Outcasts of Poker Flat Essay Example

Outcasts of Poker Flat Paper There, the armed men warn the outcasts not to return to Poker Flat under penalty of death. . On their way Into exile, uncle Billy and the women bitterly bemoan their fate while Croakers remains quiet. They head for Sandy Bar, a days travel away over steep mountains. The road is narrow and the air dry and cold in the foothills of the mountains. They plod on until noon, when the Duchess declares she can go no farther. Croakers wants to go on lest the party run out of provisions. However, his fellow travelers stay put, using liquor to comfort them. Uncle Billy goes into a stupor, the Duchess becomes tearfully emotional, and Mother Spittoon falls asleep. Croakers does not drink. As a gambler, he had cultivated the habit of staying sober. .. While observing his surroundings- the mountains, the pine trees, the cloudy sky, the valley below-he sees a horseman coming toward him. It Is young Tom Jimson, from whom Croakers had once won $40 In Sandy Bar. Croakers returned the money saying, Tommy, youre a good little man, but you cant gamble worth a cent. Dont try it over again. Because of that magnanimous gesture, Tom admires Croakers as something of a god. When Tom greets Croakers, he tells him a little about himself. He had decided to leave Sandy Bar and go to Poker Flat, he says, with his sweetheart Piney Woods to make his fortune and marry Piney. Her father, Jake Woods, had opposed the marriage, so they had no alternative but to run away. Piney, who is plumy attractive, rides up Just thendemure and embarrassed and innocentfrom behi nd a pine tree. Uncle Billy is about to say something untoward when Croakers kicks him. We will write a custom essay sample on Outcasts of Poker Flat specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Outcasts of Poker Flat specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Outcasts of Poker Flat specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer Anyway, it seems young Tom and Piney want to Join Croakers and his company of outcasts, but Croakers-who doesnt want them tagging along-points out that they have no provisions and no place to stay. However, Tom says he has a pack mule loaded with supplies. He also found an abandoned log house nearby. It Is a roofless ruin, but It goes have walls. .Piney can stay with Mrs.. Croakers, the youth says. He thinks ten Duchess Is narrators welt. NC e Billy Is auto to laugh Duty remembers Sauerkrauts foot. So he walks off up the canyon, out of hearing range, then does his laughing. When he returns, everybody is sitting by a fire talking. At that moment, an idea pops into his alcoholic brain, causing him so much amusement that he shoves a fist into his mouth to stifle a laugh. . That night, the women sleep in the cabin and the men near the fire. Just before dawn, Croakers awakens and sees snow. Uncle Billy is gone. So are all the animals. Fortunately, though, all the supplies had been placed in the cabin. . . At first light, the snow is coming down hard and further travel is out of the question. Croakers tells Tom that Uncle Billy must have gotten up in the night and spooked the mules, then ran off after them. No sense frightening the young people, he thinks. But the Duchess and Mother Spittoon realize what had happened-thieving Billy took them. .. Tom immediately offers to share his supplies and seems to look forward to the time all of them will be spending together. Well have a good camp for a week, he says, and then the snowball melt .. Len the evening, everyone is cheerful. As they sit around the fire, they sing songs. Piney manages to force tunes from Toms accordion while he raps two bone castanets. The storm stops at midnight and the skies open to glittering stars. Tom and Croakers take turns keeping watch, but the latter does most of the watching. Hes used to going without sleep because of his frequent all-night poker games. .. The next day, huge snowdrifts surround the cabin. In the distance, miles away, smoke curls up from Poker flat. Mother Spittoon curses the town. She then sets herself to the task of amusing Piney. After another day, they all sit again at the fire. However, the music begins to lose its magic as the food supply dwindles and hunger creeps into their stomachs. Piney proposes that they tell stories. Croakers, the Duchess, and Mother Spittoon are less than enthusiastic about this idea, but Tom takes to it, noting that he had recently read Alexander Popes rendition of Homers ancient Greek classic, The Iliad. So they listen as the youth recites portions of the tale and mangles the pronunciation of names He pronounces the name of famous Greek hero Achilles as Ash-heels. . A week passes and snow falls again. Eventually, the drifts around the cabin reach 20 feet. The fire is harder and harder to maintain because wood is less plentiful. But no one complains, although Mother Spittoon is sick and failing fast. . At midnight on the 10th day, Mother Spittoon-now in a very bad way-tells Croakers to open a bundle under her head and give the food in it to Tom and Piney. When Croakers opens it, he discovers a full week of rations. She had been saving her food for the young people. Mother Spittoon then turns away and dies. They place her body in the snow. . .. At daylight, Croakers reveals a pair of snowshoes he made out f a pack saddle, then tells Tom to use them to reach Poker Flat. Its the only way to save his sweetheart, he says. Croakers says he will walk out a little way with Tom, then return. Before leaving, he kisses the Duchess, which amazes her. . At nightfall, there is no sign of Croakers. It is snowing again. While the Duchess tends the fire, she notices that someone had piled wood next to the fire-enough to keep it going a good while longer. Tears well in her eyes, but she doesnt let Piney see them. The snow, meanwhile, continues through the next day and into the evening. The women now realize the end is near. In the morning, they lack the strength to keep the fire going, and it slowly dies. Piney, can you pray? the Duchess says. NO, dear. . The Duchess puts her head on Pines shoulder and they fall asleep. They sleep the rest of the day and into the next. Then voices and footsteps break the silence around the cabin and a hand brushes snow from the faces of the two women. The narrator says, Mimi could scarcely have told from the equal peace that dwelt upon them, which was she that sinned. Even the law of Poker Flat recognized this, and turned away, leaving them still locked in each others arms. . N a nearby pine tree is a knife stuck through the two of clubs. On the card is a message written in pencil: BENEATH THIS TREE LIES THE BODY OF JOHN CROAKERS, WHO STRUCK A STREAK OF BAD LUCK ON THE ADD OF NOVEMBER, 1850, AND HANDED IN HIS CHECKS ON THE 7TH DECEMBER, 1850. . At his side is a Derringer, which had put a bullet through his heart. He had been the strongest and yet the weakest of the outcasts of Poker Flat. Setting The action takes place in California between November 23 and December 7, 1850, when towns grew up from the influx of people seeking fortunes by mining for gold. Characters John Croakers: Professional gambler who is forced out of the town of Poker Flat as an undesirable because he wins so much money from the townspeople. The Duchess and Mother Spittoon: Prostitutes who are also banished from Poker Flat. Uncle Billy: Thief and drunkard who is likewise forced out of town. Tom Jimson: Young man who leaves town and Joins Croakers and the other outcasts. He admires Croakers, who returned $40 he had won from Billy after feeling sorry for him. Piney Woods: Toms sweetheart, who leaves town with him. They had planned to marry in Poker Flat. Jim Wheeler: Resident of Poker Flat who bemoans the loss of money to Croakers. Jake Woods: Pines father. He is referred to in the story but plays no active role in it. Type of Work and Publication Date The Outcasts of Poker Flat is a short story. It first appeared in Overland Monthly in January 1869, when Heart was the editor of the publication. Themes Hidden Goodness There is goodnessand even heroismin the heart of many of societys outcasts. John Croakers, the Duchess, Mother Spittoon all behave selflessly when death creeps up on them. For example, they treat the two young people with utmost consideration and kindness. Croakers could have used his snowshoes to return to civilization; instead, he gave them to Tom Jimson. Mother Spittoon and the Duchess act as surrogate mothers to Piney Woods. Except for Uncle Billy, all the characters are tolerant of one another as they attempt to keep up their spirits under extremely difficult circumstances. Mother Spittoon, the Duchess, and Piney Woods die nobly and courageously. Unrest snoozes silence, revealing Tanat en was at once ten strongest and yet the weakest of the outcasts of Poker Flat, the narrator says. Hypocrisy The citizens of Poker Flats secret committee appear upright and Just, at least to themselves. However, in regard to John Croakers, they are hypocrites. After all, they sat down at the poker table with him, becoming gamblers themselves. But after losing money to him, they run him out of town. One citizen, John Wheeler, even suggests hanging him, then taking back their money. Indifference of Nature Nature shows no mercy to the outcasts. After Poker Flat rejects them, heavy snow isolates them. The sky clears, offering them hope, only to form new clouds that bring more snow. John Croakers may be a poker player par excellence, but he cannot defeat Mother Nature. Climax The climax of The Outcasts of Poker Flat occurs when John Croakers fails to return o the cabin after seeing off Tom Jimson on the latters snowshoe trek back to Poker Flat. It is at this point that the Duchess and Piney accept the imminence of death. Heart as a Local Colorist Bret Heart is among the American writers associated with the local-color genre. Besides presenting narratives in a regional dialect, local-color writers, or local colorist, attempted to portray life in the various sections of burgeoning America. Heart, for example, focused many of his stories on the gold-mining camps and towns. However, rather than writing soberly realistic stories, local colorist tended to write Tories infused with eccentrics as characters and whimsical plotting, according to William Flint Thrall and Addison Hubbard, authors of A Handbook to Literature (266). Thrall and Hubbard also note that local colorist emphasized verisimilitude of detail without being concerned often enough about truth to the larger aspects of life or human nature (266). Work Cited Thrall, William Flint and Addison Hubbard. A Handbook to Literature. Revised and enlarged by C. Hugh Holman. New York: The . Odyssey Press, 1960. Critical Reception The Outcasts of Poker Flat and similar stories of Heart were highly acclaimed and ideal popular in the decade or so after Heart published them, earning him substantial money and a worldwide audience. Although this story and others of his remain popular today, critics now believe he was far overrated as a stylist because of his use of sentimentality and because of lack of originality in his themes and plots. However, there can be no gainsaying that he invented stock character types later imitated in western novels and films. These character types include the roving gambler, like John Croakers, and the tainted ladies with hearts of gold, like the Duchess and Mother Spittoon. Overall, one may fairly say that Heart was an appealing and influential writer, but probably not great one. Bret Heart 1869 The Outcasts of Poker Flat was first published in the January, 1869, issue of the Overland Monthly magazine, which Bret Heart edited. At the time, Heart was on the threshold of national fame. The success of his short story The Luck of Roaring Camp the year before had elevated the twenty-nine-year-old writer to a position of literary prominence. Critics praised The Outcasts of Poker Flat as a suitable follow-up that controller Hearts stature as one AT ten most promising new autonomous In ten unlace States. By 1871 Heart was not only the highest paid writer in the country, but also one of the most popular. He was a regular contributor to the Atlantic Monthly, one of the most popular magazines of the day. Although both Hearts popularity and critical admiration for his work have declined in subsequent years, The Outcasts of Poker Flat remains an important piece of American literature and one of the best tales of the rough-and-tumble days of the California Gold Rush. In his use of the Western setting and local color, Heart proved to be a model for other authors, including Mark Twain, whose career he helped launch. Indeed, the familiarity of many of Hearts characterizations ? the quick-witted gambler or the prostitute with a heart of gold ? attest to the durability of his impact on popular culture. Heart first Journeyed to the American West in 1854 and was advantageously positioned to observe one of the key events of the nineteenth century, the California Gold Rush. This setting in The Outcasts of Poker Flat is used as a forum to explore themes of tolerance and forgiveness, appearance and reality, and the ominous power of nature. Plot Summary The Outcasts of Poker Flat is set near a California mining community during November of 1850. Experimenting with the effectiveness of vigilante Justice, the residents of Poker Flat hope to improve the town by expelling a group of undesirables. Among these objectionable characters are professional gambler John Croakers; a prostitute known as Duchess; her madam, Mother Spittoon; and Uncle Billy, the town drunkard and a suspected thief. The foursome is escorted to the edge of Poker Flat and forbidden to return at the peril of their lives. With no apparent alternative, the group heads toward the next settlement, Sandy Bar. However, the journey requires passage over a difficult mountain trail. Less than midway to their destination, the group becomes exhausted and decides to camp for the night. Croakers argues that they should continue on because they lack the provisions to stop safely. The party is unconcerned, ignores him, and opts to consume its supply of liquor. Later, a horseman from Sandy Bar arrives at the camp. His name is Tom Jimson, and he is also referred to as the Innocent. He is traveling with his fifteen- year-old fiance, Piney Woods. The two have eloped and are on their way to Poker Flat to be married. Jimson is an acquaintance of Croakers, having once lost forty dollars to him in a poker game. However, Croakers had taken pity on the Innocent and returned his money, advising him never to gamble again. As a result, Jimson perceives Croakers as a genuine friend and quickly offers to share his provisions with the foursome. Jimson directs the party to an abandoned cabin nearby, and they take shelter there for the night. The next morning Croakers is the first to rise and discovers that Uncle Billy has stolen their mules during the night. Furthermore, the winter snows have begun and left the party trapped in the valley. To avoid frightening Jimson and Piney, Croakers persuades the Duchess and Mother Spittoon o keep Billys theft a secret. Jimson has enough food to last the party ten days and enthusiastically offers to share. Unaware of the gravity of the situation, he envisions the group enjoying a happy camp until the snow melts. During the next week, the party remains trapped in the valley. Jimson and Piney not only remain naive about their chances of survival, but also about the reputations of the outcasts. They view the other women with respect and admiration. Unaccustomed to such kindness, the prostitutes Decode motherly toward Plane Ana are move Day ten celerity AT ten couples love. After ten days in the cabin, Mother Spittoon dies of starvation. She had been saving her rations and makes a final request for Croakers to give them to Piney. Realizing they are probably doomed, Croakers instructs Jimson to attempt a hike to Poker Flat to get help. The gambler then gathers a supply of firewood for Duchess and Piney and disappears. Several days later a rescue party arrives, only to discover the frozen bodies of the women huddled together inside the cabin. Croakers is found nearby with a pistol by his side and a bullet through his heart, and with a suicide note written on a playing card pinned to a tree above his body. Characters Duchess Duchess, a prostitute, is one of four individuals expelled from Poker Flat when the townspeople there decided to evict the undesirables. As the group of outcasts are making their way to Sandy Bar, she complains constantly, causing the group to stop short of their destination. When Piney Woods and Tom Jimson Join the group and they become trapped by the snow, Duchess becomes more cheerful and nurturing toward Piney. When the rescuers finally reach the group, they find Duchess and Piney huddle d together, dead, and by then it is impossible to determine which was she that had sinned. Innocent, the See Tom Jimson John Croakers John Croakers is one of four individuals who were expelled from Poker Flat when its townspeople decided to run out the undesirables. Croakers is a professional gambler noted for his coolness, impassiveness, and presence of mind. When young Tom Jimson and Piney Woods Join the outcasts, the reader learns that Croakers once returned to Jimson forty dollars that he won from the youth in a poker game, advising him to stay away from cards. When the outcasts are trapped by a snowstorm, Croakers assumes leadership of the group. After putting together a shift pair of snowshoes, he gives them to Jimson, instructing him to go to Poker Flat and bring help. When the rescue party finally arrives, Croakers has killed himself, revealing himself to be the strongest and yet the weakest of the outcasts of Poker Flat. Mother Spittoon Mother Spittoon, presumably the madam of the prostitute Duchess, is one of four individuals expelled from Poker Flat when the townspeople decided to rid the community of undesirables. Although she is accused of immorality, Mother Spittoon displays her true qualities when the outcasts are trapped in the snowstorm. Hoping to save Piney Woods, Mother Spittoon hoards her own share of the food instead of eating it. Shortly before she dies of starvation, she tells Croakers to give her rations to the bride-to-be so that she will have a better chance of surviving. Tom Jimson Tom Jimson is a guileless youth who is traveling to Poker Flat with his bride-to-be, Piney Woods, when they encounter the outcasts. On the basis of an earlier encounter with Croakers, Jimson decides to assist the outcasts, whom he treats with respect, ignorant of their undesirable status. Jimson is the lone survivor of the ordeal that ensues. Uncle Billy Uncle Billy, a suspected thief and confirmed drunkard, is one of the undesirables cast out of Poker Flat. Unlike the others, Uncle Billy scoffs at the innocence of Tom Salmons Ana Piney coos. During ten inlet en makes Totally ten groups Norse Ana mules, stranding them as it begins to snow. Piney Woods Piney Woods, a stout, comely damsel of fifteen, is Tom Simians bride-to-be. Piney has no understanding of the outcasts unsanitary reputations and treats them with courtesy and respect. In response to this kindness, they develop an affection for her hat intensifies as they observe her love for Jimson. She and Duchess freeze to death before rescuers can reach them. Themes The Outcasts of Poker Flat tells the story of four individuals exiled from a frontier town because of their alleged immorality. A blizzard traps them and a pair of innocent young lovers, leading to tragic consequences. Appearances and Reality At the beginning of the story, the four outcasts are described as improper persons, and their initial actions suggest that, except for Croakers, they are foul-mouthed, lazy, and prone to drunkenness. However, because they come from another talented, Tom and Piney know little about these strangers, and their perceptions are not clouded by the prejudices of the people in Poker Flat. In a previous brief encounter with Croakers, Tom had found him to be kind and gentlemanly, so Tom treats him as a gentleman rather than as a shifty card shark. The young couple assumes that the prostitute Duchess is Mrs.. Croakers, and Piney imagines that the women from Poker Flat must be ladies of a high social standing who are used to fine things. The discrepancy between appearance and reality becomes most apparent when the party is trapped in the snowstorm. Mother Spittoon may indeed be a madam, but she also shows herself to be compassionate and heroic when she sacrifices her life in an effort to save Piney. Likewise Duchess, the soiled sister, evolves into a companion and protector for Piney. By the end of the story, observers cannot determine which was she that had sinned. Croakers, the member of the party who appeared the most calm during the ordeal, eventually cannot play against unfavorable odds any longer and commits suicide. Throughout the story, Heart demonstrates that where human nature is concerned, reality is often more complex than appearances indicate. Change and Transformation Related to the themes of appearance and reality are the issues of change and transformation. During their period of confinement, the outcasts, particularly the two prostitutes, experience a type of metamorphosis. At first the women appear self- centered and dismissive of Tom and Piney and contemptuous of their naivetà ©. But as the group grows closer, these feelings shift to motherly affection, particularly toward Piney. One suspects the sincerity of the young lovers allows Duchess and Mother Spittoon openly to display aspects of their personalities they had previously chosen to once. Croakers also undergoes a transformation, though a less uplifting one. Until the end of the story, Croakers is portrayed as others see him and as he sees himself, as a person noted for coolness, impassiveness, and presence of mind. He is the first to grasp the groups predicament and quickly assumes command in the emergency. Toms earlier experience with him shows that he has always had a streak of kindness and protectiveness toward those younger and weaker than himself, and in the isolated community of outcasts this quickly develops into a thoughtful solicitude for his companions. When it is revealed that he killed himself, it is hard to say whether this represents a change in him or simply reveals a weakness that has always been anneal Detent n Nils apparent strength n. Fate Ana chance Chance plays a critical role in the demise of the stranded travelers. Many developments within the narrative rely on random occurrences. Among the many examples, one can argue that if the outcasts did not stop for the night or had begun their Journey one day earlier, they would have missed the snow and reached Sandy Bar. Similarly, if Tom and Piney had continued on their way rather than staying with he outcasts, they could have avoided the storm. However, one could also argue that if Croakers had sent Tom for help earlier, or had struggled to keep the fire lit rather than killing himself, most of the group might have survived. Heart uses the character of Croakers to develop the theme of fate. As too much of a gambler not to accept fate, Croakers explains that with luck all you know for certain is that its bound to change. Once the party is stranded, Sauerkrauts gambling philosophy creates a dilemma for him. Having experienced a streak of bad luck since the group left Poker Flat, the gamblers experiences suggest that eventually this misfortune should pass. However, it is also the gamblers prerogative to opt out of the game if he does not like the odds, and Croakers estimates their odds of surviving as one in a hundred. His suicide note, declaring that he struck a streak of bad luck and handed in his c hecks, attests to his inability to resist despair when the odds on their fate seem stacked against him. Heroism To many readers, an important message of the story is that society often fails to recognize the true heroes and heroines in its midst. One can certainly argue this is the case with the sacrifice of Mother Spittoon as well as the selfless devotion of Duchess. In both cases, women condemned by society prove themselves to be morally superior to their Judges. The suicide of Croakers provides further comment on the nature of heroism. Throughout the story, he appears to be the leader of the party and the individual most likely to devise their escape, but ultimately he gives up the struggle and fails to save either the group or himself. Style The setting of The Outcasts of Poker Flat is of major importance. The story occurs in November, 1850, during the heyday of the California Gold Rush. At that time, law and order on the mining frontier was often synonymous with vigilante Justice, in which townspeople took matters into their own hands. Communities such as Poker Flat generally operated outside the reach of established Judicial systems, and the type of vigilante activity Heart depicts was an accepted part of everyday life. The story is set in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains, a remote area in eastern California where the sudden occurrence of a winter storm could easily result in death for travelers. The most famous example of such a misfortune is the ill-fated Donned Party of 1846, in which twelve travelers starved to death and the remaining members resorted to cannibalism. This tragedy was highly publicized for years afterwards and was undoubtedly familiar to the original readers of this story. In an era before automobiles, or extensive railways, the fear of being stranded while traveling was real and vivid. Genre Genre is the term used to denote a category of literature. The Outcasts of Poker Flat is above all, a Western story. Other types of genre literature are science fiction, horror, and romance. Genre works can be identified by their conventions; some of the conventions AT westerns are Tanat teen take place on ten Trotter, teen contact g guys and bad guys, female characters are either virtuous or fallen, and conflicts that result in showdowns or gunfights often end in death. All of these elements are prominent in Hearts story; one might say that the showdown is the battle between the travelers and Mother Nature. Comic Relief Although Hearts story is essentially a tragedy, the narrative contains moments of humor. Rather than the story containing a humorous character per SE, the story pity arises from the narrators understatement and sometimes condescending tone towards the characters. As an example, the narrator comments that notwithstanding some difficulties attending the manipulation of this instrument, Piney Woods managed to pluck several reluctant melodies from its keys. Elsewhere, the narrator evaluates Toms recitation skills by stating he had thoroughly mastered the argument and fairly forgotten the words. Critics often cited Hearts ability to balance the tragic and the comic as one of his strongest skills as a writer. Historical Context Gold Fever and the Manifest Destiny During the late sass, Hearts tales of the California Gold Rush elevated him to a position of national fame. For the remainder of his career, he utilized the West as the setting for his stories and the inspiration for his lectures on life in the gold mines. Americans throughout the country were fascinated by the expansion of the country and tales of the wild West became part of the national consciousness. At the time of their publication, Hearts stories were primarily an idealized vision of an era that had recently passed. By the sass, the West was becoming more and more settled, and he vigilante Justice of the frontier days was fast fading. While the settlement of the West remained an important topic for books and magazines, it is important to note that The Outcasts of Poker Flat appeared less than four years after the end of the Civil War. For a nation exhausted by war, Hearts story of heroics and tolerance recalled a happier period of innocence and opportunity. It is difficult to exaggerate the importance of the Gold Rush as a historical event; within two years, the sparsely settled territory of California had become the fastest growing state in the union. As spring miners arrived from Europe, Asia, South America, and virtually every American state, the population of San Francisco leaped from approximately 800 people in 1848 to over 40,000 in 1850. Although the frenzy for prospecting subsided by the late sass, California was left with an infrastructure for industry, transportation, and agriculture that would have taken decades to develop under normal circumstances. For Americans of the day, the rapid settlement of California validated the doctrine of Manifest Destiny: the belief that it was Gods will for the nation to expand across the continent. However, romanticizes depictions of the Gold Rush often overlook the unhappy outcome of the event for many prospectors. Relatively few of the errs managed to accumulate genuine wealth. Although most prospectors were successful in locating gold, the high cost of living in California prevented miners from pocketing much of their newfound riches. An additional consequence of the Gold Rush was the near-destruction of Californians Native American population. The area contained dozens of autonomous Indian tribes, most of which resided in the regions which were the primary centers for mining activity. As a result, these cultures were the victims of both disease and military attacks and ere nearing extinction Day ten B/Us country Longs Tort a More Simple Lime Hearts fiction was not only a depiction of the past, but it was also a reaction to contemporary events. The American Civil War had halted westward migration from 1861 to 1865. Once the hostilities had ended, though, the nation was anxious to resume its expansion. Although the Pacific shore had been transformed into a center for industry and commerce, the vast area of the Great Plains remained largely unsettled by whites. Like 1849, the late sass was an era of movement into new lands. Even though the post-bellum years were perceived to be a time of imminent opportunity, much of the nation was suffering from the effects of the war. The South was in ruins and resentful of the policies of Reconstruction. The country as a whole experienced a series of financial depressions as the economy readjusted to peacetime conditions. Ulysses S. Grants 1868 election to the presidency marked the beginning of an era of widespread and highly publicized governmental corruption. Therefore it is not surprising that Hearts vision of a Western society populated with shrewd but valorous individuals such as John Croakers would resonate with readers of the day. Anxious to overlook their own shortcomings and to escape the troubles of the present, audiences looked to authors such as Heart to evoke a noble past to which they could hope to return in the future. Compare Contrast sass: The United States embraces the concept of Manifest Destiny, a phrase coined in an article in the July-August, 1845, issue of United States Magazine and Democratic Review. The phrase imparts the view that it is Gods will that the young nation expand across the continent. In the resulting expansion, settlers race west to California in search of gold in 1849. 97: Although no longer claiming that expansionism is Gods will, the United States continues to explore new frontiers. U. S. Astronauts work side-by-side with their Russian counterparts aboard the Russian space station Mir in an effort to investigate the prospects of long-term cooperation in sass: American society at large perceives gambling at cards and other space. Games of chance, in which money changes hands, as the domain of drifters, con-men, and prostitutes. 1997: Casino gambling is no longer confined to Alas Vegas or Atlantic City, having come to be seen as a route to financial reinvigoration in large American cities. Candidates for municipal office often stake their political prospects on their success in bringing casino gaming to town, while political figures who oppose casinos are publicly vilified as out-of-touch prigs and Puritans. Critical Overview When The Outcasts of Poker Flat first appeared in the January, 1869, issue of the Overland Monthly, the story was an immediate critical and popular success. Critics such as Emily S. Forman, writing for Old and New, praised Hearts use of novel vernacular and Movie portraiture to thrill the very depths of the heart and soul.