Student Question
What motivates the committee to act against Mr. Oakhurst?
Quick answer:
The committee acts against Mr. Oakhurst because he serves as a scapegoat for the town's financial losses. As a skilled gambler, Oakhurst wins money from prominent townspeople, causing resentment. The committee decides to exile him to remove a financial threat, with some members even suggesting hanging him to reclaim their losses. By expelling Oakhurst, they aim to continue gambling with less skilled players, hoping to improve their own fortunes.
Mr. Oakhurst is a scapegoat, a person who bears the sins of the rest of the town. Because the town had recently lost a lot of money, and because Mr. Oakhurst is a good gambler (he wins a lot of poker and therefore takes money from some of the prominent members of town), the men who form the secret committee decide to exhile him from the town. In fact, some men on the committee "had urged hanging him as a possible example, and a sure method of reimbursing themselves from his pockets of the sums he had won from them," but these men were outvoted, so they would likely not see their money again. However, by simply kicking Mr. Oakhurst out of town, they would be able to continue gambling with men who were not quite as talented as Mr. Oakhurst.
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