Neil Gaiman, in his story, “Don’t Ask Jack,” uses many rhetorical devices in order to create a creepy tone that causes suspicion and ambiguity for the readers. One of the prominent devices employed by the author is repetition. By repeating the phrase, “The children did not play with it,” Gaiman is able to spark the readers’ curiosity, each paragraph having a specific purpose, eventually building up the story to take a sharp shift near the end. The repetition employed by Gaiman is used effectively both rhetorically and thematically. While merely appearing to compare the perceptions of adults and children, Gaiman employs strong techniques in order to argue the detriment that is curiosity. 

The author does not yet say, “The children did not play with it,” until the third paragraph. Not only does the line create the first instance of suspense within the paragraph, the placement of the line in the paper is crucial to the story’s meaning as a whole because it is the first simple shift that spark’s the reader’s curiosity and suspicion. The entire text before this line regards “the Jack- in- the- box” as being an, “undoubtedly attractive,” “valuable,” and, “remarkable box.” This creates the idea that the box is special. The use of the line, “The children did not play with it,” makes readers wonder about the box. Furthermore, the tone of the third paragraph greatly contrasts with the first two. While the tones in the first two paragraphs are nostalgic, the third paragraph has tones of darkness and eeriness. This is created through a sudden contradiction in the perception of the box. Suddenly, the Jack- in- the- Box is being described using negative, fearful words such as, “buried, conjuring, crusted, and broken.” This paragraph is also the first time that, “the Jack- in- the- box,” is personified as, “Jack’s box,” creating more eeriness and mystery.

The fourth paragraph of the story builds up even more in the direction of mystery and ambiguity.  Whereas the first three paragraphs do little to describe the Jack- in- the- box, (besides the looks of it) the fourth paragraph creates even more mystery and creepy tones by allowing the reader an understanding of the box from the children. “The children do not play with it,” in the fourth paragraph serves to reinforce the creepiness that has begun to be associated with Jack. This is expanded through the paragraph’s setting, a “gray, rainy day,” with, “howling wind.” Typically, dull colors, along with imagery of rain, produce images of a stormy, cloudy day, which attaches negative connotations, which, when coupled with “howling wind,” often invoke pictures of scary movies and haunted mansions. Children not only personify Jack, but they describe him as an, “evil wizard,” a, “criminal,” holding, “Pandora’s box.” From the fourth paragraph, the reader discovers that the children are afraid of the Jack- in- the- box, making the box more mysterious.

The third instance the author uses the line is particularly significant for many reasons. First, in the other instances, the author says, “The children did not play with it,” whereas in the third instance the author says, “The children do not play with the Jack- in- the- Box.” In a sense this brings the intensity of the story down right before the dramatic shift it takes in the next paragraph. By frequently referring to the Jack- in- the- Box as an “it,” it makes the box more creepy because the word “it” is ambiguous, “it” could be anything, an entity, a monster, or a simple children’s toy. Suddenly referring to the box as what it is, a mere box, relaxes the reader just enough to make the shift that much more powerful. The author also includes the entire line of the Jack- in- the- Box to make the next paragraph much more pronounced by stating his full title, his name not only taking up more space in the sentence, but also creating just enough of a subtle change to allow the reader’s mind to dwell on the importance of the toy. Nearly immediately after the author states that the children do not play with the Jack- in- the- Box, the reader discovers that the children have all played with the toy, which turns out to be a detrimental action. Such a drastic contradiction between the children not knowing and then suddenly knowing speak heavily on the effects of curiosity. With this contradiction, Gaiman shows how curiosity and the loss of innocence are extremely dangerous. After the repeated line in paragraph five, bad things happen to all of the children; One goes to war, another goes crazy, and the others refuse to visit the house. 

The first five paragraphs of the story all build up to and add to the dramatic tone shift taken in paragraph six, all tied together and intensified by the line, “The children did not play with it.” The line is used in the same place in each paragraph used, the beginning, in order to make the lines stand out, build suspense, as well as tie each paragraph together. Along with the line being significant for moving the story, it also has a significant underlying meaning. The story has an overlying theme of curiosity. “The children did not play with it,” signifies how the children are safe because they are still curious. However, after the children play with the Jack, the story becomes dark and creepy, signifying how the children’s curiosity ultimately became their downfall. The repetition employed by Gaiman is used effectively both rhetorically and thematically to show how ultimately, curiosity killed the children. 
