How is Pinocchio representative of italy?

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readerofbooks | College Teacher | (Level 2) Educator Emeritus

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This is a very interesting question. It should go without saying that there will be many differences of opinion. Let me start off with a brief examination of Pinocchio. Pinocchio is a fictional character that was created by Carlo Collodi in 1883 in Italy. Since that time, there have been many spin offs of this very popular children's story. What is most characteristic of Pinocchio is his propensity to lie, exaggerate, and fabricate fantastic stories. As you can tell, it is not a very flattering appellation.

If we apply this idea to Italy, some may say that Italy is like Pinocchio in the corruption of the government. For example, recently Italy has been on the news as a country in financial difficulties due to debt and "creative accounting measures." In addition, many economists say that Italy even "cooked their books"--falsified entries in their financial accounting books--to get into the EU in the first place. Also Silvio Berlusconi, the prime minister of Italy is the poster boy for scandal, sexual escapades, and shady dealings. I suppose in view of these points, some may conclude that Italy is like Pinocchio.