The Talking Cricket is a fictional character that appears in the 1883 Italian book The Adventures of Pinocchio (Le avventure di Pinocchio) by Carlo Collodi.

Role

The Talking Cricket, who has lived in Geppetto's house for over a century, makes his first appearance in chapter IV. Pinocchio's mischief has landed his maker Geppetto in prison for the night, and the Talking Cricket insists that Pinocchio must either attend school or work to function properly in the world. When Pinocchio refuses to listen, the Cricket states, "You are a puppet and what's worse is that you have a head of wood", whereupon Pinocchio throws a mallet at the cricket, which kills him. In chapter XIII, the Talking Cricket reappears as a ghost to Pinocchio, telling him to return home rather than keep an appointment with the Fox and the Cat (Il Gatto e la Volpe). Pinocchio refuses and in chapter XIV, he is subsequently injured. The Talking Cricket's ghost reappears in chapter XVI, where he and his colleagues the Crow and the Owl tend to Pinocchio's injuries. While the Crow and the Owl argue over if Pinocchio is dead or alive, the Talking Cricket states that Pinocchio is fine and disobeyed his father. The Talking Cricket makes his final appearance in chapter XXXVI, who has been resurrected and living in a house given to him by the Fairy with Turquoise Hair, where he allows Pinocchio and the ailing Geppetto to stay while Geppetto regains his health.

Folklore

In Florence, Italy, which was the birth place of Mr.Carlo Collodi, the author, there is a traditional festival every May. It is called festa del grillo, the festival of the cricket. Crickets are considered to be good luck in Florence, as well as many other parts of Europe and even throughout the world. Many traditional folk stories regarding the "lucky" crickets hold that crickets live for hundreds of years. Charles Dickens wrote a novella, inspired by this folklore, with The Cricket on the Hearth (1846). It is a novella which depicts the ideology behind the tradition of the lucky cricket, who is perpetually happy and emanates happiness wherever it goes.

Media portrayals