The Outcasts Of Poker Flat Annotation

Society and civilization has been around ever since humans were around, and it is a part of most people’s lives. Society can affect others whether it be positive or negative, and this can visibly be seen by how they act and feel. People have different opinions towards society, and some people will express this using words and their meaning. Many stories throughout the years give different and similar insight on how they feel towards society. In the story “The Outcast of Poker Flat”, Bret Harte uses denotation and characterization to display how society’s morality is based on their ignorance.
Harte used the definitions of words to give an insight on what he feels about society and its morals. In “The Outcasts of Poker Flat”, Diction is used many times to give an outlook of how society acted on their own wants. One word in the story and how it is used gives a description on society’s moral values. “There was a Sabbath lull” in the

Harte uses indirect characteristics of society to show how it uses its greed and ignorance to pass judgement. “A few of the committee had urged hanging him as a possible example ,and a sure method of reimbursing themselves from his pockets of the sums he had won from them.”(Berte) Society used the fact they lost money after a lost in a fair gamble, to give a reason to get rid Oakhurst from Poker Flat. Harte uses indirect characteristics of the characters, and shows how they aren’t what society thinks they are. One quote used indirect characterization to give a moral charactistic of someone who was cast out of society. “Mr. Oakhurst did so it contained Mother Shipton’s rations untouched. Give ‘em to the child”,- pointing at piney.”(Berte) Mother Shipton had a giving and kind character even though society deemed her sinful and immoral. Society shows its ignorance by the characterization of it and the characters who became outcasts by