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What side of "man" does this character represent?

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What side of "man" does this character represent?

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Mother Shipton represents the side of man that is kind and caring, and also the side that is misunderstood. In her actions towards Piney, she is demonstrated to be a kind and selfless person. However, she is not seen as such by the community around her. So, she has this sort of dual representation of man, representing the good side of man but also the misunderstood and judged. Other people's judgement defines her to an extent, and their judgement is not totally wrong. However, she is clearly a kind and caring person.

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What is Harte's purpose in this ending/conclusion?

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What is Harte's purpose in this ending/conclusion?

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This ending for Mother Shipton is meant to illustrate that supposedly morally corrupt individuals can be more kind and moral than the average person. She is an impure person in the minds of the general public, but she is shown to be virtuous and selfless in her sacrifice for Piney. This illustrates the message that morals are not dependent on what others believe.

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How does she end in the story (literally)?

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How does she end in the story (literally)?

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She starves to death after revealing that she was keeping her rations safe for Piney to have later. Her character is more respected by the outcasts, but she dies peacefully.

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She is obviously very upset about it. She repeatedly expresses her scorn for the town and gets very upset about it. She is vulgar and described as malevolent, especially in reference to their banishment. She is frustrated and feels the banishment is unfair.

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The secret committee that was created in order to get all the improper people out of the town likely decided this for her. Based on her "desire to cut someone's heart out" that is mentioned while they are leaving, it was not her decision. So, she was likely forced to do so under threat from the local officials who banished many of the characters.

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She was the leader of a brothel, which was a crime at the time. This caused her to need to leave from the town when they were trying to purge all "improper" people from the town. She qualified as such but was not executed.

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How did the other outcasts perceive her?

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How did the other outcasts perceive her?

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She was perceived as a more fragile woman, and she was treated as an equal among them. She was still seen as impure, but it was not taken as a serious offense, as they were all offenders of some type of crime. Towards the end, she was seen as an actual motherly figure, giving up her own life to help Piney. This was respected by the group.

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How did others perceive her in the town?

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How did others perceive her in the town?

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In the town, she was perceived negatively and as scandalous, which is why she was banished in the first place. Her type of work was seen as impure, and herself by extension.

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Are these positive or negative attributes?

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Are these positive or negative attributes?

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These are seen as negative by society due to the taboos of sex work. What she is known for, however, is not inherently negative and is even somewhat put to a positive use in the group of outcasts when they are stranded.

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What does she do?/What is she known for?

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What does she do?/What is she known for?

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She is the figurehead/is in charge of the prostitutes at Poker Flat. She is known for this, as well as being vulgar and cussing.

In the actual group of outcasts, she takes on an actual maternal role, taking care of others by sacrificing herself.

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This name is meant to provide a sense of depth to the character. She is set up as a clearly "impure" character, but she is given a pure title. This juxtaposition gives depth to the character and adds irony to the story.

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Mother Shipton literally has the word mothership in her name. This implies from the beginning that she is a "motherly"/in charge figurehead. Her name offers a sort of irony in that her characteristics are not what one would expect from a mother - she is vulgar and improper, and prostitution is not necessarily a pure motherly trait. However, she does actually fill in this motherly connotation to her name at the end when taking care of Piney.