Both Twain and Harte’s pieces take place in small towns with relatively similar depictions of rural Americans. In “The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County” Twain pokes fun at these stereotypical people with the use of slang such as, “his under-jaw’d begin to stick out like the fo’castle of a steamboat.” Harte’s “The Luck of Roaring Camp” uses comparable words like, “has n’t mor’n got the color”; “ain’t bigger nor a derringer.”
They both use nicknames for their characters which other characters know them as more readily than their actual names. Another joining aspect is how they’re told. Both seem to be told from a narrator that lives among these people and speaks their dialect. It gives the impression that we are listening to an old yarn from a local, further depicting this slice of American culture. I think these stories were relatable and true to the nature of small town America. Much of it probably still holds true to small towns today which always seem to be stuck in time.
I never really thought about the idea of the use of nicknames and how close the narrator's were to the town. Very interesting angle. Great posting.
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