# The Foot-Hill Resort explained — Poetry

> Chapter companion for Poetry by Ambrose Bierce.

## What happens

The chapter presents a satirical portrait of the guests assembled at a mountain resort, cataloging a diverse array of social types—from the elocutionist and the mimic to the vulgarian, the prude, and the flirtatious widower—highlighting the hypocrisy and absurdity of polite society.

## Themes in this chapter

### Hypocrisy and Corruption

The resort guests are depicted as a collection of hypocrites and social parasites, each playing a role that masks their true nature.

### Political Satire

The poem satirizes social types and behaviors, using exaggerated caricature to critique the moral decay of the leisure class.

## Character check-ins

### Unknown

The narrator observes and describes the assembled guests at the resort.

## Key lines

> The smiler and the snarler / And the guests of every sort

Both the pleasant and the hostile guests, representing every kind of person, are gathered together.

_Highlights the diversity of personalities at the resort._

> One assassin picks his banjo, and another one his teeth.

One guest strums a banjo while another picks his teeth, underscoring the mundane and slightly grotesque nature of the scene.

_Ends the poem with a mundane, anti-climactic image that deflates any pretense of refinement._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_se/chapters/the-foot-hill-resort
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_se/chapters