In Twain's "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County," the character Smiley has a weakness. What is tha

Question

In Twain's "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County," the character Smiley has a weakness. What is that weakness?

gambling

drinking

cursing

training animals

Answer 1

gambling and in believing everything he hears............

Answer 2

The subject of Wheeler's story is Jim Smiley, a compulsive bettor whose wagers range from the conventional to the absurd; Wheeler reports, for instance, that Smiley might bet on how long it would take a straddle-bug to reach his destination, then follow the bug all the way to Mexico to learn the outcome. Smiley especially like employing animals in his bets, such as the broken-down mare who wins races at the last moment, the puppy named Andrew Jackson who beats his opponents by clamping on to their hind legs, and of course the frog Daniel Webster. Smiley is described as an extraordinarily lucky man, and the names he gives his animals might be seen as a superstitious effort to attract good fortune. His single-minded devotion to gambling, evidenced by the three months he spends training Dan'l to jump higher than other frogs, finally leads to his being duped. As he searches in the swamp for a likely opponent for Daniel Webster, the stranger deviously fills his frog with quail shot. In dropping the defense of guile employed by fellow westerners (such as Wheeler, significantly, as he tells the story to the arrogant narrator), Smiley is beaten at his own game.