The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County

"The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County" is a tale about a man telling a tale that was completely unnecessary and is one of the values that Thoreau would be against just like Mark Twain. " Assuming the role of moral instructor, he accuses his countrymen of adhering to outmoded traditions and conventions; of being obsessed with acquiring material goods; and of having a mistaken conception of work, which exists only to feed artificial needs"(Grant). Thoreau would see this tale as a waste of speech and also a mistreatment of nature and animals. He would also be upset that they are using nature to acquire material goods in this case money. Mark Twain is even upset about the trivial conversation that is discussed between the men and their lack of better tales and restraint to only tell important tales of real matters. "Anyways, I've got my opinion, and I'll risk forty dollars that he can out jump any frog in Calaveras county"(Twain 502). The man leaves his own frog with this not so trusting man, who is just out to win forty bucks and destroys the frog. He fills the frog with a weird substance to allow himself the victory but killing the beauty of the frog. Mark Twain is friendly to nature and loves nature because he grew up in the country part and that influenced most of his stories. He roots all of his stories in the woodlands or connected to the beauty of nature and the elements around it. Thoreau and Mark Twain are very similar to each other they both excluded themselves from society and lived in the country part of the society away from the government and inequality. "Oh! hang Smiley and his afflicted cow!" I muttered, good-naturedly, and bidding the old gentleman good-day, I departed" (Twain 502). This last line is Mark Twain peeking himself into the story and giving his opinion of the story. He is upset about the tale but his respectful and leaves like a level headed gentlemen, which is similar to what Emerson and Thoreau most likely would have done.

Grant, P. B. "Individual and Society in Walden." McClinton-Temple, Jennifer ed. Encyclopedia of Themes in Literature. New York: Infobase Publishing, 2011. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc

Twain, Mark."The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County." Comp. Jeffrey D. Wilhelm, Ph.D. and Douglas Fisher, Ph.D. Glencoe Literature. American Literature ed. Columbus: McGraw-Hill Companies, 2009.498-502. Print.