Twain's characterization of Jim Smiley through the tall tales Simon Wheeler tells is driven by hyperbole to deepen the story's humor. Here are six uses:
1. Wheeler regales the narrator with Smiley's propensity to bet on anything at any time: he was "always betting on any thing that turned up." The use of "always" is hyperbolic.
2. Wheeler describes that in training his frog, "he never done nothing for three months but set in his back yard and learn that frog to jump." The use of "never done nothing but" is hyperbolic--Smiley would have to do more than that to simply stay alive.
3. When the frog is being weighted down in advance of the contest with the stranger, he "filled him full of quail shot filled him pretty near up to his chin." Since this action would prove fatal to a frog (assuming it would even be possible), this description is pure hyperbole.
4. Smiley's frog was described, exaggeratedly, as 100% accurate in catching flies: "he'd nail a fly every time as far as he could see him."
5. Simon Wheeler gives the frog superlative qualities that could only accurately be ascribed to human behavior, such as "you never see a frog so modest and straightforward" as a kind of hyperbole.
6. Smiley's mare, according to Simon Wheeler, "always had the asthma, or the distemper, or the consumption." The use of the word "always" implies a chronic condition. This is clear exaggeration for comic effect.
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