Jack
protagonist · human
Sells a cow for five beans, climbs the result, and goes back twice more than he needed to.
What they are like
- Kind
- 7/10
- Brave
- 10/10
- Clever
- 4/10
- Honest
- 6/10
- Curious
- 10/10
- Patient
- 1/10
How we meet them
Being given one instruction twice, agreeing to it, and losing the cow within half a mile.
Personality
Brave in the specific way that means he does the frightening thing before he has finished thinking about it. Not clever. Not careful. Extremely hard to stop.
What they want
First hunger, then gold, then the harp, and the last one he cannot really account for.
How they change
Gets away with it three times, understands afterwards that he should have stopped at one, and is never quite comfortable about any of it.
How they speak
In as few words as possible. He repeats instructions back and then does not follow them, which is the whole shape of him.
How the story treats them
The story never calls him a hero. His mother's verdict at the end is that being uncomfortable about it is the first sensible thing that has ever happened to him.
One surprising thing
Jack does not outwit the giant once. He hides, waits, and takes things while the giant is asleep. The clever part is entirely the giant's wife.
If they were real today
He would be the one who has already jumped in before anyone has checked how deep it is.
Things they say
- “A good price.”
- “I haven't eaten since yesterday.”
- “MOTHER. THE AXE.”
Key moments
He handed over the rope
An old man on a gate asks how many beans make five, and Jack swaps the family's last cow for the answer without finishing the thought.
Climbing before she woke
He wakes because the room is dark, sees a beanstalk filling the garden, and is climbing it before his mother is even awake.
I haven't eaten since yesterday
Told that the giant eats boys, his answer is not to run but to mention that he is hungry, which is what gets him through the door.
“I haven't eaten since yesterday.”
He climbed it again
Roof mended, cow bought, eating properly for the first time in two years, and he sits in the garden looking up. Nothing forces the second climb.
Who they know
The Giant's Wifefriend
She is not fooled once, and she helps him three times anyway.
Jack's Motherfamily
She gives one instruction twice and he loses the cow within half a mile.
The Old Manmentor
He tells Jack the exact truth and it still sounds like a swindle.
Characters like Jack
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