Extra Credit Blog- Luck of Roaring Camp

Bret Harte's "The Luck of Roaring Camp" is an excellent depiction of a certain kind of society becoming affected by the addition of a child or infant. As the introduction describes, Roaring Camp as a city of refuge for old, haggard men known as "roughs."

The men-- numbering around a hundred-- dwelling in Roaring Camp's cabin are described as reckless fugitive types that most of us today would describe as homeless people with unattractive features. As it says in the text, "The strongest man had but three fingers on his right hand; the best shot had but one eye" (pg. 12). The importance of the description of the men lies in their character. The gritty picture Harte puts in our mind almost might disgust some people, especially after they read how they treat the only woman in Roaring Camp, "Cherokee Sal."

I disagree with the name of the story "The Luck of Roaring Camp," however. With the arrival of the infant baby later known as Luck, all of the men begin to change. All of the men begin to find a sense of meaning in their life during the time Luck was with them, and things begin to improve and thrive in Roaring Camp-- so they call the baby "Luck" as if the infant was their lucky charm like Oakhurst declared he was. The baby wasn't a good luck charm, though. The baby was a gift from above to give the men inspiration and purpose in their lives.

While the name of the child might have been created for lack of a better name anyone else could think of, I don't think the child brought any luck, it just brought a spark of meaning and importance in their lives. Things in Roaring Camp only got better because the men wanted everything to be perfect for Luck. The reason for this is they all felt like a father to him. They all wanted to spend time with the baby and all wanted the best things in the world for the baby.

As the narrator tells us about the daily lives of the men, "Almost imperceptibly a change came over the settlement... The cabin assigned to 'Tommy' Luck first showed signs of improvement. It was kept scrupulously clean and whitewashed... The men who were in the habit of lounging at Stumpy's to see how the Luck got on seemed to appreciate the change" (21-22).

The men even stopped their everyday boyish behavior by watching their language and remaining more quiet to bring a peaceful atmosphere for Luck. Towards the end of the story, I began to think the men were beginning to worship Luck as some kind of idol. When Kentuck died, he became happy to know he was dying with the baby when he said "He (Luck) is taking me with him. Tell the boys I've got luck with me now" (29). Kentuck made it sound like he was selected by the chosen one to accompany him into the next world!

The point of all of this shows that an infant or child coming into a world of men with nothing left to appreciate in their lives in turn gives them all something to live for as most fathers do for their own children. I really think that while sometimes in life I kind of go through the motions with a lack of purpose, I know if I ever get to become a father I won't rest until the child has everything better I didn't have.

Tom Sawyer

I remember reading Tom Sawyer and thinking, "Dang, I wish I was a kid again..." I was never a country boy that thought a good time was tricking people for my benefit, but I definitely was the same kid that found whatever kind of trouble I could get into and had fun with it.

Boyhood is a very apparent theme in this. In the first 15-20 pages alone, Tom gets himself into just about every common situation a troublesome boy would find. He pisses off his guardian, gets grounded on a weekend, picks a fight with a stranger, and dwells in the fact that he's not having fun with his friends. What I found kind of interesting is how clever Tom was. It's not very common for kids his age to be clever enough to make work seem interesting. He made a groundbreaking discovery for someone his age to know when "He had discovered a great law of human action, without knowing it- namely, that in order to make a man or a boy covet a thing, it is only necessary to make the thing difficult to attain." (331)

I think that's what makes Tom Sawyer such a good story; you'd almost think that Bart Simpson himself was made up after Tom Sawyer.

Yares of the Black Mountain

Davis's depiction of the north versus the south in the "Yares of the Black Mountain" is a very intriguing and controversial subject to look at. The short story features two women: a widow and a travel writer, both from New York. The interesting part is, the two women are complete opposites in their description and opinions of the post-Civil War South. All in all, in my opinion, the two women symbolize Davis's interpretation of the north and the south after the Civil War was over.

Miss Cook, the travel writer, comes off as more of a bigot throughout the story always making comments about how simple and unsophisticated the people of the South are and the lack of activity going on while the widow remains subdued and takes a positive look at the calmness of the South and the generosity of its people.

The widow is on the trip hoping her baby and be cured. While this seems to be the overall theme of the story, I found a lot of irony in it and I found the writer to be a little biased in her story telling. Why would someone go to the south become cured if the south itself is in complete shambles. I know the doctor told the widow that's what she had to do but it just seemed a little ironic that the south had lost a war not too long before the story took place.

I find the writer to be biased because she makes light of the south's situation while making the north (Miss Cook ) to be stubborn and arrogant.