Thursday, February 4, 2010
The Outcasts of Poker Flat
When I first started reading The Outcasts of Poker Flats I got a little confused at first. I thought Poker Flat was a person when the author referred to it as being "after somebody". After reading over it again I finally got everything situated. This piece was very easy to read and I didn’t have to force myself to read it like some others poems. The main reason I like the story is because there are so many characters in it. To me it seems like there really isn’t a main character in the story. I know that Mr. Oakhurst is introduced first, but the author talks about the characters for the most part evenly. It just seems like Bret Harte wanted to stay away from the typical story line of having a main character. I also like how he changed up the ending as well. Most stories people read are ones of happy endings, this one ends with everyone dying. I’m not happy that everyone dies but after seeing so many stories that ended in happy endings, and knowing life isn’t like that; it was nice to see some change. I would defiantly read more of Bret Harte’s stories, seeing how this one’s stays away from the everyday story.
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I agree with Mr. Foster about being confused. I also thought that Poker Flat was a person. I believe that in a way a town can be viewed as a person in the collective sense. Like Mr. Foster, a believe that there is no main character. Throughout most of the story the group stays together. I personally like Hart's realism. It reminds me of a quote I've heard before, "Life is tough, then you die". This story sums it up to a tee.
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