The Luck of Roaring Camp
By: Bret Harte
I
found “The Luck of Roaring Camp” to be an incredibly depressing story. I was
not expecting that ending in the slightest. The story takes place in the 1850s
and it starts out talking about this camp that is run down and dirty and full
of men except for one woman- Cherokee Sal. There is a commotion at the camp
because Cherokee Sal is in labor. The men had never heard or seen anything like
it; they all anxiously waited outside of her cabin. Cherokee Sal suffered and passed
away while laboring a baby boy. “..a sharp, querulous cry, - a cry unlike
anything heard before in the camp. The pines stopped moaning, the river ceased
to rush, and the fire to crackle. It seems as if Nature had stopped to listen
too” (1486). I found this quote to be both foreshadowing a symbolic. Nature
stopped and there seemed to be a moment of silence as Cherokee Sal left the
world and her baby boy entered the world. The loss of her life lead to new life
through the birth of her son and change for her son and the camp. Her son grows
to love and be one with nature, which is, why this quote is a bit
foreshadowing.
The
story goes on as the men offer little trinkets and presents to the baby.
They buried Cherokee Sal on the hillside
and her life was celebrated and then there was turmoil over who is going to
adopt the orphan and raise him as their own. Stumpy stepped up to the plate and
volunteered to take the boy in. Though Stumpy became his parent, the whole camp
helped out. The saying does go that it takes a village to raise a baby, and
that is exactly what the roaring camp did. I really thought that Kentuck was
going to take on raising the boy since he was so affected by the baby grabbing
his finger when he first met him; Kentuck looked at his finger for a long time
and seemed perplexed that the baby had chosen him and chosen to grab his
finger; it is later evident that this is foreshadowing.
The
baby brought about positive changes in the camp. The camp agreed on naming the
boy Thomas Luck or Tommy Luck, and he really did become “The Luck” of the camp.
Stumpy installed a new and stricter policy on personal cleanliness. “Again
Stumpy imposed a kind of quarantine upon those who aspired to the honor and
privilege of holding The Luck” (1489). Stumpy wanted to protect Tommy Luck from
everything and everyone. Stumpy also changed the noise level near Tommy, there
was to be no shouting or yelling within hearing distance of the baby. The baby
was one with nature, “Surrounded by playthings such as never child out of
fairyland had before, it is to be hoped that Tommy was content” (1490). It was
thought that the boy was thriving and happy.
The
North Fork leapt over the bank and took the roaring camp with it. Stumpy’s home
was gone and so was everyone who lived in it. A rescue boat later found an
older man and a baby; it was Kentuck and Tommy Luck. The baby that Kentuck held
was dead and Kentuck was told by the others that he too was dying- “’he’s
a-taking me with him. Tell the boys I’ve got The Luck with me now’”; (1491).
Once again Tommy Luck, “The Luck” of the village chose Kentuck to die along
side him the same way that he seemed to choose Kentuck as a caregiver though
Stumpy took on the role permanently.
I
liked how the baby represented the luck of the camp and the luck of all the men
in the camp. With the baby came great change in the camp and it brought all of
the men together for better or for worse.
Discussion
Questions:
·
Did
you find the story to be depressing?
·
Did
you catch on to all of the foreshadowing?
·
What
do you think Cherokee Sal was doing at this men’s camp anyway?
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