The person who has done both good and bad things in their life is the person everyone struggles to categorize as truly good or truly evil. They have displayed two opposite sides of themselves; Therefore,deciding if they are truly good or truly evil is impossible. There is a word for this these people,morally ambiguous. The idea of people being morally ambiguous is now a popular idea among authors. The authors are now making their characters morally ambiguous to be more relatable to real people in real life. The Outcasts of Poker Flat by Bret Harte supports these thoughts. In The Outcasts of Poker Flat, Harte uses John Oakhurst,The Duchess, and Piney Woods to display morally ambiguous characters, and relate back to a popular situation of today …show more content…
John Oakhurst possesses a reputation as a feared gambler in the town. When Mr. Oakhurst arrives in town a group of men who were once talking " ceased as he approached, and exchanged significant glances" when the gambler appeared before them(Harte 59).Readers sense that Mr. Oakhurst is a well-known man who is feared by many in the town. The actions towards him makes the audience wonder if he has done something that only the townspeople know about; However he is very popular in a good way among his peers when the group of outcasts are at camp. The group endured many challenges at the camp, and "When the outcasts are trapped by a snowstorm, Oakhurst assumes leadership of the group ", giving them the leadership they need ( Wilson-AVL). Oakhurst takes over the group to make sure everything got done properly. He was also selfless; He gave his good horse to the Duchess, and his money he had won from Tom back to Tom. He was a good leader, and a good person, when he was needed the most. The Audience has seen two sides of John Oakhurst; However, how does one decide which side is the real …show more content…
Her true name is unknown, and her title is all that is given. The Duchess, because of the limited information, is stereotyped by her being a prostitute. She is thought of as to be irresponsible and conceited. The journey to camp confirmed some of these thoughts when "the Duchess, rolling out of her saddle upon the ground, declared her intention of going no farther, and the party halted" only for the desires of the Duchess( Harte 60). The Duchess showed how uncaring for others she could be, and how unaware she is of the situation she was in when her actions took place; However, the Duchess, farther into the story, becomes very aware of others needs.She becomes a mother-figure to the group when they needed someone to love and guide them. The group of outcasts are joined by Piney Woods and Tom Simson. Piney aided the Duchess in finding her responsibility because Piney needed a figure to guide her. The the times got harsh when they became trapped by the snow with limited resources. The Duchess took over as a mother-figure and became " more cheerful and nurturing towards Piney" when Piney needed a leader the most(Wilson-AVL). She took full responsibility of Piney and her needs, and now she is more aware of her surroundings than she was before. The Duchess seems to appear as a new person,but is she really? She could have been faking her entitlement to be the stereotypical prostitute the world wants to see, and
Surprisingly, the gambler, who is thought to be undependable and self-absorbed, never had the idea to desert his companions. Another instance where Mr. Oakhurst breaks the common stereotype
Moral ambiguity is lack of sense in ethical decision-making. This means morally ambiguous characters are difficult to classify as either good or evil, as they contain strong aspects of both. These types of characters generally have real problems, causing their inner conflicts, which also makes them sympathetic. Stories that have morally ambiguous characters usually create built-in tension, because there is always the question of whether their conniving nature will be able to take hold, causing them to fail in their pursuit. In the play The Crucible, an example of a morally ambiguous character is Mary Warren.
Flannery O’ Conner’s short story, “A good man is hard to find”, explains emotional reactions, betrayal, and violence. The misfit is an example of a devil figure. This character archetype is best seen when we see the misfit’s true colors shine as he murders the grandmother and her family. O’ Conner uses setting archetypes best when she uses a clear bright sky or an open dirt road, which can mean a variety of outcomes. This helps understand the many plot twists in the story. We best see symbolic archetypes as the three bandits including the misfit. They represent a mock of the holy trinity and represent evil. “The fall” is a good archetype that shows the misfit’s lack of innocence when he betrays the grandmother. This best explains the whole
John Oakhurst is the main character in “The Outcasts of Poker Flat”. John is an outstanding person and has some phenomenal traits. Such as that he is unusually calm, courageous, and modest.
The public when the women first came out writing stories they had no clue what to think about their writings. It wasn’t like the traditional men writing where it kept the reader on the edge of their seats and being entertained. The women wrote more of a darker kind of story to where some people would call it a horror story, it was the first time that women had a voice. Women often talked about one thing and it was freedom, they always feel like they have been trapped. Also men wanted to inform and they had a lot of humor in their stories, where the women did not. Female authors had a much darker, melancholy storyline to their writing, while male authors wrote primarily to entertain their readers.
He begins to feel finally free. In the passage, “ The Outcasts of Poker Flat,” the author uses Duchess, a saloon girl; Uncle Billy, a local thief and drunk; Mother Shipton, a madam; and Mr.Oakhurst, a poker player to illustrate his definition of isolation. Being stranded in the mountains and dealing with starvation, they are left to fight for life. In the end, Mr. Oakhurst commits suicide in order to not deal with being isolated. Through all of the passages, the authors use different themes to illustrate isolation in different
Harte showed Duchess’s emotional side of her. Her “...pent-up feelings found vent in a few hysterical tears...” (Harte, 2) shows the Duchess as emotional, a drama queen, spontaneous and impulsive. This was before she changed, though. “The Duchess, previously a selfish and solitary character, does all she can to comfort and console the fearful Piney.” (Moss and Wilson, 4) Duchess's character reveals that people can switch their habits no matter what the circumstances
The story appears to be revolving around deviance. Deviance is defined as the violation of norms, whether the infraction is as grave as murder or as trivial as driving over the speed limit. However, what makes something deviant is not the act itself, but the reaction to the act. In this story, both Robby and John are deviants. John violated his society norms by doing something that is not expected of him. He became a scholar, married a white woman. This is not a bad thing in itself but the way John accomplished it is not good either. John pushed away his family and deliberately distanced himself from his Homewood community. This suggests that deviance is neutral in itself; it can be negative or positive. It is also relative, as it can be positive from one side and negative from the other. People often th...
Stories usually include the archetype bad guys that seem to be evil, but in numerous stories, the “bad guy” persona becomes clouded. In the short stories, “Where Are You Going? Where Have You Been?” by Joyce Carol Oates and “A Good Man is Hard to Find” by Flannery O’Connor there are centralized antagonists, Arnold Friend and The Misfit, that are the archetype of a bad guy with a troubled past. Both short stories have subliminal messages hinting towards the devil. But if you start reading deeper you can see that’s not all they are portrayed, as seen in the short story, “A Good Man is Hard to Find”, the Misfit could also be portrayed as an archetype as a savior or a seer that has lost his way, although in “Where Are You Going? Where Have You Been? “, Arnold Friend could be portrayed as a satyr, a mischievous demi god. While it can be argued that both characters are completely evil or not, they both have similar and their own personal qualities like the need to inflict pain upon others although they go about it in different ways.
In early American literature, many authors began shifting the focus of their works from the refined upper class citizens to the real every-day experiences of the American people. As a result of this shift, authors began writing about life in the small towns scattered across the United States, while focusing on non-typical and socially and morally lowly characters. A perfect example of this type of writing can be found in “The Outcasts of Poker Flat,” a short story written by Bret Harte. In this story we are introduced to four characters, cast from their pioneertown for participating in morally objectionable activities. The four consisted of John Oakhurst, a gambler, Duchess, a prostitute, Mother Shipton, a madam, and Uncle Billy, a local drunk
For example John Proctor he portrayed evil by committing adultery with Abigail and while all the hysteria was going on he wasn’t really attempting to do much until the end, when it directly affected him. However John is good because he wanted to protect his wife, and friends and he did what he felt was right. Another character that portrayed both good and evil is Reverend Hale. In the beginning in a way he provoked the confession out of Tituba, and helped create the hysteria. However, he was good because in the ending he realized the truth and tried to save the lives of innocent people by begging them to confess.
In frankenstein by Mary Shelley a morally ambiguous character is the creature. The creature is an ambiguous because he shows a human sympathetic side when he tells Victor his tale. However, when he is neglected by human kind because of his appearance, he causes suffering to other people in order to get revenge on Victor. He has also done violent things, and he's a murderer. The moral ambiguity of the creature contributes to the major theme of the novel of how people will judge you by appearance before getting to know your persona, and how that contributes to making you feel lonely and miserable.
Many have written entire novels on the topic of good versus evil. Philosophers have spent their entire lives researching and debating and providing theories to somehow find an answer that will never be clear. What makes a person evil or good? In her short stories, “A Good Man is hard to find” and “Good Country People,” Flannery O’Connor explores the theme of good versus evil and differentiating between them and what that conveys about the complexity of human nature.
... other. Although Peter is considered evil and cruel, the novel never mentions him killing any human being. Ender is another perfect example of good and evil coexisting in one body though he is generally seen as good, he has his moments. Finally, Card expresses his thoughts on his theme of good versus evil with symbols that can describe the deception of looks; not all who look innocent are innocent, and not all those who look guilty are guilty. Good and evil lives within us however it is up to each individual person to decide which side of the fence they would rather be on: good or evil.
Two of the main characters, Jack and Algernon, strive to be "Ernest" and "Earnest" in the play, yet they both deceive others to escape lives which they grow tired of. They both hope to marry the girls that they love, yet they are starting the relationship based on false pretence and lies. It is ironic that they both call themselves "Ernest," a name that suggests honesty and sincerity, yet they both create stories to escape something or the other. Jack creates a brother called "Ernest" in the city that he uses as a scape goat' to leave his prim and proper, respectable country life, whereas Algernon creates a friend by the name of "Bunbury" to escape his aunt's high class society parties. He shows his lack of interest in such social events when he tells Jack.