Scratching for NewView in Twain’s “Jumping Frog” Story
Mark Twain’s short story, The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County, was his first great success as a writer when it was published November 18, 1865, in the New York weekly, The Saturday Press.
SUMMARY ANALYSIS
1-OldView strong value statement, early on
“. . . he [Jim Smiley] was the curiousest man about always betting on anything that turned up you ever see . . . he was lucky, uncommon lucky; he most always come out winner.”
Unlike most short stories, this OldView strong value statement comes not early on, but about one fifth of the way into the story. That’s because this is actually a collection of small tales used to set the background for the unusual main tale about the jumping frog. The tale about the frog doesn’t even get started until after more than three fifths of the way through the whole story.
The best way to nail down the OldView for this unusual short story is to combine that first evaluation of how Jim Smiley would bet on just about anything, and how lucky he was in usually winning, with this statement near the beginning of the main tale of the jumping frog:
“And when it come to fair and square jumping on a dead level, he [Smiley’s jumping frog] could get over more ground at one straddle than any animal of his breed you ever see . . . Smiley was monstrous proud of his frog.”
2-OldView supports/undercuts, in middle
Descriptions.
There are several descriptions of the odd things Jim Smiley would bet on and win, thus supporting the OldView of Smiley “most always” winning. These include the health of the preacher’s wife, the “fifteen-minute nag,” and the “bull-pup” that always won fights by latching onto the hind leg of the other dog—until he was forced to fight a dog with no hind legs.
Conflicts & Resolutions.
Jim Smiley always won his conflicts, his oddball bets, thus supporting the OldView. That was the common resolution to his lucky bets. And that ongoing state of affairs sets up reasonable expectations that he would win the bet on his well-trained frog with the stranger in camp.
3-NewView Reversal, at end
At the end, Smiley is no longer smugly proud of his jumping frog, but the reverse: surprised and “disgusted” that his celebrated jumping frog simply wouldn’t jump. And that lost the forty-dollar bet for Smiley, of course, a NewView Reverse of his OldView luck in winning bets.
The only luck involved with this bet was the bad luck Smiley had in betting with a man who was smarter than Smiley was lucky—that and being foolish enough to leave his prized jumping frog for a considerable amount of time in the hands of the man who would be betting against it.
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