Wednesday, January 27, 2010
The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County
I really liked reading this story by Mark Twain because Jim Smiley will place a bet on anything that comes his way no matter how dumb the bet may be. In the story Jim has three animals that he places bets on and no matter what their appearances may look like they always turn out to be the winner. the first animal is Jim's horse and her is The Fifteen Minute Nag. This was given to the horse because of how the horse looked so sickly, but when places a bet on the table she turns on the speed at the end of race and wins. Next is Jim's bulldog pup named after 7th president of U.S. when all bets are down the dog character changes and he grabs onto the hind legs of his opponent and hangs on until the fight is over. lastly is Dan'l Webster, Jim's Frog, Which he trains to be the highest jumping frog in Calaveras County. However, Webster loses a the bet because a strange fills his frog with a teaspoon of quail shot while Jim is looking found a frog to place a bet against. I believe that Jim is a lucky person and so how finds a way to win.
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I and Mr. Winston both feel the same way for this story. I actually like some of Mark Twain’s stories; one of my favorite books that I have read is The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. For some reason I am attracted to his writings and I find myself wanting to read more of his work. The main character, Jim Smiley, seems to bet on any and everything you can possibly think of, and somehow he always wins. I believe it is fair to say that Jim Smiley is a very lucky individual. To be honest, I really don’t see a moral to this story, but maybe that is the reason why I like it.
ReplyDeleteThis blog is correct on its facts about Jim Smiley as well as its interpretation. Jim Smiley is a lucky man and does in fact always find a way to win, though it is more luck than anything. The great part about Mr. Smiley is that he uses is talent, luck, to his advantage by becoming a betting man. His bets seem almost as though they have so such chance to prevail but luck pays off. When his bulldog, which was given reference to in this blog, clings to the others leg during the fight. This action was not from training nor was it anticipated, but by luck. Dan’l Webster, the frog, however was more or less trained to do his job at hand, and he did it well. Though there is one difference in Jim Smiley and the stranger he encountered. Smiley was a lucky man; his opposition was a betting man. Smiley was relying on his luck to win while the stranger was looking for a way to win, which he did.
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