After Smiley bets the Stranger that his frog Dan’l Webster (named after a conservative politician) will jump higher than any frog the Stranger finds, the Stranger sneakily sabotages Dan’l’s chances by filling him with quail-shot. When describing the effect these heavy pellets had on the frog’s jumping abilities, Wheeler uses a pair of similes, as seen in the following passage:
“Dan’l give a heave, and hysted up his shoulders—so—like a Frenchman, but it warn’t no use—he couldn’t budge; he was planted as solid as a church, and he couldn’t no more stir than if he was anchored out. Smiley was a good deal surprised, and he was disgusted too, but he didn’t have no idea what the matter was, of course.”
The first simile here—in which Wheeler says that the frog “hysted up his shoulders […] like a Frenchman”—is likely a reference to what is called the “Gallic shrug,” a French mannerism in which people animatedly shrug their shoulders to express resignation. It’s likely that Twain is also playing with the stereotypical connection between French people and frogs here, an association that emerged from the fact that frog legs are a part of French cuisine (and, for that matter, an association that is generally used in insulting ways). The simile here adds to the humorous tone of Wheeler’s story.
In the second simile, Wheeler describes Dan’l Webster as being “as solid as a church,” a description that helps readers understand just how much the pellets in the frog’s stomach weighed him down. In this moment, then, Dan’l’s normal appearance hides the truth that the Stranger stuffed him with pellets in order to win the bet.
When Wheeler introduces Smiley’s bulldog (named after the United States president Andrew Jackson), he uses a pair of similes to describe the dog, as seen in the following passage:
“And he had a little small bull-pup, that to look at him you’d think he warn’t worth a cent but to set around and look ornery and lay for a chance to steal something. But as soon as money was up on him he was a different dog; his under-jaw’d begin to stick out like the fo’castle of a steamboat, and his teeth would uncover and shine like the furnaces.”
Here, Wheeler explains how, even though Andrew Jackson didn’t look very menacing, he became a much more aggressive dog during a fight. The first simile Wheeler uses describes Andrew Jackson’s lower jaw as “stick[ing] out like the fo’castle of a steamboat.” (The forecastle of a boat is the portion of the upper deck that sticks out the farthest.) This description helps the narrator (and readers) visualize just how threatening the bulldog’s open jaw was in a fight.
The second simile here furthers this frightening portrait by describing how Andrew Jackson’s “teeth would uncover and shine like the furnaces.” Wheeler helps the narrator (and readers) understand the menacing way in which the dog’s teeth shone like the metal reflective surfaces of furnaces, an intimidating sight. Both of these similes underline how appearances can be deceiving—while Andrew Jackson may typically look like he “warn’t worth a cent but to set around and look ornery,” he is actually far more threatening than that.
When describing Smiley’s successful experiment with training a wild frog to jump (in order to win bets), Wheeler uses a simile, as seen in the following passage:
“He ketched a frog one day, and took him home, and said he cal’klated to edercate him; and so he never done nothing for three months but set in his back yard and learn that frog to jump. And you bet he did learn him, too. He’d give him a little punch behind, and the next minute you’d see that frog whirling in the air like a doughnut see him turn one summerset, or may be a couple, if he got a good start.”
The simile here—in which Wheeler describes the frog “whirling in the air like a doughnut” after Smiley’s three-month-long training process—helps the narrator (and readers) to understand just how seriously Smiley takes his gambling. The frog only gracefully whirls through the air because Smiley invested time and energy into encouraging the creature’s abilities. In this way, Wheeler indirectly speaks to Smiley’s commitment to integrity in his “work” as a gambler—rather than cheating his way into victory, he meticulously works to ensure that he will win the bets that he makes.
