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Theme
The theme of the two tales is if a person is brave and courage, they will amount to greatness. In both tales, Jack has enough courage and bravery to face the giant he encounters and defeats them in the process. Bravery is used throughout the story because Jack continues to climb the beanstalk to get gold for his family despite a giant living there in "Jack and the Beanstalk". In "Jack the Giant-Killer," he faces the giant despite the odds of him losing.He does not give up with just one giant but faces many more thought his journey. In addition, another theme is to make plans before you do something. In both tales, Jack does not have a plan on how he is going to defect the giant. In "Jack and the Beanstalk," Jack keeps going up the beanstalk even though he did not have a plan on how to escape if he got cough. In "Jack the Giant-Killer," Jack takes equipment (pickaxe, armor, shovel, etc) up the mountain but does not have a plan on how he is going to kill the giant. "Jack took a horn, a shovel, a pickaxe, his armor, and a dark lantern, and one winter's evening he went to the mount." In both tales, Jack defectes the giants by his wit rather than advanced planning. |
Stages of a Hero's Journey
"Jack the Giant-Killer"Departure: Jack desires to kill the giant that is terrorizing the kingdom of Cornwall and decides to go on a hunt to kill it. Initiation: the threshold Jack crosses is the climb of St.Michael mountain to kill the giant. The Roads of Trials: Jack kills many giants and steals their treasures while saving many people. "He made a strict search through all the rooms, and in one of them found three ladies tied up by the hair of their heads, and almost starved to death." The Innermost cave: The trial jack faces is the constant giants killer through a three day long time period. Killing the giants changes Jack's identity in the kingdom. Return and Reintegration with Society: Jack becomes known as the 'giant-killer' across the land and marries a duke's daughter and lives in a large estate where he and his lady live happily. | "Jack and the Beanstalk"Departure: Jack's mother tells Jack to take the cow to the market to be sold however he gets magic beans in exchange for it. This is when Jack's journey beings. Initiation: The threshold Jack crosses is when he starts to climb the beanstalk and wonders upon the land in the sky. The Roads of Trials: Jack starts to steal the giants treasures by the help of the giants wife. The Innermost cave: By climbing the beanstalk, Jack steals the giant's treasure to provide for his family. He only stole because he already caused misfortune by selling the cow for magic beans. He wants his mother happiness by not living in poverty. Return and Reintegration with Society: Jack returns to his mother with the gold he stole from the giant and they live happily. |
Message and Moral Lesson
The message of "Jack the Giant-Killer" is to believe in yourself just as Jack did. He believed in himself when facing the giants that he kills and he is rewarded. He never let a struggle in is quest stop him, he continues to believe he could accomplish anything. The message of "Jack and the Beanstalk" is to fix the mistakes that has been made. Jack fails at getting gold for his mother, but he does not give up. He resorts to stealing from a giant to please his mother and fix the mistake he made. The moral of both stories is to be brave and courageous. Jack faces the giant even though he knows the giant has the ability to kill him. He is very courageous and brave in both tales by facing the giant despite the odds. |