Bret Harte cont'd...
The story of these outcasts being banished from Poker Flat reminded me of one of the beginning stories taken from the Bible. In Genesis God banishes both Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden because they were disobediant to God. Since Adam and Eve did evil in the sight of God in a place that stood for good they had to be dealt with in a way that God saw fit. I don't know all of God's intentions for doing that but I would think that would be a great way to leave an example for others who read the Bible to learn from. One can't have a place where everything is good and have people do bad in it. That same thing was done in Poker Flat. The people of Poker Flat wanted to leave a great example of what not to do so that Poker Flat would stay a place that maintained a "moral atmosphere." This story was a good one and left me thinking if their was a subliminal message behind Mr. Oakhurst, the gambler dying the way he did. Since Mr. Oakhurst was such a hardcore gambler maybe in a way he was gambling with his life.