The Luck of Roaring Camp

by

Bret Harte

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Cherokee Sal Character Analysis

Cherokee Sal, a Native American woman and the sole woman at Roaring Camp, is the Luck’s mother. She dies in childbirth, but in life she was a prostitute, and all the men at Roaring Camp were “familiar” with her—the implication being that they’ve all had sex with her. Because of this, it’s unclear to everyone who the father of the baby is, though all of Roaring Camp (and especially Stumpy) steps up to raise the infant after Sal passes away. Her death is a lonely, painful one.

Cherokee Sal Quotes in The Luck of Roaring Camp

The The Luck of Roaring Camp quotes below are all either spoken by Cherokee Sal or refer to Cherokee Sal. 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:
Sin, Redemption, and Children Theme Icon
).
The Luck of Roaring Camp Quotes

[…] [T]he name of a woman was frequently repeated. It was a name familiar enough in the camp,—“Cherokee Sal.”

Perhaps the less said of her the better. She was a coarse, and, it is to be feared, a very sinful woman. […] Dissolute, abandoned, and irreclaimable, she was yet suffering a martyrdom hard enough to bear even when veiled by sympathizing womanhood, but now terrible in her loneliness. The primal curse had come to her in that original isolation which must have made the punishment of the first transgression so dreadful.

Related Characters: Cherokee Sal
Related Symbols: Tommy Luck (“The Luck”)
Page Number: 16
Explanation and Analysis:

Within an hour she had climbed, as it were, that rugged road that led to the stars, and so passed out of Roaring Camp, its sin and shame forever. I do not think that the announcement disturbed them much, except in speculation as to the fate of the child. “Can he live now?” was asked of Stumpy. The answer was doubtful. The only other being of Cherokee Sal’s sex and maternal condition in the settlement was an ass. There was some conjecture as to fitness, but the experiment was tried. It was less problematical than the ancient treatment of Romulus and Remus, and apparently as successful.

Related Characters: Stumpy, Cherokee Sal
Related Symbols: Tommy Luck (“The Luck”)
Page Number: 18
Explanation and Analysis:

The introduction of a female nurse in the camp also met with objection. It was argued that no decent woman could be prevailed to accept Roaring Camp as her home, and the speaker urged that “they didn’t want any more of the other kind.” This unkind allusion to the defunct mother, harsh as it may seem, was the first spasm of propriety,—the first symptom of the camp’s regeneration. […] But when questioned, [Stumpy] averred stoutly that he and “Jinny”—the mammal before alluded to—could manage to rear the child. There was something original, independent, and heroic about the plan that pleased the camp.

Related Characters: Stumpy, Cherokee Sal
Related Symbols: Tommy Luck (“The Luck”)
Related Literary Devices:
Page Number: 20
Explanation and Analysis:
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Cherokee Sal Quotes in The Luck of Roaring Camp

The The Luck of Roaring Camp quotes below are all either spoken by Cherokee Sal or refer to Cherokee Sal. 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:
Sin, Redemption, and Children Theme Icon
).
The Luck of Roaring Camp Quotes

[…] [T]he name of a woman was frequently repeated. It was a name familiar enough in the camp,—“Cherokee Sal.”

Perhaps the less said of her the better. She was a coarse, and, it is to be feared, a very sinful woman. […] Dissolute, abandoned, and irreclaimable, she was yet suffering a martyrdom hard enough to bear even when veiled by sympathizing womanhood, but now terrible in her loneliness. The primal curse had come to her in that original isolation which must have made the punishment of the first transgression so dreadful.

Related Characters: Cherokee Sal
Related Symbols: Tommy Luck (“The Luck”)
Page Number: 16
Explanation and Analysis:

Within an hour she had climbed, as it were, that rugged road that led to the stars, and so passed out of Roaring Camp, its sin and shame forever. I do not think that the announcement disturbed them much, except in speculation as to the fate of the child. “Can he live now?” was asked of Stumpy. The answer was doubtful. The only other being of Cherokee Sal’s sex and maternal condition in the settlement was an ass. There was some conjecture as to fitness, but the experiment was tried. It was less problematical than the ancient treatment of Romulus and Remus, and apparently as successful.

Related Characters: Stumpy, Cherokee Sal
Related Symbols: Tommy Luck (“The Luck”)
Page Number: 18
Explanation and Analysis:

The introduction of a female nurse in the camp also met with objection. It was argued that no decent woman could be prevailed to accept Roaring Camp as her home, and the speaker urged that “they didn’t want any more of the other kind.” This unkind allusion to the defunct mother, harsh as it may seem, was the first spasm of propriety,—the first symptom of the camp’s regeneration. […] But when questioned, [Stumpy] averred stoutly that he and “Jinny”—the mammal before alluded to—could manage to rear the child. There was something original, independent, and heroic about the plan that pleased the camp.

Related Characters: Stumpy, Cherokee Sal
Related Symbols: Tommy Luck (“The Luck”)
Related Literary Devices:
Page Number: 20
Explanation and Analysis: