The accordion brings happiness for only a short period, and when it ends, they must find another diversion. The instrument’s sputtering foreshadows that their luck will soon wither away as well. However, this diversion loses its appeal as the snow piles continue to mount: “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). While the accordion lacks musical harmony, it produces “a crowning festivity” and enables the others to forget their troubles for a while (Paragraph 21). 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). The Outcasts of Poker Flats (short story) THE OUTCASTS OF POKER FLAT As Mr. Tom and Piney’s accordion symbolizes the luck that the outcasts have been lacking their entire journey.
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