The Luck of Roaring Camp
ASSIGNMENT ON AMERICAN LITERATURE
A view on “THE LUCK OF ROARING CAMP” – Bret Harte
1. The story starts with a unique event. What is it? What significance can you attach to the event? The story is commenced by a unique event which is the birth of a boy in the gold mining camp where “Deaths were not unusual in Roaring Camp; but a birth was big news”. Particularly, the appearance of the baby, an orphan now, in the “roaring” land among all men who were either fugitives, criminals, or prospectors put them into a quandary. They were a rude assortment of all the stereotypical bad people in the world, certainly not fit to be the guardians of a baby. The presence of the child, therefore, forecasts the unprecedented changes in this land and in these men.
Additionally, as far as I know, in comparison with the Orient perspective, the Occident seems to consider the birthday much more important than the passing one since Birthday is the starting point of a new life.
2. List 2 changes that were brought about with the coming of the baby. How do you interpret these changes? Changes then began in Roaring Camp along with the coming of the baby; work of regeneration almost imperceptibly came over the settlement. First, “Roaring Camp produced stricter ‘personal cleanliness’ upon those who aspired to hold ‘The Luck’. Taking Kentuck as a typical example, he was formerly unfamiliar with anything ‘clean’, appeared every afternoon in a clean shirt, and face shining. The men changed their clothes like a snake shedding skin for a new beautiful and hopeful life. Besides, Stumpy had imposed a type of quarantine on who would have the honor of holding Tommy. Tommy was supposed to always be at peace and not disturbed by noise, therefore the shouting and yelling was not permitted within hearing distance of Stumpy. The gamblers, drinkers and criminals used to make the camp become a “roaring” one, now seriously “converse in whispers, or smoked with Indian
A view on “THE LUCK OF ROARING CAMP” – Bret Harte
1. The story starts with a unique event. What is it? What significance can you attach to the event? The story is commenced by a unique event which is the birth of a boy in the gold mining camp where “Deaths were not unusual in Roaring Camp; but a birth was big news”. Particularly, the appearance of the baby, an orphan now, in the “roaring” land among all men who were either fugitives, criminals, or prospectors put them into a quandary. They were a rude assortment of all the stereotypical bad people in the world, certainly not fit to be the guardians of a baby. The presence of the child, therefore, forecasts the unprecedented changes in this land and in these men.
Additionally, as far as I know, in comparison with the Orient perspective, the Occident seems to consider the birthday much more important than the passing one since Birthday is the starting point of a new life.
2. List 2 changes that were brought about with the coming of the baby. How do you interpret these changes? Changes then began in Roaring Camp along with the coming of the baby; work of regeneration almost imperceptibly came over the settlement. First, “Roaring Camp produced stricter ‘personal cleanliness’ upon those who aspired to hold ‘The Luck’. Taking Kentuck as a typical example, he was formerly unfamiliar with anything ‘clean’, appeared every afternoon in a clean shirt, and face shining. The men changed their clothes like a snake shedding skin for a new beautiful and hopeful life. Besides, Stumpy had imposed a type of quarantine on who would have the honor of holding Tommy. Tommy was supposed to always be at peace and not disturbed by noise, therefore the shouting and yelling was not permitted within hearing distance of Stumpy. The gamblers, drinkers and criminals used to make the camp become a “roaring” one, now seriously “converse in whispers, or smoked with Indian