The Green Fisherman

The Green Fisherman (Il Pescatore Verde) is a fictional character who appears in Carlo Collodi's book The Adventures of Pinocchio (Le avventure di Pinocchio). He dwells in a sea cave on the coast of Busy Bee Island (Isola delle Api Industriose) where he lives on a diet seemingly composed entirely of sea life. He is described as "...so ugly, he looked like a sea monster. Instead of hair, he had on his head a dense clump of green grass; green was the skin on his body, green were his eyes, green was his long beard which drooped downards. He looked like a great lizard erected on its hind legs."

According to Giacomo Maria Prati, The Green Fisherman is one example of the story's parallels with classical mythology, stating that the Fisherman is evocative of the cyclops Polyphemus of Homers Odyssey. He also writes that The Fisherman represents murder through ignorance, referring to the fact that he tries to eat Pinocchio, unaware he was not an edible fish.[1]

Role[edit]
Encountered in chapter XXVIII, the Fisherman accidentally captures Pinocchio in his net while fishing. He is surprised that Pinocchio is able to talk, but does not understand when he identifies himself as a "puppet". The Fisherman deduces that Pinocchio is a kind of rare "puppet-fish" and refuses to let Pinocchio escape. When Pinocchio breaks down in despair, the Fisherman decides to fry him. Just as the Fisherman is about to lower Pinocchio into a frying pan, his cave is visited by a mastiff named Alidoro, attracted by the smell. The mastiff, upon recognizing Pinocchio, pounces on the Fisherman and takes the puppet away.

Media portrayals[edit]
The Fisherman has so far only appeared in one film adaptation of Collodi's book. Giuliano Cencis 1972 adaptation Un burattino di nome Pinocchio shows the Fisherman (voiced by Arturo Dominici) almost exactly as he is portrayed in the book.