de Maupassant Bret Harte

In two short stories entitled The Luck of the Roaring Camp and Boule de Suif (Ball of Fat), Bret Harte and Guy de Maupassant respectively provide us with a cast of unique characters in each story that demonstrate different aspects and qualities of human nature. In this analysis we will examine three characters from each story in order to compare the qualities of human nature they exhibit: Kentuck and Boule de Suif, Stumpy and Loiseau, and the miners and the nuns.

In The Luck of the Roaring Camp, we encounter the character of Kentuck, a "prominent citizen" who desires honor (Harte 2). In contrast to Stumpy who is a showman, an organizer, and an authoritarian, Kentuck is a man who attempts to gain honor but more often ends up embarrassing himself. When he bends over to see the new baby, it seizes his finger for a moment and "Kentuck looked foolish and embarrassed. Something like a blush tried to assert itself in his weather-beaten cheek. �The d�d little cuss!'" (Harte 3). Kentuck, we are told, has the weakness of the noble sex which stands in stark contrast to the physical and mental makeup of the miners. Kentuck is cruelly mortified when Stump imposes a quarantine on who can hold "The Luck", the name given to the baby. Nevertheless, when disaster strikes the camp, Kentuck finally wins honor in his efforts to save "The Luck" which end in vain, "'He is dead...and you are dying too.' A smile lit the eyes of the expir

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mitted within hearing distance of Stumpy's. The men conversed in whispers, or smoked with Indian gravity. Profanity was tacitly given up in these sacred precincts, and throughout the camp a popular form of expletive, known as �D�n the luck!', and �Curse the luck!' was abandoned" (de Maupassant 5). Eventually, despite his power and ordered nature, nature wipes out Stumpy's cabin and takes its owner with it, something that strips Roaring Camp of its pride, hope, and joy. In contrast to Stumpy, Loiseau is not someone whose disappearance would cause others to lose all pride, hope, and joy. A sneaky and often unethical businessman, we get the feeling Loiseau would sell his own mother in order to make a profit or protect his own skin and interests. He is infatuated and intrigued with Boule de Suif, but he is as hypocritical of her in his attitudes and behaviors as the others in the group. Still, Loiseau is just as much the voice or order and progress for the group as Stumpy is in Roaring Camp. Loiseau is a successful wine merchant. He spies on the others in order to maintain control and order of the group. He encourages the others to eat who fast because they are too judgmental to accept food from a courtesan. He also is as h

Category: Literature - D