On Bret Harte's The Outcasts of Poker Flat (1)

Yuen M. Ho
English 48B
January 19, 2007
Journal #6 Bret Harte

I. Quote

“As Mr. John Oakhurst, gambler, stepped into the main street of Poker Flat on the morning of the twenty-third of November, 1850, he was conscious of a change in its moral atmosphere from the preceding night.”

II. Summary

This first sentence of the short story “The Outcasts of Poker Flat” already demonstrates the wit and humor of Bret Harte. There are two words that catch my attention: “gambler” and “moral”. As Mr. Oakhurst is a gambler and Poker Flat is also obviously a gambling place, the use of the word “moral” to describe the atmosphere inside Poker Flat appears to be amusing and sarcastic.

Later in the story, Harte continued this kind of humor. In paragraph 3, it was said that “Poker Flat had lately suffered the loss of several thousand dollars, two valuable horses, and a prominent citizen.” It was surely inconceivable for any prominent citizen to be highly associated with the Poker House. Besides, in the same paragraph, it was mentioned that “A secret committee had determined to rid the town of all improper persons.” It is amusing to find out who these “improper persons” are: gamblers who have won a big sum of money from the flat. While we surely understand what Poker Flat was trying to do indeed – to get rid of people who make their Flat lose, Harte described their action as venturing to “sit in judgment” of these “standards of evil”.

III. Response

Before going to class when I first read the story, I did not notice that the choice of words was supposed to imply opposite meanings and create a sense of irony. I was just like one of those “eastern readers” described by the editor, thinking this story as a sad myth of gamblers in the West. But after digging between the lines and words, I can now grasp the true, underlying meaning and I admit that it is drop dead humorous!

The charm of Harte’s writing lies in that whether you take a story’s superficial meaning or the underlying one, you will enjoy reading it.