The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County Essay Questions

Who is the target of the humor in this story?

The structure of the story allows Twain to poke fun at two comic victims at once: the narrator and Jim Smiley. The narrator is one target, as he suspects that the entire situation is a set-up by his friend to make him listen to Wheeler’s stories about Jim Smiley. As a hostage to Wheeler, he is the butt of his friend’s joke. The narrator may also be the victim of Wheeler’s fiction, as he tries to sucker a gullible listener into believing him. On a meta-level, the narrator is also the target of Twain’s satire, as his exaggeratedly formal dialect seems ridiculously pretentious in comparison to Wheeler’s informal relaxed tone. Jim Smiley is another target of humor, as the trickster gambler who is outwitted by the stranger. Balance is achieved, as Simon Wheeler, a local, dupes the narrator, a stranger, and—in Wheeler's story—“the stranger” dupes a local: Jim Smiley.

What are some techniques of a “tall tale” deployed in this story?

A tall tale is a form of oral tradition and folk literature which developed in bragging contests on the American frontier. The storyteller relates outlandish elements as if they were facts, often to comic effect. The aim is to fool or impress the listener. Some techniques include: hyperbole, a figure of speech which overstates a claim; understatement, or downplaying the significance of something outlandish; and local color, which pays close attention to regional dialects, customs, and characters.

What is the significance of the settling of the story: a mining town in the West?

In the mid-nineteenth century, when this story was set, there was a cultural divide in the U.S. between the industrial cities of the East and the Western frontier. The “Wild West” was viewed by easterners as a place where unsophisticated, rugged, ethically suspect men lived. Many opportunists moved west to seek their fortunes. Mining towns sprang up during the 1849 Gold Rush and grew overnight into boomtowns. These towns attracted adventurous, optimistic, often single men. Tall tales were told in the local saloon. Easterners were perceived by Westerners as dandies unable to fend for themselves. The contrast between these two types of men is exploited for laughs in Twain’s story.