The Luck of Roaring Camp

I wanted to compare how the term and idea of "luck was presented in "The Luck of Roaring Camp" verses other stories we read this semester. In "The Luck of Roaring Camp" it seemed that luck just happened. In this case the town just got lucky with a little boy who changed everything for the town. The town was all of a sudden blessed with a little boy and everything seemed better. "The men had suddenly awakened to the fact that there were beauty and significance in these trifles which they had so long trodden and carelessly beneath their feet". (p 388) All of a sudden every ones attitude changed and circumstances for the town were better. In past stories luck did not just appear and always came at a price to the characters. Gerty and Trueman were not wealthy and had to work hard everyday to make ends meet. Ellen Montgomery is lucky enough to be given a bible, and all sorts of supplies; however these gifts came at a price because she lost her mother and father. In the "Yellow wallpaper" the main character is provided shelter and a husband that's a doctor, yet she is never allowed to leave her room and eventually goes crazy.
Although luck never seems to just appear for characters there is a theme that runs through all these stories and is highlighted in "The Luck of Roaring Camp". The idea that luck leaves as quickly as it comes. "Higher up the gulch they found the body of its unlucky owner; but the pride, the hope, the joy, The Luck of Roaring Camp had disappeared." Whether luck just appears as it did for Roaring camp, or given at a price like in "The Wide Wide World" Luck doesn't last forever. This is a common theme because it applies to reality. Authors during the nineteenth century were well aware that whether you stumbled into luck or worked really hard, luck did not last forever.

The Yellow Wallpaper

I felt Perkins Gilman was attempting to change the way woman were treated, especially those with a mental illness or depression. In the Yellow Wallpaper the main character is kept locked away in their summer home while her husband goes out and works. John also refuses to get her treatment, which part of it was because he was a doctor but i also wondered if maybe that was because it would be looked down upon. Admitting to society that your wife has an illness was probably not good for societal status. "If a physician of high standing, and one’s own husband, assures friends and relatives that there is really nothing the matter with one but temporary nervous depression-what is one to do?" (p.355)
This story also points out how the man of the house usually has the last say in what happens. As i pointed out John decided that his wife did not need to seek help. In the Wide Wide World Ellen's father decided she would leave early in the morning and that Ellen was not to find out ahead of time. In Desiree's baby Armon made the decision that his wife was unworthy and that she should go to her mothers. In the Hidden Hand, Capitola was always being controlled by men, because she was living in a man’s world.

It seems that all the stories we have read, whether the man is a crucial character or hardly seen at all, he always has the final word on what’s going to happen. Perkins Gilman really emphasized this point in The Yellow Wallpaper.

Tom Sawyer

I felt one of the interesting aspects we talked about in class was the interaction Tom had with other children. In most of the prior stories none of the main characters had any interaction with children. I feel like maybe the children only interacted with adults because in the nineteenth century children were treated and expected to act like little adults. Tom is the first one to interact with children, but also children of both sexes.
I feel like because Tom was able to hang out with children his own age and do activities that many children would normally do readers are able to relate to him. I know as a child I did not pick out bibles and make toast; however I did hate doing chores and would look for ways to get out of them. Even Tom’s interaction with his friends is something that most readers would relate to. Basically because Tom did hangout with other children his character was less like an adult and therefore more enjoyable

Tom is also one of the first characters in our stories to have encounters with children of the opposite sex. None of the other stories really talked about a child’s first crush or even the general norm for children in dealing with gender differences. Tom acts how you would expect a young boy to act around his crush. “And thus he would die—out in the cold world, with no shelter…would she drop one little tear upon his poor, lifeless form,”(p 27) It is very typical for children in love to want as well as wonder what kind of attention they can get from the opposite gender. Tom’s reaction was different from Gerty when she encounters a boy for the first time. Gerty was very shy and unsure of how to act. Because Tom had had other interactions with children he was comfortable enough with him-self that he just did what it took to get the girls attention.