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Tom Simson
Tom’s fiancée and Jake Woods’s daughter. She and Tom fall in with the group of outcasts while on their way to Poker Flat to elope and begin a new life. At 15 years old, Piney is on the cusp of womanhood, though her timidity and gentleness make her seem much younger, which is perhaps why Mother Shipton takes to affectionately calling her “the child.” Tom and Piney’s love is “so honest and sincere” that it has a deep impact on Mother Shipton and the Duchess—both prostitutes—and the women become maternal figures that comfort and protect her. Piney maintains her innocence and goodness throughout the story, and even seems to bring out those qualities in Mother Shipton and the Duchess. Within days of meeting Piney, Mother Shipton quietly begins to starve herself—ultimately to death—so that “the child” can have more to eat. And later, when they appear to be only hours away from death, the Duchess and Piney cling to one another tenderly. At this point, Piney “accept[s] the position of the stronger” of the two women and wraps her arms around the Duchess, as if the Duchess is the young, innocent one in need of comfort and protection. Indeed, when the two women die, the rescuers are unable to tell who is who; they both assume a look of “equal peace” and it’s impossible to tell “which was she that had sinned.” It thus seems that Piney, the embodiment of purity and goodness, has a redemptive quality to her, as her friendship ensures that both the Duchess and Mother Shipton can shed their tarnished reputations. Because of Piney, Mother Shipton leaves the world in an astounding act of self-sacrifice, while the Duchess is imbued with a “peace” that seems to overwrite her reputation as a sinner. Piney Woods’s name, which seems all too fitting for an Old West story that takes place in the mountains, is a reference to Piney Woods Tavern; or, Sam Slick in Texas, an 1858 book by Samuel Adams Hammett (“Philip Paxton”), a southwestern humorist known for his distinctively Western tall tales.
Piney Woods Quotes in The Outcasts of Poker Flat
The The Outcasts of Poker Flat quotes below are all either spoken by Piney Woods or refer to Piney Woods. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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The Outcasts of Poker Flat
Quotes
He started to his feet with the intention of awakening the sleepers, for there was no time to lose. But turning to where Uncle Billy had been lying, he found him gone. A suspicion leaped to his brain and a curse to his lips. He ran to the spot where the mules had been tethered; they were no longer there. The tracks were already rapidly disappearing in the snow.
The momentary excitement brought Mr. Oakhurst back to the fire with his usual calm. He did not waken the sleepers.
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The third day came, and the sun, looking through the white-curtained valley, saw the outcasts divide their slowly decreasing store of provisions for the morning meal. It was one of the peculiarities of that mountain climate that its rays diffused a kindly warmth over the wintry landscape, as if in regretful commiseration of the past. But it revealed drift on drift of snow piled high around the hut,—a hopeless, uncharted, trackless sea of white lying below the rocky shores to which the castaways still clung.
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Day by day closer around them drew the snowy circle, until at last they looked from their prison over drifted walls of dazzling white, that towered twenty feet above their heads. […] The lovers turned from the dreary prospect and looked into each other’s eyes, and were happy. Mr. Oakhurst settled himself coolly to the losing game before him. The Duchess, more cheerful than she had been, assumed the care of Piney. Only Mother Shipton—once the strongest of the party—seemed to sicken and fade.
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Piney Woods Quotes in The Outcasts of Poker Flat
The The Outcasts of Poker Flat quotes below are all either spoken by Piney Woods or refer to Piney Woods. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
The Outcasts of Poker Flat
Quotes
He started to his feet with the intention of awakening the sleepers, for there was no time to lose. But turning to where Uncle Billy had been lying, he found him gone. A suspicion leaped to his brain and a curse to his lips. He ran to the spot where the mules had been tethered; they were no longer there. The tracks were already rapidly disappearing in the snow.
The momentary excitement brought Mr. Oakhurst back to the fire with his usual calm. He did not waken the sleepers.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
The third day came, and the sun, looking through the white-curtained valley, saw the outcasts divide their slowly decreasing store of provisions for the morning meal. It was one of the peculiarities of that mountain climate that its rays diffused a kindly warmth over the wintry landscape, as if in regretful commiseration of the past. But it revealed drift on drift of snow piled high around the hut,—a hopeless, uncharted, trackless sea of white lying below the rocky shores to which the castaways still clung.
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Explanation and Analysis:
Day by day closer around them drew the snowy circle, until at last they looked from their prison over drifted walls of dazzling white, that towered twenty feet above their heads. […] The lovers turned from the dreary prospect and looked into each other’s eyes, and were happy. Mr. Oakhurst settled himself coolly to the losing game before him. The Duchess, more cheerful than she had been, assumed the care of Piney. Only Mother Shipton—once the strongest of the party—seemed to sicken and fade.
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