American Literature

One of the most famous characters in American tall tales is Paul Bunyan, and one of the most well-loved recounts  the time he discovered his blue ox which he called Babe. It is said that one day during the Winter of the Blue Snow  it was reportedly so cold that the snow turned blue  Paul  Bunyan was walking in the woods when he heard a funny sound between a bleat and a snort. Looking down he saw a teeny-tiny baby blue ox just a hopping about in the snow and snorting with rage on account of he was too short to see over the drifts (American Tall Tales). Paul was  so amused and impressed with the stubornness of this little thing that he took it home with him. Just like anything else that stayed in his camp, it eventually grew to giant proportions. But because of Babes immense size and complimentary strength, he was a great help with chores in the camp, be it drying off clothes strung on a line across his horns, or straightening out twisted logging roads. Then Bessie the Yeller Cow came into Babes life. Also growing into an enormous yet appealing size, Bessie could produce all the dairy products for the lumber camp . . . made enough butter from her cream to grease the giant pancake griddle and sometimes there was enough left over to butter the toast (American Tall Tales). At first, Babe and Bessie were at odds when it came to the  weather, the former preferring the cold, the latter happier with warmth.  Thankfully,  Paul was able to work out a system for them both in the end.

I found this tale on www.americantalltales.netid3.html. I think this story has endured the test of time because even though it comes across as very simple and straightforward, it is a great source of entertainment.  It paints such vivid pictures of its outlandish yet colorful characters. The situations are very humorous and outrageous, the obvious exaggeration is wildly amusing because it is unmistakably impossible, yet the reader allows himself to be lured into the rest of the tale, if only to find out how much more ridiculous it can get. It also serves as an escape for the reader because impossible tasks can be accomplished by Paul, Babe, and Bessie, mostly because of their immense size and strength. They are able to come up with ludicrously funny solutions to problematic situations, that can only be possible with a stretch of the imagination. The story likewise provides a comical picture of how parts of America came about, which probably sounds much more exciting than the truth. To quote from the same tale, Paul also used Babe to pull the heavy tank wagon . . . until one day the tank sprang a leak that trickled south and became the Mississippi River.

Funny stories will always have a following, if only for the amusement they provide. They oftentimes rescue us from the tediousness brought about by routine in our lives. Add to that the presence of folk heroes, and a bit of history and geography, and the result is surely a finely spun tale.

The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County by Mark Twain
This classic tale by Twain is probably unlike the tales of Paul Bunyan, in the sense that it does not directly narrate the interesting adventures of the characters. It is written in a style wherein the narrator encases the story in a letter this is called an epistolary format of a framed story (Howard).  However, the presence of the usual humor and exaggeration in a typical American tall tale remains.  In this tale though, the humor is more of a sardonic nature

I have a lurking suspicion that Leonidas W. Smiley is a myth that my friend
never knew such a personage and that he only conjectured that if I asked old
Wheeler about him, it would remind him of his infamous Jim Smiley, and he
would go to work and bore me to death with some exasperating reminiscence
of him as long and as tedious as it should be useless to me. If that was the design,
it succeeded. (Twain)

The exaggeration is provided by the notorious frog himself, Daniel Webster, who could supposedly outjump other frogs in the county.  But his owner, Smiley, was fooled by a stranger when the latter took this bet, and then he got the frog out and pried his mouth open . . .  filled him full of quail-shot . . . and set him on the floor (Twain).  Smiley, meanwhile, was searching for another frog for the stranger. Naturally, Daniel was too heavy to jump, so Smiley lost the bet. This tale bears the same ingredients of humor, exaggeration and vivid imagery

Then he says, One-two-three-git and him and the feller touched up the frogs from
behind, and the new frog hopped off lively, but Danl give a heave, and hysted up
his shoulders-so-like a Frenchman, but it warnt no use-he couldnt budge he was
planted as solid as a church, and he couldnt no more stir than if he was anchored out.
(Twain)