
A toy in a child’s eyes is something that’s fun and playable. A parent purchases a toy to entertain the child. Reading “Don’t Ask Jack “allows the reader to think of toys from a different prospective. This toy had no value or interest to the children. They actually feared the toy more than they found it fun. The parents see the colorfully wooden toy as an attractive collectables item. A toy may be fun and playful to one person but may put fear in the eyes of others. In this story the children view of what was supposed to be a toy was a mystery.  What lied in the box was unknown.

In “Don’t Ask Jack” a very unique, remarkable, carved and painted box have been guarding the nursery for decades. The story stated that “nobody knew where the toy had come from, which great-grandparent or distant aunt had owned it before it was given to the nursery (71).” By reading the text you can tell that the toy hasn’t left the nursery since it was brought there. This is one of the reasons why the children feared Jack. Jack at this moment was not a toy that mom and dad brought home, it was a toy that just appeared. Jack doesn’t look like a regular toy in their eyes because it is rusted and shut. A normal toy is shiny, new, bright, and colorful. In the child eyes, Jack was left up to their imagination because all they seen was a rusted box. “Unfortunately, was rusted shut, and the key had been lost, so the Jack could not be release from his box (71).” What lied in the box was a mystery to the children. 

The parents saw it more as an attractive collectable item based off the description. They said the box was, “carved and painted gold and red. Was undoubtedly attractive and, or so grown-ups maintained, quite valuable – perhaps even an antique (71).” In the parents eyes it was not a toy to be feared. We can even say that they didn’t see Jack as a toy. He was a valuable item that has been in the family for decades. The parents can also view Jack differently because they grew up with him when he was fully functional. The toy to the parents probably had lots of meaning and fun experiences. The parents might have held on to the rusted toy to give their kids an idea of the kind of toys they played with when they were younger. Based off the story their kids were used to playing with dolls, toy trains, clown and paper stars. So viewing the box of Jack might be foreign to the kids. 

The children didn’t find Jack as an antique toy to have fun and play with. They may have never saw a Jack in the box before so they barely acknowledge the toy at all. The toy was old and rusted so this would prevent the kids for even touching it at all. For example, in the text it says, “the children did not play with it. It sat at the bottom of the old wooden toy box (71).” Jack was just left lonely at the bottom of the old wooden box and untouched and not seen for most cases. According to the text, Jack was “buried beneath dolls and trains, clowns and paper stars and old conjuring tricks, and crippled marionettes with their strings irrevocably tangled, with dressing-up clothes (here the tatters of a long-ago wedding dress, there a black silk hat, crusted with ago and time) and costume jewelry, broken hoops and tops and hobbyhorses. Under them all was Jack’s box (71).” When they dig through the box they would see Jack box and start to come up with creative ideas of what was in the box. For instance, one of them claimed “Jack was an evil wizard placed in the box as punishment for crimes too awful to describe (72).” One of the girls also said that “Jack was a Pandora’s box and had been place in the box as a guardian to prevent the bad thing inside it from coming out (72).” So this proves that the kids have never came encounter with a Jack in the box toy. Not having knowledge as a kid of what is inside a toy would make you wonder and fear what’s really going on inside of the box.

Throughout the reading you recognize patterns the author has use in word choice. When expressing the feeling of the parents the author tend to use appealing words to show how appealing the box was to them. For example, in the text it express that the box was undoubtedly attractive. The description of the box tells me that the parents adore the appearance of the box regardless of the rust. The story also mention that the parents saw the box as remarkable. This prove the relationship between the box and the parents. Unlike the parents, the children views toward the box was totally opposite. Base off words used in the text, you can tell that the children disliked like the box in every way possible. For example, they mention that Jack would spring up deliberately and intently. They felt that Jack would spring up slow on purpose and the creepy smile and strange music into it get closer to them. The author also mentioned that one of the brothers was sent to the madhouse for trying to burn the house down. I feel that his pass with Jack had apart in his actions. The story also mention that Jack is always waiting on their return saying. “he is waiting for the children. He can wait forever (73).” This insert proves that the children dislike Jack and found him very creepy.

A toy can mean one thing to one person but another thing to another. For the simple fact that the author shares different point of views from the children to the parents. Looking deeper into the story I found that the children absolutely hated Jack. On the other hand, the parents find him undoubtedly attractive and remarkable these words for used to support my clam. You can infer that a toy may be fun and playful to one person but may put fear in the eyes of others. 
