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To escape the man (who has decided that if there is no skin left with which to make a drum, he might at least sell Pinocchio for fire wood), Pinocchio swims away. This is the beginning of his restoration. Instead, the fish come and eat him down to the bone - down to the wood. This is Pinocchio’s metaphorical death - he’s become an animal, and now he’s left to die in the ocean.īut Pinocchio does not die. The man decides to kill Pinocchio by drowning, and, after attaching weights to keep him from floating, tosses him into the sea. He unwittingly exchanges the glory of his fallen humanity and becomes an animal - an ass - instead.Īs a donkey, Pinocchio is purchased by a man who intends to make a drum from his skin. Rather than becoming a “real boy,” he’s less human than he was as a puppet. Interestingly enough, he seems in a steady decline - each time he gives in, his sin is a bit worse than previously, with his ultimate sin being the one where he so indulges his appetites that he becomes a donkey. His resolve is always short lived, and once again he gives into his passions, which tempt him at every turn. It’s never the godly sorrow that leads to true repentance, though. He even cries over what he’s done - or is it his consequences? It’s hard to tell, but he does cry. On various occasions, Pinocchio attempts something like repentance. No one but God would give Pinocchio so many chances - he’s the worst of scoundrels … he’s the fool from Proverbs. Guroian sees the fairy as God’s grace working in Pinocchio’s life, and I’m inclined to agree with him. He’s also got a fairy in his life who plays a mother figure to him. After that, all he has left is the ghost of a conscience. He’s still got a conscience, of course - this is the cricket, whom he kills during the course of their first meeting. He’s not “real” - in the sense that he’s not what humanity ought to be. Here is how I see it: Pinocchio is born in rebellion - that’s why he’s wooden. I think it’s theologically sound, and also fair to the story. In my mind, after reading Pinocchio aloud four times, and reading through what Guroian has to say about it, I’ve developed my own interpretation of the tale that I not only think accurate, but find personally satisfying. As a pleasant surprise to me, I came to the chapter that discusses Pinocchio only a day or two after we had finished the tale as a read aloud. This week found me reading a different book by Vigen Guroian: Rallying the Really Human Things, which is a collection of essays.