The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County

One of the things I loved about this story was the dialect. The first three paragraphs sound intelligent and formal and then all the sudden it breaks into this southern dialect. Each part where Simon Wheeler was speaking was hilarious to me. I could actually hear some southern man telling me this story and I could even envision the story he was telling. Right before Wheeler begins his story the narrator says "I let him go on his own way, and never interrupted him once" (Clemens 273). I found this line to be ironic. It was as if the narrator was saying the story you are about to hear really means nothing at all. I also didn't know if that line was supposed to show that maybe this story could be slightly fabricated. Its as if the narrator knew Wheeler was a story teller and this story could be slightly exaggerated. I feel this notion of fabrication and exaggeration is what Clemens' story and the Borges' story has in common. You are never really sure if what you are reading is the complete truth or a fabrication of the story teller's imagination. I also find it funny that both stories give you the impression that what you are about to read really does not matter at all. I like that about both these stories because once I came to this conclusion I just tried to enjoy the story. Its such an ironic statement to put into a story, but it makes each story that much more interesting. Why even create a story if there is no point to it and it doesn't even matter? The only answer I can come up with is why not!