Little Jack Horner

An elusive Jack – Has he been sent to the corner, or is he hiding there?

Some historical interpretations of Little Jack Horner portray him as a sneaky man who found himself with a pie in which were baked deeds to valuable estates in England, and then stole one of the deeds from within it. This illustration seems to best support the theory of Jack committing pie larceny. Jack does not seem to be banished to the corner as he looks to be in other illustrations. Here Jack is almost hidden among crowded room’s furniture. The lines of the picture (visible in the very busy carpet, the leaves of the plant, the lines of the wall paneling, and the edges of the cupboard) lead not to him, but to a dark spot of shadow directly above his head. The only distinguishing coloring in his figure is that of his dark green sweater, but the contrast serves not to make him stand out, but rather to further hide him in the shadow of the corner. Jack also is not facing away from the viewer, further suggesting that he has not been sent to the corner, but is hiding there instead; indeed, his hiding spot in this illustration would be given away only by his exclamation of “What a good boy am I!” at the end of his rhyme, after he discovers the plum beneath the crust of his pie.