Comic, fantastic, sometimes surrealistic events and characters are among the distinctive qualities of this high-spirited,
well-crafted story that seeks both to teach and to entertain the reader. No sooner does Geppetto the puppet maker finish work on Pinocchio’s eyes than the wooden boy begins staring at him with a "wicked" look. No sooner is the puppet given a mouth than he sticks out his tongue and derides him with laughter. No sooner has Geppetto carved the puppet’s hands than they grab his wig. Before long, the creature emerges as a full-fledged puppet-gamin, a self-centered, naive, but likable character who runs away from Geppetto for the bigger world, survives one near-disaster after another, then finally decides that there is no place like home. Along the way, Pinocchio learns the nature of the world, discovers its meaning and pattern, and acquires a philosophy of life.
Although some of the ordeals Pinocchio faces seem excessively severe, Collodi presents violence in a nonthreatening way for both dramatic and thematic purposes. In many of the episodes, for example, the puppet’s misfortunes point to his need for correction. He is abducted by assassins, nearly burned alive, hanged into insensibility, robbed and imprisoned, caught in a metal trap, used as a peasant’s watchdog, turned into a donkey that is beaten and nearly drowned, swallowed by a fish, and twice threatened with being cooked and eaten. Collodi reminds the reader that Pinocchio is a puppet who does not experience pain the same way that real people do, and that he is protected from ultimate catastrophe. All the while, he is forced to contend with a nose that grows conspicuously
longer each time he tells a lie.
Pinocchio would never have survived these
adventures without the intervention of his friends. Offering some relief to these nightmarish scenes are two likable characters: the Talking Cricket, who acts as Pinocchio’s conscience, and the Blue-Haired Fairy, his "mama," who rescues Pinocchio on several occasions. The Talking Cricket. warns Pinocchio about the assassins, helps him to realize that he is breaking his father’s heart, and throughout the book serves as the puppet’s reliable counselor. The Fairy patiently forgives Pinocchio and wields her magical powers to help him. When he learns that the Fairy is ill and starving, Pinocchio at last becomes concerned about the well-being of others. This new awareness enables him to save Geppetto from a shark and to work long hours to support him when he is ill. Pinocchio also sacrifices his meager savings to help the Blue-Haired Fairy, who he believes is dying in a hospital. When he wakes up one morning, he is no longer a puppet, but a real boy, living with Geppetto in a happy, contented home. In a corner, with its head to one side, its arms dangling, and its legs crossed and bent, stands the puppet. "How ridiculous I was when I was a puppet!" Pinocchio exclaims. "And how glad I am that I have become a well-behaved little boy!"