False Bravado Of Men Analysis

The False Bravado of Men
Bret Harte’s 1868 story “The Luck of Roaring Camp” illustrates how those who may act tough, still care on the inside. Harte’s story is depicting the lives of those who moved to mining camps in California during the Gold Rush. The majority of those who moved to the mining camps were men of rough character, occasionally there was a woman. The bravado of these men is what made the camps seem like a harsh place to be. The men all acted like they were tough and they wanted to be intimidating so that nobody would bother them. Some of these men “were actual fugitives from justice, some were criminal, and all were reckless” (Harte, 1868, para. 6). That is just the case in this story. There is one woman in the entire camp and …show more content…
Since this is a mining town full of men, there are no women at home to watch children. This means that the men have to take the boy with them and watch him. While the men were panning for gold and digging in ditches, Tommy would be lying on a blanket above the ditch. Since they didn’t have any baby toys for him, they would bring him flowers and little pebbles of different colors for him to play with. The men had never seen the beauty in these objects before, but now they were “suddenly awakened to that fact that there were beauty and significance in these trifles, which they had so long trodden carelessly beneath their feet” (Harte, 1868, para. 17). The one time that they were not paying attention, Tommy crawled off the blanket and fell head first into a ditch. Those who saw him laying in the ditch feet up panicked and thought he was dead. Since that one time, they made sure he was always checked on that he was kept in a safer area. But the camp wouldn’t be a safe place …show more content…
When another camp upriver got flooded twice, Roaring Camp ignored their warning because they believed they were going to be lucky and not be affected by the flooding. The night that they were warned is when the North Fork over flowed and swept up the banks and into the camp. Stumpy’s cabin was the closest to the river, and the cabin was gone when the men awoke the next morning and ventured outside. When a relief boat returns with Kentuck holding The Luck, the child is already dead and Kentuck soon follows him. In Carol Franks (2006) article, she says that “The washing becomes a sort of gruesome irony when the spring thaws flood the riverbanks and wash away Stumpy’s cabin” (para. 5). She is referring to the men having to wash away all the dirt from themselves before they could hold Tommy. The river washed away Stumpy’s cabin and the child just as the men washed away the dirt. The men couldn’t do anything to save the child. The men of Roaring Camp did everything they could to give Thomas a happy life. From taking a collection for him the day he was born to bringing him flowers and pebbles to play with, they provided for him. The entire camp cleaned up and became more civilized for Tommy. They cleaned up their language, their hygiene, and their gambling habits. Thomas Luck made a huge impact on the men in a short amount of time. Even though the story ended with him dying,