Twain’s Important Characters
from The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County
The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County by Mark Twain is not a tale of simple people, each character has a specific meaning and an important role in the story.
Mark Twain is the author of the story and he wrote it as a first-person-narrative. Twain portrays himself as an impatient Easterner who has no patience for the untutored and unbelievable stories of Simon Wheeler who he has been duped into listening to. Twain portrays himself as the educated condescending Easterner who knows better than to believe what he hears from an uneducated Westerner. Yet he ends up the butt of the joke. He can be seen the stereotype of Eastern snobbery during the nineteenth century.
Simon Wheeler is the storyteller who relates the tale of Jim Smiley and his notorious frog. Twain describes him as...Twain approaches Wheeler and asks him if he knows ... Smiley, a man that Twain is looking for at the request of a friend. Wheeler seizes hold of the opportunity and pins Twain in a corner with his chair and proceeds to bore him with a story. Twain believes that Wheeler believes what he is telling. However, many critics argue that the Wheeler knows exactly what he is doing and is in essence playing a cat and mouse game with his listener. Wheeler may be considered a crafty dodger wheeling and dealing his stories disguised as a Simple Simon.
Jim Smiley is the main character in Wheeler’s tall tale. Smiley was at Angel’s Camp in Calaveras County in 1849 or 1850. His most outstanding characteristic was his avid gambling. He would bet on anything regardless of how absurd the bet may be. He is willing to bet on anything from which bird will leave the fence first to whether a parson’s wife will recover from her illness. He is even willing to take the losing side of the bet in order to bet on something. However, even poor decisions often turn out well for Jim who is a lucky man. ‘Lucky’ Jim owns several animals whom he often bets on including an old horse known as the ‘Fifteen Minute Nag,’ a dog named Andrew Jackson, and a frog named Dan’l Webster.
The Fifteen-Minute Nag is Jim Smiley’s horse. Her name is given on account of her appearance as she is sickly and old and doesn’t have the appearance of an animal that could run a race much less win a race. However, the adrenalin of a race usually kicks in for the sorry animal near the last leg of the race and she turns on the speed and manages to win.
Andrew Jackson is Jim Smiley’s bull-dog pup who is named after the seventh president of the United States 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. However, when Jim sets him against a dog without back legs, Andrew Jackson loses the bet and loses heart. The story implies that the dog dies of a broken heart. For insight into the importance of the dog’s name see the review of the short story The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County.
Dan’l Webster is a frog that Jim Smiley caught and trained. 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 Smiley when a stranger loads him with quail shot. For insight into the importance of the frog’s name see the review of the short story The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County.
The Stranger is a con artist who successfully outwits Smiley and wins a bet against his frog. The Stranger who dupes the local hero (Smiley) parallels and contrasts with the visitor (Twain) being duped by the local (Wheeler). The final deception in Wheeler’s story that of the Stranger duping Smiley underscores an important them in the story, that of deception.
From the beginning, the characters in this story deceive each other. Twain realizes that his friend has tricked him into this fruitless search for the young minister. Twain is deceived by Wheeler, who tells him the story of Smiley the lucky gambler whose luck, it seems, is often based on deception. Finally, Smiley himself is deceived. Is the story about the characters’ ability to deceive themselves or is it about our own self-deception?
To learn more about the plot of the Jumping Frog and about tall tales, read The Notorious Jumping Frog: of Calaveras County a Tall Tale by Mark Twain.
