygienical habits. The narrator writes,
“It was a cruel mortification to Kentuck--who, in the carelessness of a large nature and the habits of frontier life, had begun to regard all garments as a second cuticle, which, like a snake's, only sloughed off through decay--to be debarred this privilege from certain prudential reasons. Yet such was the subtle influence of innovation that he thereafter appeared regularly every afternoon in a clean shirt and face still shining from his ablutions.”(Harte E-Book)
Kentuck’s change from being dirty to seemingly clean and pure supports Harte’s claim that regardless of how rugged a man’s exterior appearance or personality may be, they can change to handle a situation that calls of delicateness.
Francis Bret Harte’s “The Luck of Roaring Camp” provides an example of the adapting, coarse man and his ability to adjust to a situation that is contrary to his lifestyle. Harte’s use of imagery and characterization are carefully displayed to support his unorthodox claim.