Realism and Regionalism in "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County"

Mark Twain's short story, titled "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County," is a witty representation of a subgenre of literature called Regionalism as well as Realism as a whole. This story cleverly depicts a man from the East who is obviously duped into asking to another man, Simon Wheeler, to hear a story about the supposed John Smiley. This is bad for the Easterner because Wheeler could go on for hours about the curious antics of this Smiley fellow. The namesake part of the story comes when Wheeler tells the Easterner about the time when Smiley bet on a frog to out jump another frog in Calaveras County. However, the race was rigged by this other "feller," and Smiley finally lost one of his numerous bets (Twain 501). The fact that this cheating feller would fix a bet against a seemingly nice Southern gentleman such as Smiley, conveys a sort of Realism in the story. However, the main theme of the story is the Regionalism which is incorporated in the story. According to George Anderson, Regionalism could best be described as some American writers being "associated with certain regions of the country because their work provides detailed and dramatic portraits that draw on characteristic speech and manners." Twain does in fact heavily include this in his short story most notably with the Southern gentleman named Simon Wheeler and also with the classic Easterner who is the original narrator of the story (Twain 498).

From what the reader can tell, the character of Simon Wheeler is simply a down home Southerner who has plenty of stories. One would imagine that this is typically what most men similar to him are like which is mainly what links this story so strongly to Regionalism. Wheeler's obviously Southern dialect and use of vernacular give the oral tale in which he attempts to tell the Easterner about John Smiley a more "real" feel to it and as if the reader were actually there to hear the story themselves (Twain 498-502). This use of vernacular language is very typical of Regionalist writing because it displays the culture of that particular region through its language (Anderson). The Easterner also exhibits similar characteristics of Regionalism but in a different manner. From his antics in the short story, the reader may infer that most Easterners of this time period are impatient and a little snobbish. Finally, the possibly fictional character of John Smiley portrays his Westerner culture well through his seemingly crazy demeanor of constant gambling and essentially living freely (Twain 498-502).

The aspect of Realism in this story mainly has to with with, as Abby Werlock puts it, "depicting life as it actually exists." The fact of the matter is that it does not matter if John Smiley is a real person or not, it is that he embodies the spirit of the "Western man." Unfortunately, he is duped into losing the frog jumping race just as the Easterner is duped into listening to the ramblings of Simon Wheeler (Twain 498-502). It is almost as if they are a similar figure in literary terms.


Anderson, George P., Judith S. Baughman, Matthew J. Bruccoli, and Carl Rollyson, eds."regionalism." Encyclopedia of American Literature: Into the Modern: 1896–1945, vol. 3, Revised Edition. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2008. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=5&iPin= EAmL1330&SingleRecord=True (accessed February 14, 2011).

Twain, Mark. "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County." Glencoe Literature. Comp. Jeffrey Wilhelm. American Literature ed. Columbus; McGraw-Hill, 2010. 498-502. Print.

Werlock, Abby H. P. "realism." 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. Feb 13, 2011.