48 pages • 1 hour read
Carlo CollodiThe Adventures of Pinocchio
Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 1883A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Summary
Background
Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Character Analysis
Themes
Symbols & Motifs
Important Quotes
Essay Topics
Tools
BetaChapters 1-12Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 1 Summary
Content Warning: The source material uses outdated and offensive language about individuals with physical and intellectual disabilities. This guide includes this language in quoted material when necessary.
A carpenter, Mastro Cherry, finds a perfect piece of wood to shape into a table leg. As he starts to carve bark off the wood, he hears a tiny voice begging Mastro Cherry not to hit him too hard; Mastro Cherry looks around, confused, as there is no one there. He strikes the wood again and hears the voice once more; then, he hears giggling as he starts to plane the wood. He decides that the voice must be coming from the piece of wood. Mastro Cherry sits down heavily, shocked.
Chapter 2 Summary
Mastro Cherry’s friend, Geppetto, comes to the door. He has decided to make himself a puppet, with which he will travel the world and make money. Geppetto, who is sometimes teased and called Polendina (“polenta head”) for his yellow wig, has a very bad temper. Believing that Mastro Cherry is insulting him, Geppetto gets in a physical fight with Mastro Cherry when he hears a voice saying, “Bravo, Polendina!” (3).
The two men, after brawling for a time, stop and decide to be friends again. Mastro Cherry gives Geppetto the little piece of wood he had been working on for a table leg for Geppetto to use as wood for his puppet. The wood jumps from Mastro Cherry’s hand and hits Geppetto on the leg, causing them to come to blows again. Finally, they make up again, and Geppetto leaves with the wood.
Chapter 3 Summary
Geppetto returns to his small, modestly furnished home and begins to fashion the piece of wood into a puppet, which he decides he will call Pinocchio. Geppetto is shocked and aggrieved when the wooden eyelids open and the eyes stare at him, and then the puppet starts to laugh at him and make fun of him. The nose seems to continue to grow. Pinocchio snatches the wig off Geppetto’s head and then kicks him once his feet are made. Geppetto holds Pinocchio’s hand while Pinocchio learns to walk.
Pinocchio runs from the house; people are shocked and stand aside. Geppetto chases him but cannot keep up. Pinocchio is finally apprehended by a police constable. Geppetto threatens Pinocchio that he will be disciplined at home. Hearing this, the townspeople worry that Geppetto will be cruel to Pinocchio, and Geppetto is arrested and taken to jail, while Pinocchio is released.
Chapter 4 Summary
Pinocchio returns to Geppetto’s home. A cricket, who claims to have lived in the house for 100 years, counsels Pinocchio about the importance of being a respectful son and not running away from home. Irritated, Pinocchio tells the cricket that he will do as he pleases; he plans on leaving Geppetto’s house the next day, as he does not want to be forced to go to school or learn a trade. The cricket tells Pinocchio that he has a wooden head. Insulted and angry, Pinocchio throws a hammer at the cricket, killing it.
Chapter 5 Summary
Pinocchio is shocked to have killed the cricket; this was not his intention.
He suddenly realizes that he is very hungry and makes an omelet, but it flies out of the window. There is no other food in the house. Pinocchio regrets disobeying Geppetto and running away from home. Pinocchio is thrilled to find an egg in the corner of the room, but when he cracks it, a chick flies out, thanking him for setting him free from the egg.
He walks to the nearby village, hoping to beg for some bread.
Chapter 6 Summary
Pinocchio knocks on the door of a house, asking the man inside for some bread. The man tells Pinocchio to stand under his window and put his hands out, and then he pours water over Pinocchio.
Cold and upset, Pinocchio returns home and puts his feet up by the fire. He falls asleep, but, as he sleeps, his feet burn.
A knock at dawn wakes Pinocchio; it is Geppetto.
Chapter 7 Summary
Geppetto calls for Pinocchio to open the door, but Pinocchio realizes that he no longer has feet, so he cannot stand up; he calls to Geppetto that the cat must have eaten his feet. Geppetto climbs in through the window.
Pinocchio cries as he tells Geppetto about his sad and hungry night. Geppetto gives Pinocchio the three pears he had bought for his own breakfast. Pinocchio insists that he will only eat them if they are peeled. Geppetto counsels him not to be fussy but peels and cores them for him. Pinocchio is still hungry after eating the pear flesh and eventually eats the peels and the cores as well. This proves Geppetto’s point to not be too fussy or dainty about food.
Chapter 8 Summary
After dinner, Geppetto makes new feet for Pinocchio based on Pinocchio’s promise that he won’t run away from home again and that he will go to school.
Geppetto then makes a suit for Pinocchio out of paper, a pair of shoes out of tree bark, and a cap from bread dough. Pinocchio is overjoyed.
Pinocchio points out that he needs an A-B-C book for school. Geppetto admits that he has no money to buy one, but then he sells his coat to buy Pinocchio’s book. Pinocchio kisses Geppetto in gratitude.
Chapter 9 Summary
Pinocchio sets off toward school. He hears intriguing drums and follows the sound. A boy tells him that it is a puppet show. Pinocchio’s heart is set on going, but the admission is four pennies. Pinocchio offers to sell the A-B-C book to the boy for four pennies, but the boy will not buy it. A man overhears Pinocchio’s offer and buys his book from him.
Chapter 10 Summary
The puppets, Harlequin and Pulcinella, recognize Pinocchio as one of their own and are delighted to see him, calling him up on stage. The puppets all embrace happily, but the bored crowd calls objections that the show has stopped. The director comes out and demands that Harlequin and Pulcinella bring him Pinocchio so that he can burn him in his fire. Terrified, Pinocchio calls to Geppetto, “Father, save me! I don’t want to die!” but Geppetto is at home and assumes that Pinocchio is safely at school (20).
Chapter 11 Summary
Fire Eater, the director, sneezes; Harlequin whispers to Pinocchio that this means that Fire Eater feels sorry for Pinocchio. Fire Eater sneezes even more when he asks Pinocchio about his life, and Pinocchio explains that he never knew a mother and his father is very poor.
Fire Eater still needs to cook his dinner, so he says that Harlequin will need to be put on the fire. Pinocchio volunteers to be burned instead to save his friend. Fire Eater, sneezing, is so moved by this that he decides to burn none of the puppets and eats his dinner only half-cooked.
The puppets return to the stage to sing and dance in celebration.
Chapter 12 Summary
Pinocchio is thrilled to receive five golden coins from Fire Eater, who is moved and saddened to hear about Geppetto’s poverty and his self-sacrifice for his son. Pinocchio excitedly starts walking home; he plans to buy himself a new A-B-C book and a new coat for his father and then give the rest of the money to Geppetto.
He is intercepted by a cat, who is allegedly blind, and a fox, who allegedly has a disability that impairs his walking. Pinocchio tells the pair about his newfound riches. A blackbird calls to Pinocchio to ignore the dishonest pair, but the cat quickly eats the bird. The cat and fox tell Pinocchio that if he accompanies them to the mystical City of Simple Simons, he will be able to plant his gold and have them multiply into 2,000 pieces. Pinocchio is initially determined to continue home but is eventually convinced to accompany the fox and cat to the City of Simple Simons.
Chapters 1-12 Analysis
Magic in Children’s Literature is introduced as a pivotal theme in the exposition when the enchanted piece of wood, which is used to make Pinocchio, is discovered by Mastro Cherry: “[A] wee, little voice said in a beseeching tone: ‘Please be careful! Do not hit me so hard!’” (1). The enchanted nature of the piece of wood is alluded to in the incredible voice emanating from it. Pinocchio’s animate state drives the plot, which follows the adventures of the puppet as he navigates the world and learns important lessons through his constant mistakes and mishaps.
Through Pinocchio’s mishaps, The Importance of Obedience and Temperance in Children is established as an important theme. Much of the story reads as a moral fable, which clearly aims to educate its young readers on the negative consequences of misbehavior and disrespect through Pinocchio’s suffering. This is epitomized through the character of the cricket, who tries to impart wisdom on the disinterested Pinocchio: “Woe to boys who refuse to obey their parents and run away from home! They will never be happy in this world, and when they are older they will be very sorry for it” (8). Pinocchio’s obstinate refusal to heed this sensible advice is illustrated in his throwing the hammer at the cricket, killing it. Pinocchio then spends the night freezing and hungry, as his running away from home causes Geppetto to be arrested. This teaches Pinocchio that he should be respectful to his father, as is illustrated when he regretfully reflects on his actions: “He wept and wailed to himself: ‘The Talking Cricket was right. It was wrong of me to disobey Father and to run away from home. If he were here now, I wouldn’t be so hungry! Oh, how horrible it is to be hungry!’” (10).
Pinocchio is respectful and contrite when Geppetto returns and, moved by Pinocchio’s distress, gives Pinocchio the pears and fashions new legs for him; this illustrates that children should be respectful to their parents in order to receive their love and support in return.
Collodi also offers advice on the ways that parents should behave. His view of Ideal Parenthood is illustrated through the development of Geppetto’s character from a bad-tempered individual to a kind father who makes sacrifices to care for Pinocchio. Geppetto’s initial anger is illustrated in his violent fight with Mastro Cherry: “And growing angrier each moment, they went from words to blows, and finally began to scratch and bite and slap each other” (3). Geppetto resorts to physical violence to solve his problems, rather than being calm and reasonable. He initially treats Pinocchio with this same anger and impatience: “‘Stop laughing!’ said Geppetto angrily; but he might as well have spoken to the wall. ‘Stop laughing, I say!’ he roared in a voice of thunder” (5). After Geppetto’s anger and cruelty, Pinocchio runs away from home.
Geppetto initially harshly disciplines Pinocchio’s disobedience when Pinocchio runs away from home: “All he could do was to seize Pinocchio by the back of the neck and take him home. As he was doing so, he shook him two or three times and said to him angrily: ‘We’re going home now. When we get home, then we’ll settle this matter!’” (6). The concern of the citizens of the town, who are worried that the bad-tempered Geppetto will mercilessly beat Pinocchio, further illustrates Geppetto’s reputation as hot-headed and angry.
The next day, when Geppetto returns from his night in jail, a newfound tenderness is evident in Geppetto when he sees Pinocchio’s distress: “Geppetto, though trying to look very stern, felt his eyes fill with tears and his heart soften when he saw Pinocchio so unhappy. He said no more, but taking his tools and two pieces of wood, he set to work diligently” (15). Geppetto’s love and gentleness is further illustrated as he peels and cuts the pears for the hungry and fussy Pinocchio. The work is further characterized as a moral fable in Geppetto’s advice to his son about not being too fussy with his food; Pinocchio later hungrily eats the cores and the skin, which he initially insists he will not have: “‘You see,’ observed Geppetto, ‘that I was right when I told you that one must not be too fussy and too dainty about food. My dear, we never know what life may have in store for us!’” (14).
The duplicity of the fox and the cat, first introduced in Chapter 12, is alluded to in their feigned disabilities: “At the cheerful tinkle of the gold, the Fox unconsciously held out his paw that was supposed to be lame, and the Cat opened wide his two eyes till they looked like live coals, but he closed them again so quickly that Pinocchio did not notice” (24). Dramatic irony occurs as the reader realizes what Pinocchio does not: that the two dishonest characters, who suggest that his gold can be multiplied by taking it to a magical city, are trying to trick Pinocchio in order to steal his five gold coins. The name of the alleged magical city, City of Simple Simons, further alludes to the fact that the pair of thieves are exploiting Pinocchio’s naivete, which makes him gullible and “simple,” rather than being discerning and skeptical of the obviously duplicitous and covetous pair. Like the cricket, the black bird who tries to warn Pinocchio to be suspicious of the pair is a voice of reason and wisdom. Tellingly, the cat kills it, further alluding to his duplicitous nature. Furthermore, the fable-like nature of the story is established in the animal characters; animals are often used in fables to impart important moral lessons. Both cats and foxes are traditionally characterized as wily and immoral characters.
