The Princess And The Tin Box Analysis

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Lemony Snicket once said, “Assumptions are dangerous things to make, and like all dangerous things to make -- bombs, for instance, or strawberry shortcake -- if you make even the tiniest mistake you can find yourself in terrible trouble.” The Princess and the Tin Box, a short story by James Thurber, ends in an ironic way, leaving the readers surprised by the conclusion. The story is about a truly wealthy princess who must choose her prince based on what gift they deliver to her. The first four princes brought the princess astounding treasures, but the last prince was different. He was a strong and hansom prince, but was poor also. Therefore his present was far inferior compared to the others. The readers are led to thinking that the princess …show more content…

The princess, “was not permitted to have wooden blocks or china dolls or rubber dogs or linen books, because such materials were considered cheap for the daughter of a king,” (Thurber 2). Her possessions confirm that her wealth is very important to her, and nothing inexpensive should ever be owned by her. The fifth prince approached the princess and, “brought her a small tin box filled with mica and feldspar and hornblende which he had picked up along the way,” (Thurber 6). This gift was nothing like the others. It was very unique, and possessed little to no value at all. Even though the present was quite different, the princess, “examined it with great interest and squealed with delight,” (Thurber 9) because she had never seen anything like that before. The princess’s excitement leads the readers to assuming that she will chose this special gift and prince. Later on in the story though, the readers’ predictions are incorrect. Unlike the majority of assumptions, the princess, “smiled and walked up to the table and picked the present she liked the most. It was the platinum-and-sapphire jewel box, the gift from the third prince,” (Thurber 9). This displays irony, because the most obvious, yet unexpected choice was made. The princess, displaying her wealthy personality, favored the beautiful object that could contain even more

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