What is the consequence of Uncle Billy stealing the mules?
Uncle Billy’s theft is significant not just because it confirms his status as a thief, but also because it goes beyond his reputation as a suspected petty thief—in stealing the group’s mules, he has stranded his companions and effectively sentenced them to death.
What statement describes a theme in The Outcasts of Poker Flat?
A major theme of “The Outcasts of Poker Flat” is the complexity of human nature. On the surface each of the outcasts is considered amoral. The truth brought about by the entrance of the innocent Tom and the virginal Piney is that people are more than they seem on the surface.
What is the important effect that Tom Simson and piney woods have on the outcasts?
What is the most important effect that Tom Simson and Piney Woods have on the outcasts? They bring out the best of each outcasts. cares for Piney and wants to help her.
What effect do Tom and Piney have on all the outcasts except Uncle Billy )? Why?
They are simple, pure, and naive and those qualities touch the outcasts, except for Uncle Billy who does not have the conscience that the others have.
Why did Oakhurst kill himself?
John Oakhurst is found that way underneath a playing card attached to a tree. Presumably, John Oakhurst wrote his own epitaph on the playing card and shot himself in order to more quickly end his life. In his mind, the alternative was either freeze to death or starve to death.
What happens to John Oakhurst at the conclusion of the story?
Oakhurst take in the last part of the story? Piney and Duchess frozen to death. Mr. Oakhurst shot himself.
Why does Mr Oakhurst and Tom leave the camp?
1. Why are Oakhurst and the others forced to leave Poker Flat? = The resident of the Poker Flat want to improve the town by expelling the townspeople who were undesirable, so Oakhurst and the others forced to leave Poker Flat as a part townspeople who were undesirable.
What was Tom Simson called by the narrator?
His name is Tom Simson, and he is also referred to as the Innocent. He is traveling with his fifteen-year-old fiance, Piney Woods. The two have eloped and are on their way to Poker Flat to be married. Simson is an acquaintance of Oakhurst, having once lost forty dollars to him in a poker game.
Who were the outcasts escorted out of town?
Oakhurst, along with a young woman known as The Duchess, another older woman called Mother Shipton, and a robber and drunkard called Uncle Billy, is escorted to the edge of Poker Flat and forbidden to return.
What was wrong with the Town of Poker Flat?
From the outset, Poker Flat is in a precarious state: the town has recently “suffered the loss of several thousand dollars, two valuable horses, and a prominent citizen.” In the wake of this emotional and financial loss—which perhaps came as a blow to the town’s ego as well—a “secret committee” decides to cleanse the …
What is John Oakhurst’s occupation?
The protagonist of the story, John Oakhurst is a serial gambler who is exiled from the Old West settlement of Poker Flat along with three other people whom the town has deemed “improper”: the Duchess, Mother Shipton, and Uncle Billy.
Does Tom Simson make it to Poker Flat?
Because of this incident, Tom is delighted to run into Oakhurst in the mountains. The story implies that Tom is successful in reaching Poker Flat—even though the rest of the group dies, they are found days when “voices and footsteps” enter the camp, presumably a search party.
How did Tom Simson die?
Tom Simpson (30 November 1937 – 13 July 1967) was a British professional cyclist, one of Britain’s most successful of all time. At the time of the 1967 Tour de France, he was the undisputed leader of the British team. In the 13th stage of that race, he collapsed and died during the ascent of Mont Ventoux.
Why are the outcasts thrown out of Poker Flat?
Poker Flat’s secret committee feels determined to change the atmosphere of their lawless town by banishing known outlaws and objectionable characters. The secret committee has also executed two of the town’s most notorious criminals. Oakhurst is banished from Poker Flat because he is a successful…
Who is the most admirable character in The Outcasts of Poker Flat?
While all of the characters of Bret Harte’s “Outcasts of Poker Flat” easily engage the reader’s sympathy, with the exception of the treacherous Uncle Billy, it’s difficult not to feel that the heroic self-sacrifice of Mother Shipton makes her the most admirable of the group.
Does Tom die in the Outcasts of Poker Flat?
The shortest answer possible to your question is this: all but two of the travelers die at the camp. The travelers that wind up at the camp are John Oakhurst, Mother Shipton, Duchess, Tom Simson, Piney Woods, and Uncle Billy. John Oakhurst shot himself.
What makes Oakhurst at once the strongest and yet the weakest of the Outcasts of Poker Flat?
Harte ends the story calling John Oakhurst “at once the strongest and yet the weakest of the outcasts of Poker Flat.” The strength refers to the gambler’s bravery and composure in the face of death, but Harte also suggests that there are limits to this uncomplaining acceptance of hardship.
Is The Outcasts of Poker Flat realism or naturalism?
“The Outcasts of Poker Flat” is set during the time of the gold rush in California. You can tell the region the story takes place by the harsh wheather and the mention of the mountians. In both stories the main character dies becasue of nature’s cruetly. This shows the natralist aspect of realism.
How does the Outcasts of Poker Flat represent naturalism?
Naturalism is represented in this story by the real life like situations of certain characters. For example; John Oakhurst was a gambler who would destroy all opponents at a game of cards. He would also win their money and for that reason alone he was not liked.
What is ironic about the title The Outcasts of Poker Flat?
Therefore the central irony that underlies “The Outcasts of Poker Flat” is that the outcast’s behavior and kindness toward each other proves that they have qualities of mind and heart that society honors–even if their professions are on the less respectable side–while the morally guiding secret committee of Poker …