Journal 4: Harte's luck

Quote:

"Dying!" he repeated; “He’s a-taking me with him. Tell the boys I’ve got The Luck with me now” (Hart 332)

Summary:

This extract from The Luck of the Roaring Camp, are the final words from Kentuck, a strong and important man in the mining camp who dies protecting the baby after the flood. With these words Kentuck is not regretting that he is dying or that the baby is dead too, instead, he feels very fortunate of being the one dying with the baby.

Response:

I believe these words show how important the baby was to the camp. One of the reasons is that Kentuck does not care that he is dying or that the baby is dead, he is just happy to be able to die with him. I think Kentuck did a noble act by trying to save the baby, even giving up his life. This is also related at how Harte wants to show us that, even though the men in the camp were all rough and did not really know how to be good men; they found in the baby something to believe in, something worth dying for. However, Kentuck’s words hide a tone of selfishness, in a way I felt he was proud of being the one staying with the baby at the end, like the baby was sort of a prize for him, or maybe it was his last hope of feeling good with himself once they told him he was dying.
Plus, Kentuck’s words hide Harte’s irony about luck, because, what does luck have to do with dying? I strongly believe that this message would pass unnoticed by people who want to believe in happy endings, and in the noble acts at the end of the story, where a man gives up his life to protect a baby. However, Harte, in this sentimental scene finds the right way to put the irony about luck. At first I did not notice this fact, but after reading the ending a couple of times, I saw the smooth way in which Harte included a little of irony in such a sad ending.