The Princess And The Tin Box Analysis

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

will choose the poor prince as her husband, but are later misled when she selects one of the wealthy men instead. The author develops the theme from this choice, which is; assumptions are dangerous and can lead to falsely expected conclusions. Irony supports this theme when the princess chooses a prince that provides a beautiful box instead of the prince the readers think is the most unique.
From the beginning of the story, the readers are informed right off the bat that the princess is used to being surrounded with extraordinary belongings.

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

beautiful objects.
When people make assumptions, many times the outcome differs from the expected circumstance. The consequences of assuming include being unprepared for change and being confused about the actual outcome. When the princess chose one of the wealthy men, the readers were not prepared, because they hypothesized that she would choose the poor man with the most abstract present. Assumptions lead to incorrect predictions, so being open to any way life may go is important.