Choosing books to read to my son at bedtime is a task that I take seriously. No kidding!! I don't buy a lot of books but we have a wonderful library system in our area which I utilise to the full extent. I ask friends for recommendations, religiously note down the names of books/authors suggested by schoolteachers and then scour the library to find them. If I can't find them, I make use of the "hold" system, wherein even if the book is not carried by my local library, if any other library within our county has it, I can "order" it or place it on "hold" till it becomes available to me. Anyway, to come to the point, I want each book that I read at bedtime to be satisfying to both me and my son. So, it shouldn't have too many words, preferably be funny........both criteria decided by my son, and it should be sweet and should teach him something, just some tiny little pearl of wisdom that he can carry to bed with him.
So imagine my surprise when I read him
Jack and the Beanstalk and found it impossible to appreciate, considering that it is somewhat of a 'Classic'!
I'm sure most of you know the story but here's the gist:
There's this boy Jack whose family is very poor and who gets some magic beans from a stranger. He plants the seeds in his yard and soon an enormous beanstalk grows out of the seeds. It is so huge that it extends up to the sky.
One day Jack climbs up the beanstalk all the way to the top and finds that a giant lives there with his wife. Jack is let in by the wife who's fearful of her giant of a husband, but she still gives him something to eat and hides him so that the wicked (supposedly) giant cannot see him. Jack sees that the giant has a hen who lays golden eggs. He promptly steals the hen and climbs down the beanstalk to his home where, thanks to the golden eggs,they're rich and now they all "live happily ever after". However, Jack climbs the beanstalk one more time, the giant's wife once more lets him in, and this time he steals the giant's golden harp! When he tries to run back home, the giant gives chase and starts to climb down the beanstalk after Jack. So Jack races down and gets an axe and cuts down the beanstalk...and the giant comes crashing down to his death.... And now Jack finally lives "happily ever after".....Is it just me or did anyone else notice that this story is just the opposite of what we should be teaching our kids?
The giant's wife seems to be a kind woman, who lets the boy in, feeds him, gives him shelter; What does Jack do in return? He steals from her husband!
Not to be content with riches, the greedy boy once again goes to the giant's house, once again takes advantage of his wife's hospitality, and steals
another precious item from the giant! And when the giant, rightfully, tries to retrieve it, Jack KILLS him!!
So explain to me what was the giant's fault in all this? And how is Jack the "hero" in this story when in reality he is the perpetrator of all the bad things that happened in this story?
Maybe there's some part of this story that justifies Jack's actions and I missed that...or there's some other version that clarifies the picture. But as far as I know, I have no idea how this ridiculous story came to be known as a children's' classic!
