The Notorious Jumping Frog
of Calaveras County -- A Tall Tale by Mark Twain
The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County by Mark Twain is a satirical tall tale that relies on humor and exaggeration to make a point.
Mark Twain’s short story, The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County is often used as an example of the American tall tale. Reading the story as a simple tall tale can be a serious mistake. Some of Twain’s favorite ideals are found in the story and it is a biting commentary on the self-delusion of Americans.
The Format
The Jumping Frog is a story given to us as a tall tale. When the Jumping Frog was originally published in 1865, the format of the tall tale was a familiar and popular story format to most American’s. A tall tale was a humorous and exaggerated story, which was told by American frontiersmen to show-off their exploits and to trick the gullible Easterners.
Twain presented the tall tale in a familiar and popular format of a ‘framed story.’ In this case, Twain uses an epistolary format where the narrator writes a letter in which he encloses the narration of the story. The narrator is an Easterner (assumed to be Twain) who doesn’t believe the story and finds it an absurd tale. The narrator also believes that the storyteller, Simon Wheeler, is serious when he tells the story of Jim Smiley. He writes of Wheeler that “all through the interminable narrative there ran a vein of impressive earnestness and sincerity, which showed me plainly that...he regarded it as a really important matter, and admired its two heroes as men of transcendent genius in finesse.” The naive Westerner’s (Wheeler) ability to trick the sophisticated Easterner (Twain) is an essential part of a tall tale.
The Satire
By presenting his story in a familiar format, Twain makes his audience comfortable and allows himself the freedom to make fun of all corners of American Society at that time. The tall tale was often used by Easterners to poke fun of the illiterate poorly educated Westerners. In the tall tale format, the Easterner provided the frame of the story by relating it and by his commentary on the story. Often, however, the Easterner was the real butt of the joke as he was fooled by the Westerner into believing the story was real.
One way in which Twain succeeded at poking fun of all corners was by portraying himself as the stereotypical cultivated Easterner. By poking fun of himself rather than a generic Easterner, Twain was able to be more shocking and offensive.
Besides the narrator and Simon Wheeler, Twain mentions two notable Americans in this tale that provide additional and interesting commentary on the view of Americans that Twain is presenting. The first character is Smiley’s bull dog pup, Andrew Jackson. The pup is a good dog but not a very impressive fighter until the chips are down. When Smiley places a bet, the dog’s character changes and he grabs the hind leg of his opponent and hangs on until the fight is finished; the higher the stakes, the more stubborn the dog.
The bull dog pup was named after the seventh president of the United States Andrew Jackson. Jackson was informal and easy going when not doing business but could be pugnacious and stubborn when confronted with adversity. Jackson was very free in how he lived and acted in the White House and he was not the least formal. But when the chips were down he fought for what he believed in regardless of whether it was right or wrong. Jackson was a proponent of democracy and the rights of the common people. Twain admired Jackson’s view and agreed with it.
The second notable character mentioned by Twain is Dan’l Webster the notorious Jumping Frog. Smiley caught himself a frog to use for gambling. He trained the frog to jump on command and so the frog, Dan’l, became a champion jumper. However, Wheeler says that despite his ability Dan’l Webster is modest and straightforward. Unfortunately, Dan’l loses a bet for Smilely when a stranger loads him with quail shot.
The frog is named after Daniel Webster a famous American statesman and orator. Webster was a capable and successful man. However, while he always aspired to the presidency, he never became president. Some equate the frog’s failed match-up with the stranger’s frog to Webster’s failed designs on the White House.
In Conclusion
When the Jumping Frog was published, America seemed almost to be two countries. Easterners were educated, cultivated, and civilized. Westerners were illiterate, resourceful, and uncivilized. Both parties often held each other in contempt. Twain’s ability to make fun of all corners of America allows him to create an all-encompassing portrait of America at that time; a country where both Easterners and Westerners were gullible as well as crafty and intelligent.
To learn more about the characters in The Notorious Jumping Frog, read Twain's Important Characters: from The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County.
