The Giving Tree
“Once there was a tree and she loved a little boy” (Silverstein, 1964, p. 1-3). This is the first- line of the very controversial children’s book, The Giving Tree. This story starts with a young boy and a full grown tree. The tree loved the boy and gave everything she had for the boy until all she had left was a stump and the boy was an old man. Yet, in the end, “the tree was happy” or was she? There are many different ways this book could be interpreted and there are many arguments about what the book is trying to convey. Some examples include, our interactions with each other (such as, mother and son or husband and wife), our relationship with God and how sinful we are, the cycle of life with emphasis on death, how our greediness is impacting the earth, and the simple lesson of give and take. The first meaning that could be drawn from The Giving Tree, is drawn from the clarity of gender Silverstein gave the characters. The tree was referred to “her” many times throughout the pages, as well as the boy was referred to as “boy.” From this labeling, the interpretation the reader …show more content…
Another way the story could be viewed from is the friendship between two people and how friends have an obligation to take care one of another. “The Giving Tree is primarily a fable about the imperfect nature of human relations. It speaks of the consequences of when we fail to uphold our duty of care to one another, despite our best—even loving—intentions” (Cousin, 2015). Since the boy failed to uphold his duty, the tree was left as just a stump. In real life, if we only take, the other person will be left with nothing. In some friendships, if one person is always caring and listening to the other, but they do not receive the same care in return, in the end that person may not want to be in the friendship anymore. We have a duty to be there for one
“Once there was a tree and she loved a little boy” (Silverstein, 1964, p. 1-3). This is the first- line of the very controversial children’s book, The Giving Tree. This story starts with a young boy and a full grown tree. The tree loved the boy and gave everything she had for the boy until all she had left was a stump and the boy was an old man. Yet, in the end, “the tree was happy” or was she? There are many different ways this book could be interpreted and there are many arguments about what the book is trying to convey. Some examples include, our interactions with each other (such as, mother and son or husband and wife), our relationship with God and how sinful we are, the cycle of life with emphasis on death, how our greediness is impacting the earth, and the simple lesson of give and take. The first meaning that could be drawn from The Giving Tree, is drawn from the clarity of gender Silverstein gave the characters. The tree was referred to “her” many times throughout the pages, as well as the boy was referred to as “boy.” From this labeling, the interpretation the reader …show more content…
Another way the story could be viewed from is the friendship between two people and how friends have an obligation to take care one of another. “The Giving Tree is primarily a fable about the imperfect nature of human relations. It speaks of the consequences of when we fail to uphold our duty of care to one another, despite our best—even loving—intentions” (Cousin, 2015). Since the boy failed to uphold his duty, the tree was left as just a stump. In real life, if we only take, the other person will be left with nothing. In some friendships, if one person is always caring and listening to the other, but they do not receive the same care in return, in the end that person may not want to be in the friendship anymore. We have a duty to be there for one