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Allusions
Dialect
Explanation and Analysis—Dialect:
The characters in “The Outcasts of Poker Flat” speak in a notably different way to the standard English diction of the narrator, because the short story represents their speech in a temporally specific Old Western American dialect from the late 1800s. Here, the author contrasts the casual Western speech of his character with an erudite Italian phrase, “sotto voce” (under the breath), as if to emphasize this difference further:
"That is," said Mr. Oakhurst, sotto voce to the Innocent, "if you're willing to board us. If you ain't—and perhaps you'd better not—you can wait till Uncle Billy gets back with provisions."
Mr. Oakhurst and his companions speak in a way that is particular to the environment and the time in which they live. The use of dialect helps to cement the realism of the story, and give the reader a sense of immersion in the narrative. The story uses many abbreviations and colloquialisms to recreate this vernacular mode of speech. In particular, contractions like “ain’t” provide a contrast to the otherwise very formal narration. The particularities of Old Western speech also permeate the idioms and colloquialisms the characters use, sometimes even weaving them into the story's thematic material:
"The luck gives in first. Luck," continued the gambler, reflectively, "is a mighty queer thing. All you know about it for certain is that it's bound to change. And it's finding out when it's going to change that makes you. We've had a streak of bad luck since we left Poker Flat—you come along, and slap you get into it, too. If you can hold your cards right along, you're all right."
Mr. Oakhurst makes this remark to Tom Simson as they keep watch over the camp in the snowstorm, repeating a central theme of the story: that luck is a “mighty queer thing.” This expression in this context means that luck is unpredictable and capricious, but the use of the word “mighty” here also refers to the great force that luck exerts on the lives of the “outcasts” throughout the short story. Bad luck seems to follow them consistently. He uses the metaphor of a card game, an everyday occurrence in his life as a “gambler,” to describe the consequences of joining the band of outcasts. The onomatopoeia of “slap you get into it too” refers to both the sound of cards hitting the table, and to the suddenness of the “streak of bad luck” which has hit the “outcasts.” The story’s use of Western vernacular dialect ties Mr. Oakhurst and his companions to the environment in which it is set. It also differentiates the voice of the narrator from the dialogue within the story, creating another layer of distance from the “outcasts” that demonstrates their isolation.
