Use Of Regionalism In The Notorious Jumping Frog Of Calaveras County

In the 1850's, a new literary movement emerged. This movement, termed regionalism, shows fidelity to a particular region or culture, namely through character's speech, manners, and beliefs. One distinct characteristic of regionalism present in all such texts is the idea that people within these cultures are very difficult to change because the characters want to preserve their distinct way of life. Two short stories in particular effectively demonstrate regionalism—Mark Twain's "The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County," published in 1865, and Bret Harte's 1868 publication of "The Luck of Roaring Camp." Both Twain and Harte use regionalism within their short stories; however, they do so by utilizing completely different aspects of local

In “The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County,” Mark Twain utilizes humor and contrasting provincial perspectives to demonstrate regionalism throughout the text. One way Twain accomplishes this humor is through the colloquial speech and lousy grammar of the storyteller, Simon Wheeler, which Twain contrasts against the well-spoken and mannered East Coast narrator. Wheeler's vernacular is a valuable representation of the way most people in California mining camps talk, using words and phrases such as “dangdest feller,” “thish-yer,” “jest,” and “ketch[ed]” (Twain 122-123).Additionally, Twain’s deliberate use of misspellings helped to more effectively develop Wheeler’s stories and their regional qualities. A prime example of this is when Wheeler talks about the notorious frog, Dan’l Webster. He exclaims, “and quicker’n you could wink he’d spring straight up and snake a fly off’n

These events define the essence of regionalism, particularly because such affairs would not usually take place outside of the mining camps. In fact, the whimsical competitions and betting that occurs within the story set up a notably realistic atmosphere of California during the Gold Rush era. As alluded to throughout the short story, gambling is a famed and frequent pastime in the mining camps. The infamous Jim Smiley is especially known for gambling, as he would “[bet] on anything that turned up you ever see” (Twain 122). For example, “if there was a horse-race, [he’d bet on it]; if there was a dog-fight, he’d bet on it; if there was a cat-fight, he’d bet on it… why, if there was two birds sitting on a fence, he’d bet [on] which one would fly first” (Twain 122). In fact, Smiley “ketched a frog one day… and said he cal’lated to educate him… he never done nothing for three months but… learn that frog to jump” (Twain 123). Wheeler noted that “Smiley would ante up money on [the frog] as long as he had a red” (Twain 124). The betting and humorous jumping-frog competitions are simply a characteristic of the lawless Wild West, and are thus subject to regionalism because the activities are not partaken in within other regions. However, there is also a connection to regionalism with the art of storytelling itself. As