ABSTRACT
"The Luck of Roaring Camp" is set during a unique period in American history, the California Gold Rush in the early 1850s. Harte became famous for his writing about the California culture he had come to know first-hand after he moved to California in 1853. The puns on "luck" are made highly visible to readers through repetition and narrative significance; the puns add humor to the story, but accomplish much more than that. The puns on "luck" bring attention to a way of life and to a value system for success, both firmly rooted in California's birth by gold rush. The Luck of Roaring Camp" must be examined as a story linguistically, thematically, and humorously about luck. The title underscores the importance of "Luck" in Roaring Camp: the word is a central pun that is the engine for all that happens in the story.
