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
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.
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.
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 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.
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
This book from Bret Harte did an excellent job in capturing the attention of the reader, despite the story being incredibly short. “The Outcasts of Poker Flat” tells the events of a band of exiles from the city of Poker Flat and the people they meet while leaving for another town. The group consisted of John Oakhurst, a gambler; Mother Shipton and the Duchess, both prostitutes; Uncle Billy, a suspected thief and drunkard; Tom Simson, also known as the “Innocent”; and Piney Woods, Tom’s lady. At the end of the story, everyone ends up dying, but one death in particular that piqued interest was the death of Mr. Oakhurst. Before dying, he pinned a two of clubs to the bark of a tree with a Bowie knife. This two of clubs pinned to the tree has a
Mr.Oakhurst is not an outcast from Poker Flats. .Even though Oakhearst is a gambler, he is an honorable man. He shows his goodside when he returns money to Tom after he wins from him. He takes on the leadership role in the all of outcasts. He does anything he can to protect Tom and Pineyand takes on the the largest part of the responsibilites. And even though he takes the scared way out of life by killing himself (which proves him the weakest), before he takes his life, he does what he can to keep everyone else alive. He makes the snowshoes for Tom and tells him to get help. He stacks firewood for the Duchess and Piney. So he is heroic in those ways.Oakhurst is a interesting character. He is called both the strongest and the weakest of the
Their actions could cause irreparable damage to others, which will make the people responsible regret their decisions. The committee of Poker Flat decided to send the outcasts out of the town. They felt that their crimes were not severe enough to merit a tougher punishment. They definitely did not want them to die; otherwise, they would have had them killed in the town itself. When Tom Simson returns with the rescue party, they find that the Duchess and Piney have frozen to death, holding their hands together. The author describes the scene as,“…when pitying fingers brushed the snow from their wan faces, you could scarcely have told by the equal peace that dwelt among them which was she that had sinned” (8). The residents of the city should feel relieved to get rid of the outcasts. Instead, they feel pity, indicating they didn’t want the individuals to die, and they just wanted to get rid of them. The author implies they were regretting their actions of driving the people away in the cold, harsh winter without realizing that their actions would cost the lives of the
John Oakhurst is characterized as an avid gambler, a calm yet generous person. The story begins with specification of Oakhurst
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.
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.
In our world today, we come across all sorts of people. Some you see do evil actions and some you see do good actions. The person doing a good action might be a psychotic killer-- you never know. The other person doing the evil action, could be a priest. Not everything you see people do shows what type of person they really are inside. These people may look one way on the outside, but the world can change the way they see the world and their ultimate actions. Regardless of how someone seems, they are consistently changing because of the evil energies of the world. Humans are all born good and pure, although as we grow up we are corrupted by the evil world around us.