The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County Themes

Throughout Mark Twain’s “The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County,” Twain emphasizes regional differences. In the story, an unnamed narrator from the East visits a small mining town in the West, where he gets roped into hearing a long, rambling story from an old man named Simon Wheeler about a gambler named Jim Smiley and his pet frog, Dan’l Webster. Through portrayals of foreign identity and differing communication styles, the story recognizes the cultural…

In Mark Twain’s “The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County,” an old man named Simon Wheeler tells the unnamed narrator, an out-of-towner, a long and boring story about a man named Jim Smiley and his pet frog, Dan’l Webster. Wheeler depicts Smiley as a passionate gambler who is willing to place a bet on anything—once, he even openly bet money that the local parson’s wife would die from her illness. Although Jim Smiley…