History Main / ClutchingHandTrap

A {{Comedy}} trope in which someone reaches their hand into a container to grab something, often but not always food, but their hand gets stuck because of the way that they're gripping it. This trope can come with AnAesop about [[{{Greed}} greediness]] if the character is unable to get their hand out of the container because they're holding too much of it and are refusing to let go, or about thinking rationally with the situation at hand (pun very much intended) if they'd be able to remove their hand with the item simply by holding the item in a different way. Can result from a TemptingCookieJar.

* Invoked in ''Where the Mountain Meets the Moon'', when monkeys refuse to let Minli and Dragon enter a peach grove. Minli boils some rice, then ties a fishnet over the pot of rice and pretends to be asleep. The monkeys reach through the net's holes to take the rice, but they grab so much that they can't pull their hands out. Since the net is too strong for them to tear, and since they're too greedy to let any of the rice go, they are unable to keep Minli and Dragon out of the peach grove.

** [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Boy_And_The_Filberts The Boy and the Filberts]] (attributed to the Greek philosopher Epictetus). A boy reaches into a pitcher of figs and filberts and grabs so many that he can't get his hand out. A passing stranger advises him to release some of them. He does so and succeeds in removing his hand. Epictetus died in A.D. 135, making this {{Older Than Feudalism}}.

Compare HandInTheHole, which this trope is similar in concept to where it is also a form of SchmuckBait, but it differs in that for a clutching hand trap, the victim reaches in on their own whims since they know what's inside and want to get it, whereas HandInTheHole is when the victim is being an idiot and putting their hand inside with no idea of what's in there in the first place.

* In a ''Series/SesameStreet'' episode from the mid-'70s, Oscar has his hand stuck in a jar. Throughout the episode, the adults try many methods of prying his hand out, even by greasing it with lard. Turns out he wanted to look at his rock collection that he kept in the jar. The adults convince him to let go and his hand comes out easily; the adults then pour the rocks into his hand. Immediately after, Luis comes by with an old alarm clock in pieces as a gift to Oscar. Luis puts the pieces in the jar, which Oscar immediately grabs. [[HereWeGoAgain He finds his hand stuck once again as the closing credits begin]].

* Invoke in ''Where the Mountain Meets the Moon'', when monkeys refuse to let Minli and Dragon enter a peach grove. Minli boils some rice, then ties a fishnet over the pot of rice and pretends to be asleep. The monkeys reach through the net's holes to take the rice, but they grab so much that they can't pull their hands out. Since the net is too strong for them to tear, and since they're too greedy to let any of the rice go, they are unable to keep Minli and Dragon out of the peach grove.

* ''Literature/WhereTheRedFernGrows'' has something similar as a way to trap raccoons. You cut a small hole in a hollow log, drive some nails around it pointing down and inward, and place something shiny at the bottom like cut-up pieces of tin can. A raccoon passing by will be attracted, reach in to grab it, and catch its fist on the nails trying to pull it out. The narrator thinks his grandfather is teasing him when he first tells him this method, because all the raccoon would have to do is let go of the tin. But the grandfather assures him that a raccoon will never willingly let go of anything shiny. After the narrator has caught one raccoon like this and can use its skin to train his hunting dogs, his father makes him pull the nails out of all his traps, because if raccoons are that serious about their tin then they don't have a sporting chance.
* In ''Hershel and the Hanukkah Goblins'', Hershel tricks one of the goblins by offering a jar of pickles. The goblin reaches in and grabs as many as it can, but it's so greedy that it doesn't think to let go when it realizes its hand is stuck. Hershel only reveals the trick after finishing his Hanukkah celebrations for the night.
* Used in one of ''Literature/JungleDoctor's'' Monkey Tales, when Toto (a generic African name for a small child) the monkey is trapped this way using a kerosene tin half-filled with stones and dirt so it's too heavy for a monkey to lift, and a layer of peanuts on top with a hole only just big enough for him to insert his hand but too small for him to remove it while holding anything. "It is not the habit of monkeys to let go of peanuts" and so Toto is caught.

* In a ''Series/SesameStreet'' episode from the mid-'0s, Oscar has his hand stuck in a jar. Throughout the episode, the adults try many methods of prying his hand out, even by greasing it with lard. Turns out he wanted to look at his rock collection that he kept in the jar. The adults convince him to let go and his hand comes out easily; the adults then pour the rocks into his hand. Immediately after, Luis comes by with an old alarm clock in pieces as a gift to Oscar. Luis puts the pieces in the jar, which Oscar immediately grabs. [[HereWeGoAgain He finds his hand stuck once again as the closing credits begin]].

* [[DiscussedTrope Discussed]] in the ''Series/ShakaZulu'' when Shaka uses the "catching a monkey" variation as a metaphor for how he believes the English are manipulating his greed and lust for power. Of course, by the time he realizes this, [[DividedWeFall it's already far too late.]]

* [[DiscussedTrope Discussed]] in the ''Shaka Zulu'' TV Series, where Shaka uses the "catching a monkey" variation as a metaphor for how he believes the English are manipulating his greed and lust for power. Of course, by the time he realizes this, [[DividedWeFall it's already far too late.]]

* Taken UpToEleven in ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' when Homer got both of his hands stuck in two different vending machines while trying to get a free can of soda and a candy. They think they have to cut his arms off in order to free him, but then they discover that he's still holding onto the can of soda and candy inside the machines and that his hands weren't even stuck -- he just wouldn't let go of the immovable can/packet.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'' episdoe "Squid's Day Off", Mr. Krabs gets his claw stuck in a sink drain because a dime fell into it, and he couldn't get his claw out unless he let go. However, when [=SpongeBob=] suggested that he simply let go of the dime to get free:

Compare HandInTheHole, which this trope is similar in concept to where it is also a form of SchmuckBait, but it differs in that for a clutching hand trap, the victim reaches in on their own whims since they know what's inside and want to get it, whereas HandInTheHole is when the victim is [[WhatAnIdiot being an idiot]] and putting their hand inside with no idea of what's in there in the first place.

* In ''Series/{{Scrubs}}'' Turk has gotten his hand stuck in an ice dispensing machine (during Carla's labor), apparently this latter also happened to Leonard the [[{{Fridge Horror}} Hook-Handed]] Security Guard. Another time, he got stuck in a candy machine because he wouldn't let go of the candy. When Carla asked why JD wasn't mocking him, he revealed that he also had his hand stuck, in a glass coffee pot [[WhatAnIdiot (because he dropped a penny inside)]].

* Happens for MoodWhiplash on one page of ''Webcomic/SlightlyDamned'' when Kieri is briefly considering the possibility that Buwaro is manipulating her during an argument with her brother who is trying to convince her that Buwaro is evil, but then she either imagines or remembers Buwaro being unable to get his hand out of a jar while holding a pickle in it and begging her for help, which causes her to immediately dismiss the possibility as something Buwaru is too dumb to be capable of.

* AI programmers sometimes mention a program ending up in a "local optimum" where it cannot reach a target state because all available choices would place it in a worse state. For instance, a program navigating a two-dimensional grid ends up behind an obstacle in the direct path to the target position and won't sidestep it, because it's programmed to move towards the target and either movement would just move it away from the target position. (Rather than not moving at all, this can also occur when the program does see a sequence of moves, all of which look good to it at the moment it decides on each, which end up putting it right back at the start to repeat an endless cycle.) A non-computing example is the "[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theseus_and_the_Minotaur Theseus and the Minotaur]]" logic maze, created in 1990.

* Happened to ComicStrip/{{Garfield}} in [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2002/06/21 this]] strip, but he subverts it by breaking the cookie jar on Jon's head, instead of just simply letting go of the cookie that he wanted.

** Garfield gets his hand caught in an olive jar in [[https://garfield.com/comic/1978/08/02 this]] early strip, which was recycled into a gag in the very first Garfield animation, a nameless short from 1980 that was only shown in the special ''Happy Birthday, Garfield''.

** Not a cookie jar, but Jon got both of his hands stuck in pickle jars (as did his date) in [[https://garfield.com/comic/1997/11/30 this strip.]]

* In ''Film/StrangersOnATrain'', Bruno, a remorseless murderer, gets his arm stuck in a drainage hole by the sidewalk. This is played for suspense, as it helps buy time for Guy to finish his scheduled tennis match ([[spoiler:Bruno arrives at the tennis match anyway]]), though it does have Alfred Hitchcock's trademark dark humor. Subverted, as Bruno is able to easily pull out his hand clutching the lighter from the tight grid where he struggled to slide his forearm through just moments ago.

** Not a cookie jar, but Jon got both of his hands stuck in pickle jars (as did his date) in [[https://garfield.com/comic/1997/11/30 this]] strip.

* Happened to ComicStrip/{{Garfield}} in [[https://garfield.com/comic/2002/06/21 this]] strip, but he subverts it by breaking the cookie jar on Jon's head, instead of just simply letting go of the cookie that he wanted.

A {{Comedy}} trope in which someone reaches their hand into a container to grab something, often but not always food, but their hand gets stuck because of the way that they're gripping it. This trope can come with AnAesop about [[{{Greed}} greediness]] if the character is unable to get their hand out of the container because they're holding too much of it and are refusing to let go. Can result from a TemptingCookieJar.

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]

[[folder:Fanworks]]
* ''Fanfic/SisterFloriana'': [[https://www.wattpad.com/942997233-sister-floriana-the-vase The Vase]] shows the titular character getting her hand stuck in a flowerpot, [[ItMakesSenseInContext trying to test if the pots can be smashed with a hammer without hurting the duck inside.]] One of the girls tries sticking her own hand in to try and prove she's just being a crybaby, and [[ShmuckBait immediately gets her hand stuck too.]] They're eventually discovered by a priest who kindly offers them some lubricant, but not before they realize they're late for hymn practice, and have to attend it with the vases still on their arms.

[[folder:Film - Animated]]
* ''WesternAnimation/TheThiefAndTheCobbler'': At one point the Thief sees a bottle filled with jewels. Unfortunately, the jewels are too big for him to get past the opening. He won't let go of the diamond, even when the palace guards have him surrounded.

[[folder:Film - Live Action]]

* Played with in ''Film/DiamondsAreForever''. A {{Mook}}, frisking James Bond, reaches inside his jacket to go for the gun...and receives [[{{Fingore}} a nasty surprise]], courtesy Q-Branch.

-->'''Clouseau''': Is this vase valuable?\\
'''Larocque''': It is a worthless imitation.\\
'''Clouseau''': Good. ''[smashes vase against a nearby desk, causing it to fall apart]''\\
'''Larocque''': But that desk was...priceless...

--> '''Taxi driver''': You should have tipped the jar upside down, you stupid bleeder.

--> '''[[Creator/WillFerrell "Alex Trebek"]]''': Just let go of the pickle.
--> '''Creator/TomHanks''': ...b-but I want a pickle.

* ''Series/FortBoyard'': If the teams want to sacrifice a player to gain an extra clue, the player has to put their hand into a tiger's mouth, which then ends up manacled to the tiger.

[[folder:Newspaper Comics]]
* Happened to ComicStrip/{{Garfield}} in [[https://garfield.com/comic/2002/06/21 this]] strip, but he subverts it by breaking the cookie jar on Jon's head, instead of just simply letting go of the cookie that he wanted.
** Not a cookie jar, but Jon got both of his hands stuck in pickle jars (as did his date) in [[https://garfield.com/comic/1997/11/30 this]] strip.
** Garfield gets his hand caught in an olive jar in [[https://garfield.com/comic/1978/08/02 this]] early strip, which was recycled into a gag in the very first Garfield animation, a nameless short from 1980 that was only shown in the special ''Happy Birthday, Garfield''.
* The comic strip ''Overboard'' had a strip in which Captain Henry Crow patiently explained to one of his dimwitted crew that if he'd only let go of the cookies, he could get his hand out of the cookie jar. Night falls and the crewman still has the jar stuck on his hand.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Oral Tradition]]

* In a ''Series/SesameStreet'' episode from the mid-70s, Oscar has his hand stuck in a jar. Throughout the episode, the adults try many methods of prying his hand out, even by greasing it with lard. Turns out he wanted to look at his rock collection that he kept in the jar. The adults convince him to let go and his hand comes out easily; the adults then pour the rocks into his hand. Immediately after, Luis comes by with an old alarm clock in pieces as a gift to Oscar. Luis puts the pieces in the jar, which Oscar immediately grabs. [[HereWeGoAgain He finds his hand stuck once again as the closing credits begin]].

[[folder:Webcomics]]

* Combined with an ironic cut in ''Webcomic/SluggyFreelance'': Lord Horribus and Reakk of the Dimension Of Pain discuss their plan to capture Torg, and mention how clever and resourceful Torg is to have evaded them every time prior. Cut to Riff and Torg setting up Halloween, with Torg having his hand stuck in a jar of candy corn.

* Taken UpToEleven in ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' when Homer got both of his hands stuck in two different vending machines while trying to get a free can of soda and a candy. They think they have to cut his arms off in order to free him, but then they discover that he's still holding onto the can of soda and candy inside the machines and that his hands weren't even stuck - he just wouldn't let go of the immovable can/packet.
-->'''Fireman:''' Homer, this... this is never easy to say... I'm gonna have to cut your arms off.
-->'''Homer:''' They'll grow back, right?
-->'''Fireman:''' [[BlatantLies Oh... yeah.]]
-->'''Homer:''' Whew!
-->'''Second Fireman:''' (''interrupts first fireman as he is lifting massive buzzsaw to Homer's shoulder'') Homer, are you just holding on to the can?
-->'''Homer:''' [[ComicallyMissingThePoint Your point being?]]

-->'''Mr. Krabs''': [[MoneyFetish I can think of ten good reasons to never let go of a dime, boy.]]

[[/folder]]