Jack in the Beanstalk story review

I reread the Jack in the Beanstalk fairy tale and it made me feel all sorts of things. This is my review/interpretation.

Fee Fi Fo Fum!

I smell the blood of an Englishman!

Be he alive or be he dead

I’ll grind his bones to make my bed!

     Jack in the beanstalk is about a mother who puts way too much pressure on her young son. She sends him out to fulfill adult responsibilities and calls him stupid when he messes up! She knows that this was a vital mission, for they would not have food if this was not a fairy tale and they very likely would have starved to death. Jack was only a kid, and he probably stopped listening after he heard the word magic…what kid would turn down magic beans if he thought it would help his family? After jack climbs the beanstalk and faces near death with the giant and his wife, he still manages to steal two golden coins in order to help his mother. Even though he knows how dangerous it his, his mother has praised him for bringing home something useful. He then returns, this time stealing a hen that lays golden eggs. He could very well die up there, but he’s just a boy wanting his mother’s love. He no longer needs to go back up the stalk, they have food and their home is now furnished and cozy. However, the boy grows bored. He grows bored and decides to go back up the stalk, this time stealing a golden harp. What he doesn’t know, is that this harp can talk. It yells out for the giant, and jack nearly loses his life trying to get back down. He barely misses death, but the giant dies from the impact, and jack and his mom live happily ever after.

     I’m left to wonder how eerily similar this story is to today’s troubled teenagers. Sometimes it’s their family that pressures them to make money, and other times it’s peer pressure from friends and acquaintances. For some kids, stealing is the only way that they know how to survive, and no matter how much help is offered to them, it’s hard for them to accept it. Whether it be fear of judgement or just plain fear of failing, most people in any situation will choose the easiest given route. And jack, he got lucky. His bones were not ground to make the giant’s bed. He didn’t get shot trying to rob a store. He didn’t get beat to death by people who wouldn’t even try to hear his situation. His situation is ideal for most mothers and families who deal with troubled kids, but that never truly happens in the real world. If only magic beans truly existed, and people actually cared for one another. If there were less people like the man on the bench selling stories of a life that they don’t know ends with consequences. If there were less people like jack’s mother who verbally and emotionally abused their kids. Then maybe we wouldn’t have so many Jack’s in the world, and maybe they wouldn’t have to lose their life for the sake of trying to survive. The kids and young adults in the world need much more help than they are given. And I’m no expert, but making an effort to reach out to people, even if you don’t know that they are struggling, may give them incentive, or even motivation, to help the next person they come across.

#Savethejack’s #Savetheworld

Reviews

[sette]

it is one inspiring piece to help the jacks out there