Twain/Harte 7/21/09

I enjoyed both of the pieces by Mark Twain and Bret Harte. Both used small regional areas as their settings and I think that really improved the stories and made them more understandable as well as interesting. Twain uses the region to its extremes in "The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County". Not only does he have the setting as a small county with not very many people in it and extremely rural, but he also uses the appropriate dialect in the dialogue of his characters. "Thish-yer Smiley had a mare--the boys called her the fifteen-minute mag, but that was only in fun, you know, because of course she was faster than that--and he used to win money on that horse, for all she was so slow and always had the asthma, or the distemper, or the consumption, or something of that kind." The way Twain writes his dialogues, it seems as if you, the reader, are actually talking to this person in real life. The use of nomenclature like "thish" instead of just "this" really legitimizes the story, making it more realistic and interesting for the reader. This style is really emphasized in Twain's "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" as well as in "Tom Sawyer". Harte uses a small regional area like Twain, but in different ways. He too uses a small, rural village-like setting, as wel. as the appropriate nomenclature in the dialogue of the characters for that certain region. I felt that Harte's story, though not as realistic and descriptive as Twain's, had a deeper meaning and thought into it. He describes the way a newborn isn't only experiencing his new life, but is also enhancing the lives of others. Harte describes the beauty of the birth of life and how it can impact anyone around them, even a bunch of men who aren't that sensitive. Harte uses the small village of only males to enhance the beauty of new life. One part I found to be really impacting was the end, when Kentuck dies after trying to save "Tommy Luck". "'He is dead,' said one. Kentuck opened his eyes. 'Dead?' he repeated feebly. 'Yes, my man, and you are dying too.' A smile lit the eyes of the expiring Kentuck. 'Dying!' he repeated;'he's a-taking me with him. Tell the boys I've got The Luck with me now:' and the strong man, clinging to the frail babe as a drowning man is said to cling to a straw, drifted away into the shadowy river that flows forever to the unknown sea." Kentuck's rural dialect really enhances the legitimacy of the scene, making the reader feel like he or she is right there with them. I also liked how Harte used such basic nicknames as Kentuck and Cherokee Sal to name the characters. They're obviously named after first impressions with not much thought behind them, something that guys tend to do when nicknaming each other. I felt that really contributed to the atmosphere of an all-male village, which would be a strange place to be I think.