Journal #7 Bret Harte: Death For A False Messiah!

QUOTE:

“A smile lit the eyes of the expiring Kentuck. ‘Dying!’ he repeated…‘Tell the boys I’ve got The Luck with me now;’ and the strong man, clinging to the frail babe as a drowning man is said to cling to a straw, drifted away” (Harte 333).


SUMMARY:

The winter causes the creeks and rivers to overflow, and the cabin “The Luck” is living in is swept away. Kentuck, who dies trying to save The Luck, is actually happy during his last breaths because he believes he will be with Tommy forever now.


RESPONSE:

Maybe Kentuck is actually happy because he can believe that he will still be with The Luck, instead of surviving and having to live without Tommy. The expressman even says, “they worship an Ingin baby” (Harte 332) when describing the men at Roaring Camp, which sounds like Tommy is almost like their own “Baby Jesus.” Millions of people have died throughout time because of their religion and so many gruesome wars are caused by religious differences. I think Kentuck’s death probably isn’t in vain, in his own eyes at least.

After reading The Luck of Roaring Camp, I just want to say, “That sucks for them.” Hopefully the men in Roaring Camp won’t turn back into reckless murderers, because their lives seemed to be more enriched when they had The Luck to take care of. Maybe they will really open up the camp to other people, now that they’ll need someone or something to love again. Either that, or they’ll completely shut off their camp to the outside world. I have to say that I really enjoyed this story, and especially because it’s hard for me to think of it as fiction. I was totally thinking about what will become of Roaring Camp, or what became of Roaring Camp, but then I had to remind myself that it’s a fictional story; realistic, but fictional.

Maybe that’s what also allows me to actually like the story though. Maybe because Kentuck or Tommy didn’t actually exist, and camps in the “Wild West” probably never devoted all of their time to a “false Messiah.” I can just read this story as an interesting idea without feeling bad, even though a situation like this has probably happened somewhere in the world already.