19. Polite-like: Since we learn soon enough that the ogre's wife is not opposed to broiling young men for her husband's meals, we have to wonder why she is so kind and helpful to Jack. The most reasonable answer in the story's context is that Jack is charming and polite, winning her good graces.

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　　 20. Ogre: In folklore, ogres are giants given to eating human flesh.

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　　 21. She bundled Jack into the oven: Unlike the oven in Hansel and Gretel, the oven is a place of safety for Jack. The irony is that Jack will be broiled in the very oven he hides in if he is caught by the giant.

　　 In his analysis of Hansel and Gretel, Hans Dieckmann's Jungian analysis interprets the oven as a womb symbol or symbol of birth and transformation (Dieckmann 1986). Considering Jack's transformation from child care receiver to adult caregiver in this story, Dieckmann's analysis could also apply to this tale.

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　　 22. Fee-fi-fo-fum, I smell the blood of an Englishman, Be he alive, or be he dead, I'll have his bones to grind my bread: I prefer the last line in Tabart's version of the giant's rhyme:

　　 'Fe, fa, fi-fo-fum,

　　 I smell the breath of an Englishman.

　　 Let him be alive or let him be dead,

　　 I'll grind his bones to make my bread.'

　　 The ogre's heightened sense of smell provides suspense and horror to the story. It also marks him more as an animal, an ogre, and not human.

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　　 23. The scraps of that little boy you liked so much for yesterday's dinner: In this version, this is the closest justification we have for Jack's abuse of the giant. The giant eats humans and thus needs to be destroyed.

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　　 24. Bags of gold: Across variants, most of the items Jack steals from the giant are associated with gold. A bag of gold, the hen that lays golden eggs, and the golden harp are all associated with gold in this story and the most popular items described.

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　　 25. Took one of the bags of gold under his arm: Some versions of the story, such as Tabart's version, make Jack a righteous trickster character by justifying his thievery from the giant. Jack learns that the giant murdered his father and stole his treasures, so Jack is only reclaiming what is rightfully his. "This castle was once your father's, and must again be yours," explains a fairy to Jack. However, many versions of the story give Jack no other justification than his own poverty and that the giant wants to eat him.

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　　 26. Hen that lays the golden eggs: Even if they don't lay golden eggs, egg-laying hens have always been valuable commodities, especially before breeding increased the output of hens.

　　 The gold laying hen is similar to other stories in which animals create gold. In Donkeyskin, the king's donkey defecates gold pieces. In the story of , a donkey spits out gold pieces.

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　　 27. Jack Robinson: Jacobs has fun by referencing another Jack in folklore, this time the phrase, "Faster than you can say Jack Robinson!" The phrase dates to at least 1778 since it appears that year in Fanny Burney's novel, Evelina. The origins of the phrase are obscure and still under debate today (Wilton Wordorigins.org).

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　　 28. Jack was not content: Knowing the storytelling and folkloric rule of three, we know as readers and listeners that Jack must visit the castle one last time with different results from his last two visits.

　　 Maria Tatar writes: "Jack has been seen as a capitalist risk taker who has the kind of entrepreneurial energy required in the new economies developing in the British Empire. His expropriation of the 'uncivilized' giant has been read as an allegory of colonialist enterprises" (Tatar 2002, 138).

　　 The number and/or pattern of three often appears in fairy tales to provide rhythm and suspense. The pattern adds drama and suspense while making the story easy to remember and follow. The third event often signals a change and/or ending for the listener/reader. A third time also disallows coincidence such as two repetitive events would suggest.

　　 The reasons and theories behind three's popularity are numerous and diverse. The number has been considered powerful across history in different cultures and religions, but not all of them. Christians have the Trinity, the Chinese have the Great Triad (man, heaven, earth), and the Buddhists have the Triple Jewel (Buddha, Dharma, Sanga). The Greeks had the Three Fates. Pythagoras considered three to be the perfect number because it represented everything: the beginning, middle, and end. Some cultures have different powerful numbers, often favoring seven, four and twelve.

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　　 29. The copper: Acopper is a vessel, usually a large boiler, made of copper.

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　　 30. Golden harp: The harp is one of the oldest string instruments in the world. While modern harps are over five feet tall, early versions of the instrument were much smaller and could conceivably be tucked under Jack's arm for a quick escape (Philip 1997, 111).

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　　 31. Jack had a start and dodged him a bit and knew where he was going: Jacobs includes several explanations for Jack's ability to elude the giant who is larger and can run faster than Jack. While we do not have the mystery of the magic beans solved in Jacobs' version, he provides more rationale for the smaller, possibly illogical events which are not connected to magic.

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　　 32. Ogre fell down and broke his crown, and the beanstalk came toppling after: Jacobs uses a humorous reference to another Jack, this time the Jack in the Jack and Jill nursery rhyme, to gloss over the ogre's death:

　　 Jack and Jill went up the hill,

　　 To fetch a pail of water;

　　 Jack fell down

　　 And broke his crown,

　　 And Jill came tumbling after.

　　 Jack's defeat of the giant is reminiscent of the Old Testament story, David and Goliath. In that story, the boy David slays Goliath, a giant, with a rock from his sling shot.

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　　 33. He married a great princess: Jacobs includes a fairy tale princess bride with his ending of the tale. Most versions do not include a marriage for Jack unless he has rescued a princess or servant girl from the giant's castle. Tabart's version does not mention a wedding. Many versions simply state that Jack and his mother live happily together for many more years.

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　　 34. They lived happy ever after: And so Jack and his mother--and in this version Jack's bride--life happily ever after with a traditional romantic fairy tale ending.

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