Brooks, Cleanth, Jr. and Robert Penn Warren. 'Tennessee's Partner,' in Understanding Fiction, pp. 219-20. New York' F S Croft, 1943.
Folsom, James K. 'Brei Harte,' in Critical Survey of Short Fiction, edited by Frank N Magill, Salem Press, 1981, pp. 1129-35.
The Outcasts of Poker Flat: A Study in Stereotypes It contains a discussion starter with links to videos to compare stereotypes from the Old West to the movie The Breakfast Club. Also inside you will find discussion questions for the story and a characteriza. THE OUTCASTS OF POKER FLAT By Bret Harte As Mr. John Oakhurst, gambler, stepped into the main street of Poker Flat on the morning of the twenty-third of November, 1850, he was conscious of a change in its moral atmosphere since the preceding night. Two or three men, conversing earnestly together, ceased as he approached,. The Question and Answer sections of our study guides are a great resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss literature. Home The Outcasts of Poker Flat Q & A Ask a question and get answers from your fellow students and educators. Teachvocabularyandnewconcepts Prepare Introducethestory.“TodaywewillreadTheOutcastsofPokerFlat byBretHarte.Thisstoryisaboutatownthatdecidestogetridofsome.
Glover, Donald E. 'A Reconsideration of Bret Harte's Later Works,' in Western American Literature, Vol. 8, Fall, 1973, pp 143-51.
Kolb, Harold H, Jr. 'The Outcasts of Literary Flat. Bret Harte as Humorist,' in American Literary Realism, Vol. 23, Winter, 1991, pp. 52- 63.
Morrow, Patrick. 'The Predicament of Bret Harte,' in American Literary Realism, Vol. 5, Summer, 1972, pp. 181-88.
Quinn, Arthur Hobson. In American Fiction' An Historical and Critical Survey, New York. D. Appleton-Century Co., 1936.
Starr, Kevin. Americans and the California Dream: 1850 1915, New York. Oxford University Press, 1973.
The story is located in Poker Flat, a small Californian community. Certain inhabitants of Poker Flat feel that the community is going down the hill. They have lost a lot of money and the morals of people are thought to be sinking. Consequently a secret committee is elected. This committee decides who will be killed and who expatriated. On November 23, 1850 four people are exiled. The party consists of Duchess, a saloon girl; Mother Shipton, a madam; Uncle Billy, a local drunk and thief; and John Oakhurst, a poker player, who won a lot of money from the people sitting on the secret committee. The four characters get together and leave Poker Flat, heading for a one day’s journey to a nearby camp. After hours of traveling, Oakhurst’s companions get tired, and despite his remonstrances they decide to stop and rest.
Meanwhile, Oakhurst encounters young runaway couple, Piney Woods and Tom Simons, heading to Poker Flat to get married. Tom Simons, also called “The Innocent” has met Oakhurst before. They played Poker together, and Oakhurst won a great deal of money from him. Afterwards, he told Tom never to play poker again, and returned him his money. As a result of this Tom feels positively towards Oakhurst. He is thrilled to see him, and the young couple decides to spent some time with the group, obviously unaware of the fact that they were exiled for being immoral. Tom leads the group to an old cabin that he had found, and they spend the night. Oakhurst wakes up in the early morning and notices it started to snow. Furthermore, he discovers that Uncle Billy has been up long before him and now is gone with all their horses and mules. The rest of the group has no other choice than to wait for ten days until they run out of provisions. As the days go by, Mother Shipton dies of starvation, as she tries to save food for ‘the child’ - Piney. Oakhurst decides that Tom has to go to get some help and he fixes him some snow shoes. Then he tells the two women he will accompany Tom ‘as far as the canyon’. Duchess and Piney stay in the cabin and when their fire dies they fall asleep hugging each other. They look so peaceful and innocent, that when the “law of Poker Flat” finds them, they are unable to tell which one is the sinner, so they turn away and let them be. As for the last, Oakhurst commits suicide.