The Outcasts of Poker Flat

Tom and Piney’s accordion symbolizes the luck that the outcasts have been lacking their entire journey. After Tom “ostentatiously” pulls out the accordion around the campfire, the comic image of Piney struggling to hold and play the bulky instrument provides respite from the ongoing storm: “Notwithstanding some difficulties attending the manipulation of this instrument, Piney Woods managed to pluck several reluctant melodies from its keys” (Paragraph 21). While the accordion lacks musical harmony, it produces “a crowning festivity” and enables the others to forget their troubles for a while (Paragraph 21). However, this diversion loses its appeal as the snow piles continue to mount: “[T]he reedy notes of the accordion rose and fell in fitful spasms and long-drawn gasps by the flickering campfire […] failed to fill entirely the aching void left by insufficient food” (Paragraph 29). The instrument’s sputtering foreshadows that their luck will soon wither away as well. The accordion brings happiness for only a short period, and when it ends, they must find another diversion.

Harte utilizes snow as a multifaceted symbol. Its whiteness represents purity and renewal, furnishing a theme of moral complexity and ultimately deepening the story’s irony.

As an uncontrollable and unpredictable force, the snowstorm strands the outcasts and puts radical pressure on their moral characters, spurring ethical development.