Bret Harte's "The Luck of Roaring Camp" tells the story of a community that comes together to raise a child that is born in their camp. Tommy "The Luck" inspires the men to become well-behaved and clean, so as not to be a bad influence. The men, who are extremely misogynistic and prideful, refuse to bring in any outsiders to help raise the child. Stumpy and the rest of the town tale care of the boy, using goat's milk to feed him. Of course, in the end of the story Roaring Camp is flooded, and Tommy dies. Kentuck holds the dead baby in his arms as he dies, claiming that he's "got the luck" with him.
The truth is, he is dragging the luck with him into death. The camp got greedy, thinking they had all the luck they needed. In their hubris they refused to bring in a woman to care for the child, and they refused to leave when they knew the flood was coming.
At first, Tommy induced a positive change, but good fortune went to the heads of the men of Roaring Camp. I believe that Harte's story is a cautionary tale about mob mentality, pride, and hubris.
As we discussed in class, this is an interesting interpretation of what is usually seen as a more benign ending, Caleb.
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