The Outcasts Of Poker Flat

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The short stories “An Occurrence At Owl Creek Bridge” by Ambrose Bierce, “To Build A Fire” by Jack London, and “The Outcasts Of Poker Flat” by Bret Harte all show many different themes, but I found one theme in each story that stood out to me. One notable theme in “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” by Ambrose Bierce is the subjectivity of reality, a theme shown in “To Build a Fire” by Jack London is the harsh realities of weather and lastly a theme for “The Outcasts of Poker Flat” by Bret Harte is redemption and transformation. In “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge,” Ambrose Bierce shows a character, Peyton Farquhar, going through many hallucinations that mess with his sense of what’s real and what is not, showing us how tricky and subjective …show more content…

They were, indeed, preternaturally keen and alert” (Bierce 471). The quote shows how Peyton's sense goes into overdrive as he is about to be hanged. This shows that what’s happening in his head is different from what is actually going on. It's as if his reality has been twisted to fit what he wants to believe or hope is happening, which is a perfect example of how reality can be super subjective, depending on how you see it or what you’re going through. The harsh realities of weather and its impact on human survival are shown in “To Build a Fire” by Jack London, where “the man” faces the harsh reality of weather in the Yukon territory. In “To Build a Fire,” Jack London shows the theme of the harsh realities of weather through the struggles of the protagonist against the extreme cold, “The man’s red beard and mustache were likewise frosted, but more solidly the deposits taking the form of ice and increasing with every warm, moist breath he exhaled” (London 499). The quote shows the intense cold that “the man” faces, showing how even his breath becomes a threat to his survival as it freezes when it comes in contact with the

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