Throw a hammer at me now. I have only wanted to remind you of the trick you long ago played upon me, to teach you that in this world of ours we must be kind and courteous to others, if we want to find kindness and courtesy in our own days of trouble. There he fell asleep, and while he slept, his wooden feet began to burn. Uh, this offends your delicate sensibilities? But spare my poor old father. .
At last, karma catches up to Pinocchio and he gets his feet burned off. The movie is based on a story that appeared as a serial in a newspaper called , written in 1881 and 1882 by Carlo Collodi. In the additional chapters, Collodi made it so that Pinocchio learned his lesson and decided to take care of his father rather than spend his time playing and. Perhaps he did not think he would strike it. Most older 100 or so years stories that I have seen the hardship experienced by the protagonist had to experience direct, brutal, and often irrevocable consequences before learning their lesson or being used as an example for the reader to learn their lesson.
Rather than apologizing for throwing a hammer at the poor bug, Pinocchio scoffs at the advice once again. There are many, many worthwhile books out there for children — but in my opinion Pinocchio is not one of them! As he no longer had any strength left with which to stand, he sat down on a little stool and put his two feet on the stove to dry them. Apropos, when the Talking Cricket tells Pinocchio to go back home: At these last words, Pinocchio jumped up in a fury, took a hammer from the bench, and threw it with all his strength at the Talking Cricket. I read it with my son when he was about 6 and I was shocked how disturbing, violent, and downright bizarre the story was. Jiminy Cricket appears as the Talking Cricket in the book, and does not play as prominent of a role. I have no idea why this book is considered a classic. Slowly, very slowly, they blackened and turned to ashes.
I think just about every father would prefer the original version of this story, simply because men like to drive home serious points to their kids. He first appears in chapter 4 in which the truism that children do not like to have their behaviour corrected by people who know much more than they do is illustrated. Looking at older stories, plays, and folk tales it is pretty clear the trope of being bad, having some trouble, finding redemption, and learning a conceptual lesson is a pretty modern concept. Wow, the cognitive dissonance here is stunning. You would think by this time that Pinocchio would learn to be a good, obedient little boy, but that simply is not the case. The Talking Cricket returns as a ghost to tell Pinocchio not to get involved with some people who claim planting gold coins will result in a tree of gold.
You might be happy to know that Pinocchio did learn his lesson quite soon after that—or seemed to. Basically, Collodi wanted to convey the message that children could face grave consequences for being disobedient. Take Sleeping Beauty for example: The 1940 version of Pinocchio is no exception. But, sad to relate, my dear children, he did hit the Cricket, straight on its head. . . .
. . . . . .
. . . . .
. . . . . .
. . . . . . .
. . . . .