520 Harte, Bret
rugged male-dominated society to one that clearly
is capable of civilized behavior. The camp undergoes
a complete transformation, illustrated through the
characterization of Kentuck, one of the residents
of the camp whose clothing changes only when
“sloughed off through decay.” During the transfor-
mation, or “subtle influence of innovation,” as the
narrator puts it, Kentuck appears regularly in a clean
shirt and washed face. The camp’s once boisterous
and violent ways subside so as to not disturb the
baby, and cursing becomes a thing of the past.
Andrew Andermatt
iSolation in “The Luck of Roaring Camp”
Isolation as a literary theme may appear in a variety
of forms. In some cases, isolation may present itself
through a story’s protagonist or antagonist—most
commonly when the main character(s) experience
loneliness because of a physical separation. Isolation
may also occur much more figuratively—perhaps
emotionally or psychologically as a symbol for a
larger idea such as a generation gap between charac-
ters or inequality between the sexes. In Bret Harte’s
“The Luck of Roaring Camp,” Harte presents the
concept of isolation in three ways—as an entity that
is in constant contrast with or perpetuated by the
notion of “togetherness,” as a commentary on the
separation of the sexes, and as a voluntary act to
avoid shortcomings.
The opening paragraph sets the story’s tone
and introduces the reader to two competing
themes, loneliness and togetherness. First, readers
are presented with the notion that the camp is a
lonely and desolate place. The narrator describes
not only the ditches and claims, but also “Tuttle’s
Grocery,” as being deserted. The vacancy of the
grocery, which seems to regularly entertain gam-
blers, suggests that the camp is unusually and
eerily abandoned. The camp must be quite deso-
late, as the narrator reflects that not even a shoot-
out between French Pete and Kanaka Joe could
stop the patrons from playing a game. While the
camp seems abandoned in some areas, there is a
sense of camaraderie and togetherness as we learn
that all residents are collected at a cabin at the
outer edge of the clearing. The theme of isolation
is in constant competition with togetherness, most
obviously with the descriptions the narrator offers
in the opening paragraph and later with Cherokee
Sal, the only female character, and the male com-
munity that makes up Roaring Camp. Harte seems
to want readers to understand that the commu-
nity that constitutes the camp also engenders the
camp’s primary isolation.
The most obvious case of isolation in the story
centers on the only female member of Roaring
Camp, Cherokee Sal. When readers meet Cherokee
Sal, she is ready to give birth, with the community
of males surrounding her cabin waiting to hear news
of what is taking place. The narrator tells us that
Cherokee Sal feels loneliness particularly because
she lacks the compassion of her own sex. She is the
only one at the camp who can experience the pain
of childbirth, and her rough and tough male coun-
terparts are the only people who can comfort her.
In this case, Cherokee Sal is obviously an outsider
at Roaring Camp—as unable to relate to the male
population as the males are to her giving birth and
nurturing a child.
While Harte may be commenting on the isola-
tion of females in male-dominated 19th-century
communities, he seems to view the males of Roar-
ing Camp as equally isolated as females. The men
are first and foremost isolated from their former
lives. Readers do not get insight from the narrator
as to what these previous lives were, but the nar-
rator makes it clear that the men have left behind
some part of their identities. The narrator states that
only two of the roughly 100 men are fugitives, but
all are reckless. With the exception of Stumpy and
Kentuck, whom readers get to know only through
their interaction with Tommy Luck, the residents
of Roaring Camp all seem to take on one identity.
There really is no individualization at the camp.
The camp itself is also isolated, secluded from
the world and even its own shortcomings. Roaring
Camp is unwelcoming to strangers. The narrator
explains that the camp is not only physically isolated
by the mountains, but also that it does not encour-
age visitors who stumble upon it to stay. It seems
that the camp has somehow willfully secluded itself,
striving to make its isolation from the rest of the
world “perfect.”
Andrew Andermatt