The Celebrated Jumping Frog, Essay Example

The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County is a satirical tale that narrates the complexity and pretense of American literature, social conventions, and politics. It was motivated by an anecdote which Mark Twain had heard, during his travel in the western United States. The sketch was first published in the November 18, 1865, edition of the New York Saturday Press, under the title “Jim Smiley and his Jumping Frog.” It was also published as “The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County,” and was inspired by the gold rush folklore upheaval of the era. This is one of the earliest tales of Mark Twain that helped him to establish his foundation as a humorist. In the tale, the narrator (protagonist), apparently from the eastern part of the nation, lands up in a western gold mining camp at the request of his friend. He came to establish contact with a man named Leonidas W. Stanley. Instead of meeting Leonidas Wiley he bumps with a rustic character (a miner) who tells stories about a habitual gambler named Jim Smiley (another miner) and the animals that were the subject of Smiley’s bets.

Mark Twain is enigmatic in his exploitation of smart wit, managing to manifest the coherent intellectual stigmatization prevalent in America at that time. Indeed, the magnanimous and articulate vision of Mark Twain could transform the epithelial dogmas of society, politics and religion into a humorous tale – camouflaged in creamy layers of irony and intelligent wisdom. “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” (Howard).  His belligerent portrayal of the Westerners and Easterners of America penetrated the barriers of stereotyping mutual behavior and activities. Categorically, he implants the audacious and superficial arrogance of the Eastern cultures in the narrator and shows his reluctance to interact with a sturdy, simple and gullible man from the western culture.

Twain aimed his barbed wit at the skepticism of organized religion. His repulsive countenance with religious relics transpires through his narrator, when he comes to search a minister named Leonidas W. Smiley “a young minister of the gospel, who he heard was a one time resident of Angel camp” (Twain 1). Alas, he counteracts the tale of another man bearing the same name acclaimed for being a reputed gambler. Twain showed his apparent lack of respect for religion by deflating the pomposity of some religious people. Thus, reflecting the irony by virtually comparing the instincts of a clergy and a gambler.

Irony is also illustrated by Twain when he accredits Jim Smiley’s animals with names like President Andrew Jackson (bulldog pup) and Daniel Webster (frog). Readers could envisage the stark similarity in the connotations and rejected any congruence of a tactical coincidence between the names. However, here the irony is more than simple humor- it is more complicated and deep. The namesake of the puppy dog, President Andrew Jackson, was a public figure and championed the cause of the common people. He was epitomized as an inspiration coining the fact that humble origins of individuals is in no way a obstacle to rise to the top, if it is garnered with talent and hard work. Wheeler ascribes such talent to the dog, saying the animal “would have made a name for his-self if he’d lived, for the stuff was in him and he had genius . . . he hadn’t no opportunities to speak of, and it don’t stand to reason that a dog could make such a fight as he could under the circumstances if he hadn’t no talent.” Smith believed that the symbolism of the name was appropriate and, thus, named the dog “the embodiment of Jacksonian democracy.” However, another scholar, Krause, has argued that Jackson claimed that he was superior to the common people, and that his adamancy was not admirable. Above all he had an addiction for gambling. According to Krause, the story of the dog is a subtle ridicule of Jackson.

Daniel Webster was a distinguished U.S. senator, congressman, and Secretary of State. Jim named his frog Daniel Webster. Krause concluded that though Webster was an acclaimed political pragmatist, he was fickle and changing his stances very often. Implying that he was flip-flopping, just like the frog in all his decisions. It is also important to note that just finally could not jump in the day of the final contest entailed in the story. Similarly Webster failed to take the ultimate leap in politics and could never become the president. However, it requires a bit of knowledge in history to understand and appreciate the irony and humor of Twain’s writings.

Reference

Krause, S.J “The Art and Satire of Twain’s ‘Jumping Frog’ Story,” in American Quarterly, Vol. 16, No. 4, 1964, pp. 562-76

Smith, L. R “Mark Twain’s ‘Jumping Frog toward an American Heroic Ideal” in Mark Twain Journal, 1978, Vol. XIX, No. 2, pp. 15-18. Howard

Twain Mark “The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County” 1867