"The Luck of Roaring Camp" is a short story by American author Bret Harte, published in 1868. The story is set in a mining camp in California during the Gold Rush, and it tells the tale of a group of rough, masculine men who are forced to confront their own mortality and humanity when a baby is born in their midst.
The story opens with the arrival of a woman named Cherokee Sal, who has been abandoned by her lover and left to give birth in the camp. The men of Roaring Camp are initially reluctant to take in the newborn, seeing it as a burden and a threat to their hard-won independence. However, as the days pass and the child thrives under their care, the men begin to see it as a symbol of hope and renewal.
The central figure in the story is a man named Stumpy, who takes on the role of the child's primary caretaker and becomes fiercely protective of it. Stumpy is a rough and uncultured man, but he is also deeply compassionate and loving, and he becomes the baby's champion and defender. As the child grows and thrives, the other men of Roaring Camp also begin to see it as a source of joy and hope, and they start to embrace their own softer, more nurturing sides.
Ultimately, the luck of Roaring Camp is not just the luck of the newborn child, but also the luck of the men who care for it. The arrival of the baby forces them to confront their own mortality and the importance of human connection, and it helps them to see the value in compassion and care. In the end, the men of Roaring Camp are changed by their experience, and they emerge from it more human and more connected to one another.
Overall, "The Luck of Roaring Camp" is a poignant and moving story that explores the transformative power of love and compassion. It is a testament to the enduring human capacity for growth and change, and it serves as a reminder of the importance of caring for one another in a world that can often be harsh and unforgiving.
The Luck of Roaring Camp by Bret Harte
The winter of 1851 will long be remembered in the foothills. Above the swaying and moaning of the pines, the swift rush of the river, and the crackling of the fire rose a sharp, querulous cry,--a cry unlike anything heard before in the camp. Deaths were by no means uncommon in Roaring Camp, but a birth was a new thing. They hoped something would happen to prevent it. Not so much for the plotline, but his style of writing and use of big words I haven't heard used in a long time.
The Luck of Roaring Camp Study Guide
By the time all of the men have had their turn, the baby has amassed a pile of gold nuggets, boot spurs, jewels, and coins. A fire of withered pine boughs added sociability to the gathering. A flake of glittering mica, a fragment of variegated quartz, a bright pebble from the bed of the creek, became beautiful to eyes thus cleared and strengthened, and were invariably put aside for The Luck. The door closed on the extempore surgeon and midwife, and Roaring Camp sat down outside, smoked its pipe, and awaited the issue. I only recently started to read Western stories and have enjoyed the few I have read already.
The Luck of Roaring Camp (By Bret Harte) Text & MP3 File
At a large redwood-tree he paused and retraced his steps, and again passed the cabin. The men — seeing themselves in Tuttles mirrors — began to take more care about their hair, beards and clothing. One by one, they enter into the cabin in which the baby was born and leave a gift for him. Bret Harte's short story "Luck of Roaring Camp" manages to be tragic without tipping into melodrama, and rustic without tripping over its local color. The door closed on the extempore surgeon and midwife, and Roaring Camp sat down outside, smoked its pipe, and awaited the issue. I was reading a book of short stories and this came up. As he moved from California to the eastern United States to Europe, he incorporated new subjects and characters into his stories, but people most often reprinted, adapted, and admired his tales of the Gold Rush.
The Luck of Roaring Camp Summary & Analysis
This story was written in 1868 and has all the feel of the American West during that time. Did anyone know them? Then he walked up the gulch past the cabin, still whistling with demonstrative unconcern. The choir was properly trained, and Sandy Tipton was to stand godfather. The greatest scamp had a Raphael face, with a profusion of blonde hair; Oakhurst, a gambler, had the melancholy air and intellectual abstraction of a Hamlet; the coolest and most courageous man was scarcely over five feet in height, with a soft voice and an embarrassed, timid manner. Kentuck opened his eyes.
Short Stories: The Luck of Roaring Camp by Bret Harte
No allusion was made to the mother, and the father was unknown. This passage speaks to what the men of Roaring Camp value: originality, independence, and heroism. I love how Harte showed the rough and tender side of the men who suddenly found themselves with the responsibility of caring for a baby. Vocal music was not interdicted, being supposed to have a soothing, tranquilizing quality; and one song, sung by " Man-o'War Jack," an English sailor from her Majesty's Australian colonies, was quite popular as a lullaby. What I like about this story is how a little baby born into The Roaring Camp changed the rough men's lives who they named the baby, Thomas Luck. Something like a blush tried to assert itself in his weather-beaten cheek. .
