Realism Project- "The Celebrated Jumping Frogs of Calaveras County"

"The Celebrated Jumping Frogs of Calaveras County" by Mark Twain is an interesting story in which a man goes to his friend, Simon Wheeler, in order to find out information about another man, Leonidas W. Smiley (Twain 498). Simon Wheeler, in return, tells him the story of a different man by the name of Smiley, Jim Smiley to be exact. Wheeler, known for his long and detailed stories, proceeds to tell the man all about Jim Smiley and his jumping frogs. Apparently, Jim decided one day that he was going to teach a frog how to jump a very long distance in order to win money. Jim had previously owned a horse, but that horse was old and got in fights with dogs, causing problems. So he decided he would begin betting on frogs. Over a long period of time, Jim taught this frog to jump, rewarding it when it jumped far. Eventually, Jim was satisfied with his frog and the distances it would cover whenever Jim gently touched his rear. Jim decided to go out and bet on this frog, approaching a stranger on the street. He explained to the stranger what would be taking place, then set out to find the man a frog the man could use. This man, not wanting to lose, filled the frog up with a bunch of little pellets that would hold him down and make him heavy, causing him to not jump as far. As predicted, Jim's frog could barely move when it was time to compete. When Jim realized what had been done, he was extremely unhappy and chased after the man. Readers do not really know what happened after that, because Wheeler got distracted and stopped telling the story, then the main character left because he realized he would not be getting information about the correct Smiley out of Wheeler (Twain 502).

This short story exhibits, in my opinion, Realism and Regionalism with hints of Naturalism. Realism is portrayed through the general way the story is set up. Two men are engaging in conversation, and proper gestures and mannerisms are used that are very realistic to what might be used in real life (Twain 498). This is a common characteristic of realism; realistic events and conversations are portrayed (Diamond). Regionalism is strongly portrayed throughout this short story. Regionalism typically focuses on the setting, dialect, and culture of a region (Werlock). In the story, the dialect is heavily focused on (Twain 498). Wheeler is obviously an uneducated man; he uses words such as "feller" instead of fellow, "yaller" instead of yellow, and "bannanner" instead of banana (Twain 502). He also says that he is going to "learn the frog to jump" instead of "teach the frog to jump (Twain 500). When a reader sees this, it is obvious that the man in uneducated and that, probably, it is not uncommon for people in this community to not have a great education. This focus on the dialect shows that the story is an example of Regionalism. Naturalism is also portrayed because of the obvious intellect of the man; the fact that he is uneducated means that he is most likely in the lower class (Giles). The reason I believe that Naturalism is not the prime writing style of the story is because there is no real heroism in which the poor man proves himself worthy of something; instead, it is basically just a story that involves lower class individuals, which hints at Naturalism (Giles). "The Celebrated Jumping Frogs of Calaverus County," in my opinion, is a very good example of Realism and Regionalism as it portrays realistic events in the lives of these men.

WORKS CITED

Diamond, Marie Josephine, ed. "realism." Encyclopedia of World Writers, 19th and 20th Centuries. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2003. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=5&iPin= GEWW480&SingleRecord=True (accessed January 28, 2011).

Giles, James R. "naturalism." In Anderson, George P., Judith S. Baughman, Matthew J. Bruccoli, and Carl Rollyson, eds. Encyclopedia of American Literature, Revised Edition: Into the Modern: 1896–1945, Volume 3. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2008. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=5&iPin= EAmL1255&SingleRecord=True (accessed February 9, 2011).

Twain, Mark. "The Celebrated Jumping Frogs of Calaveras County." Glencoe Literature. Comp. Jeffrey D. Wilhelm. Columbus: McGraw Hill, 2009. 498-502. Print.

Werlock, Abby H. P. "regionalism." The Facts On File Companion to the American Short Story, Second Edition. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2009. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=5&iPin= Gamshrtsty0581&SingleRecord=True (accessed February 13, 2011).