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What Is The Theme Of The Notorious Jumping Frog

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A bet between two men is the subject of Mark Twain's short story, "The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County." Reverend Leonidas W. Smiley is visited by a stranger named Simon Wheeler, who tells him the story of Jim Smiley and his beloved frog Dan'l Webster. Jim Smiley bets with another man that his frog can jump higher than his, but the other man cheats by stuffing the frog with lead shot, so Smiley loses the bet. There are many cause-and-effect scenarios to investigate in the story. One of them was the effects of the stranger's obsession with gambling. The theme of the ethics of gambling is contested in Twain's short story. Twain suggests that although gambling has a moral component, it can frequently be abused. This can be seen in Jim Smiley's behavior because he was a compulsive gambler who wagered on anything and everything. He loses money as a result of men taking advantage of him by cheating because of his addiction and constant gambling. …show more content…

The other man's injection of "the substance like lead shot" into the frog is the origin of everything that leads to the story's resolution. When it should have gone the other way, this gave him the opportunity to win the wager and accept Smiley's wager. This "lead shot" could be interpreted as a metaphor for the story's treatment of deceit and temptation. Despite being aware of the negative effects of cheating, Jim Smiley's decisions affected the outcome in a negative way. He violated his own moral compass by engaging in compulsive gambling, and he paid the

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