The Symbolism in the Story The Luck Of Roaring Camp

1. The Luck of Roaring Camp, a short story, narrates how a baby boy was born in a gold mine in the 19th century (Harte 04). Cherokee Sal, the boy’s mother, died when giving birth. The men present in the camp decided to raise the baby and believed that he was a lucky charm. Therefore, they decided to name the baby Thomas Luck. They even refined their behavior and stopped gambling. Unfortunately, Luck perished in a flash flood.

B. Thesis Statement

1. Symbolism in the story the Luck of Roaring Camp

2. The baby boy is the main symbol in this story. The infant represents a new life (Luck of Roaring Camp and Other Short Stories 24). He symbolizes a new life and Christianity.

II. BODY

A. Support Paragraph

1. The infant represents a symbol of new life.

a. The birth of the baby leads to a new spirit in the camp. The men can feel the presence of a new person included in their camp.

b. The life of men changes significantly as they adopt new methods. For example, they decide to refine their ways by avoiding gambling (Nissen 379).

2. Accordingly, a baby is a new beginning or an introduction of new life into the world, a symbol well expressed in the story when men from the camp decide to adopt new behaviors.

B. Support Paragraph

1. A new child is a symbol of Christianity

a. The men in the camp decide to take the child to a church to be christened (Boggan 274).

2. In essence, the decision to take the child to a church is an indication that the men had taken a new path in their life and was determined to maintain their obedience to God.

Works Cited

Boggan, J. R. “The Regeneration of”Roaring Camp“.”Nineteenth-Century Fiction 22.3 (1967): 271-280.

Top of Form

Harte, Bret. The Luck of Roaring Camp and Other Tales: With Condensed Novels, Spanish and American Legends, and Earlier Papers. Auckland: The Floating Press, 2016. Internet resource.

Bottom of Form

Top of Form

Luck of Roaring Camp and Other Short Stories. Dover Publications, 2015. Print.

Bottom of Form

Nissen, Axel. “The Feminization of Roaring Camp: Bret Harte and The American Woman’s Home.”Studies in Short Fiction 34.3 (1997): 379.