"Woe to those boys who rebel against their parents and run away from home. They will never come to any good in the world, and sooner or later they will repent bitterly."
Upon returning to Geppetto's room after having run away from Geppetto and landed him in prison for the night, Pinocchio encounters the Talking Cricket, a cricket that attempts to encourage Pinocchio to be a well-behaved and studious boy. In this passage, the cricket decries boys who refuse to obey their parents, warning that they always eventually regret their rebellious ways. The quote is significant because it sets up the trajectory of the novel, which will depict Pinocchio learning through constant misfortunes that it is better to be respectful of one's elders than try to live a life of leisure and mischief. This passage also illustrates the didactic function of the fairy tale, exposing the author's intention to show children that disobedience only leads to punishment.
"You see, now," observed Geppetto, "that I was right when I said to you that it did not do to accustom ourselves to be too particular or too dainty in our tastes. We can never know, my dear boy, what may happen to us."
When Geppetto returns home from his night in prison, he discovers that Pinocchio is starving. Taking pity, Geppetto gives his only food—three pears—to Pinocchio. The hungry puppet says that he wants the pears peeled because he doesn't enjoy eating the skins. Geppetto scolds Pinocchio for his pickiness, but obliges and peels the pears. Pinocchio gobbles them down, aside from the cores, which he also refuses. However, his hunger remains, so Pinocchio eats the cores and skins after all. In this passage, Geppetto teaches Pinocchio a lesson about appreciating the food that's available to him, reminding Pinocchio that they can never know what future the holds in store.
HERE LIES
THE CHILD WITH THE BLUE HAIR
WHO DIED FROM SORROW
BECAUSE SHE WAS ABANDONED BY HER
LITTLE BROTHER PINOCCHIO
After the peasant releases Pinocchio from the duty of being his guard dog, he runs without stopping to the white house where the Fairy lives. However, in the spot where the house once stood is a marble tombstone inscribed with this message. Although Pinocchio hadn't intended to abandon the Fairy, the epitaph bears a punishing, manipulative message that makes the puppet cry. Unbeknownst to Pinocchio, the Fairy left the tombstone for him to find because she wanted him to feel horrible. The passage is significant because it speaks to how relentlessly authority figures punish Pinocchio throughout the novel, even for slights that are not his fault.
“I didn’t lose the four gold pieces, I swallowed them whilst I was drinking your medicine.”
At this lie his nose grew to such an extraordinary length that poor Pinocchio could not move in any direction. If he turned to one side he struck his nose against the bed or the window-panes, if he turned to the other he struck it against the walls or the door, if he raised his head a little he ran the risk of sticking it into one of the Fairy’s eyes.
Upon arriving at the Fairy's house, Pinocchio explains the circumstances that led him to seek refuge. Detailing the story of how he was ambushed by assassins and forced to hide his gold in his mouth, Pinocchio—distrusting the Fairy, perhaps—pretends the gold isn't available to him because he swallowed it. With the lie, Pinocchio's nose grows extremely long—the iconic tell that prevents the puppet from being convincingly dishonest.
The Fairy allowed the puppet to cry for a good half-hour over his nose, which could no longer pass through the door of the room. This she did to give him a severe lesson, and to correct him of the disgraceful fault of telling lies—the most disgraceful fault that a boy can have.
After lying, Pinocchio's nose grows so long that he is trapped in place. The Fairy will eventually help him by summoning woodpeckers to reduce it, but first she leaves the puppet to suffer for half an hour because she believes he deserves punishment for the "disgraceful fault" of lying. This passage is significant because it serves as another example of the novel's didactic nature, stating outright that a boy—such as the boy hearing or reading the story—will not get away with being dishonest.
“That poor devil has been robbed of four gold pieces; take him away and put him immediately into prison.”
After Fox and Cat take Pinocchio to plant his gold pieces in the Field of Miracles, Pinocchio learns they swindled him by digging up the gold themselves and fleeing. Incensed, Pinocchio brings his case to the local judge, who is a gorilla. The judge listens compassionately to Pinocchio's case. However, in this passage the judge decrees that the unfortunate puppet serve a prison sentence despite having been the victim of a crime. Once again, Collodi depicts Pinocchio receiving a harsh punishment—in this case, punishment for the faults of gullibility, laziness, and greed.
“How many misfortunes have happened to me. But I deserved them, for I am an obstinate, passionate puppet. I am always bent upon having my own way, without listening to those who wish me well, and how have a thousand times more sense than I have! But from this time forth I am determined to change and to become orderly and obedient. For at last I have seen that disobedient boys come to no good and gain nothing.”
Five months into his prison sentence, Pinocchio is freed because of an amnesty the sovereign grants to all prisoners. Walking on a muddy road in the rain, Pinocchio speaks this passage to himself, lamenting his misfortunes but also accepting them as consequences of his faulty behavior and attitude. Rather than feeling a righteous indignation toward the authority figures who have punished him harshly at every turn, Pinocchio resolves to improve his moral character and become the good child every adult encourages him to be.
He was ashamed to beg, for his father had always preached to him that no one had a right to beg except the aged and the infirm. The really poor in this word, deserving of compassion and assistance, are only those who from age or sickness are no longer able to earn their own bread with the labor of their hands. It is the duty of every one else to work; and if they will not work, so much the worse for them if they suffer from hunger.
Coming across a village full of hardworking people on an island in the middle of the ocean, Pinocchio wonders how he can get food. In this passage, the narrator comments on how Pinocchio has been taught by Geppetto—a beggar himself—that begging is a practice only for elderly people or disabled people who cannot earn their own money. The didactic passage also contains the moralistic message that anyone else who won't work deserves to suffer from hunger because they cannot overcome their own laziness.
"Who are you?"
At this question the little donkey opened his dying eyes, and answered in broken words in the same language:
"I am—Can—dle—wick."
And, having again closed his eyes, he expired.
While living in the straw hut the Fairy (in the form of a goat) sets up for him, Pinocchio earns milk by laboring for a neighboring peasant farmer. He learns that the water-gathering device he turns used to be turned by the peasant's donkey, who is dying. In this exchange, Pinocchio recognizes the donkey's face. Having been transformed into a donkey himself, Pinocchio asks in the donkey language who the donkey is. Pinocchio then learns it is his old best friend, Candlewick, who was sold off at the same time as Pinocchio. While Pinocchio was fortunate enough to turn back into a puppet, Candlewick was a beast of burden until he was worked to death.
“Well done, Pinocchio! To reward you for your good heart I will forgive you for all that is past. Boys who minister tenderly to their parents and assist them in their misery and infirmities, are deserving of great praise and affection, even if they cannot be cited as examples of obedience and good behavior. Try and do better in the future and you will be happy.”
Upon learning from the snail that the Fairy is unwell, Pinocchio gives over the five dollars he intended to spend on a coat for himself. That night, he is rewarded within a dream that becomes reality. In this passage, the Fairy acknowledges Pinocchio's efforts to be an obedient and self-sacrificing child who puts his parents' needs over his own desires. The passage is significant because it shows once again how Collodi embeds moral lessons in the novel, encouraging the child readers to respect and care for their parents.
