Essay On Shel Silverstein's The Giving Tree

Children’s literature plays a pivotal role in enabling children to appreciate the reality of diversity associated with human existence (Jane Smith). Through interacting with the literature, children can empathize with other people’s tribulations and understand the fact that people share universal needs for love, security and even hope. It is essential, however, for children’s literature to have messages that impact positively on children’s developmental processes. Shel Silverstein’s The Giving Tree tells the story of unconditional love offered by a tree to an individual. The Giving Tree revolves around a boy’s extraordinary dependence on his environment throughout his life. This paper demonstrates that the boy’s overdependence on the tree is …show more content…
The first line of the story suggests that the relationship between the two happened in the past, which signals the fact that something tragic interfered with the two friends’ arrangement. As it turns out, the tree loved the boy unconditionally and proceeded to provide for him with full commitment. Initially, the boy enjoyed playing by climbing and swinging on the tree’s branches. On the other hand, the tree enjoyed the boy’s company so much that it felt sad whenever the boy stayed away from it for too long. The relationship between the two took an intriguing turn when the boy grew older and began seeing the tree for something other than a constant fixture in his outdoor playground. When the boy could no longer engage in childhood plays, the tree offered him her apples so that he could sell them and subsequently meet his financial demands. When the boy wanted to build a house for his family, the tree offered him her branches for him to embark on the construction process. Astonishingly, when the boy wanted to travel and had no boat, the tree selflessly offered him his trunk from which he could curve a boat. The final part of the story shows the tree as an old stump considering the fact that it lost everything it had fro the sake of the boy’s happiness (Silverstein). Whereas the tree gives selflessly, the boy is considerably insensitive and can barely comprehend …show more content…
In fact, children’s interaction with nature has numerous benefits that impact positively on children’s learning processes (Kelly Dowdell). Firstly, the natural environment presents children with new opportunities all the time. This enables children to be considerably more creative and imaginative (Kelly Dowdell). It is, therefore, perplexing to note that a boy’s extreme exploitation of a tree can be designed to be an appreciated act. Asserting that the tree is happy long after it loses its identity seems to send a message that interfering with the environment is not wrong. The boy’s wanton destruction of the environment stems from his lack of commitment in his relationship with the tree. The Giving Tree depicts a situation whereby the boy exploits the environment without considering the consequences of his actions. The boy starts by harvesting fruits and taking them to the market (Silverstein). A sensible boy would provide the tree with adequate nourishment in order for him to harvest the fruits in future and consequently reap the innumerable financial benefits. That way, he would meet his immediate needs without having to destroy the environment, thereby standing the risk of helplessness in the future. Instead, the boy only cares about his immediate needs in a blatant demonstration of irresponsibility, which goes unnoticed by young readers. In the end, the tree has nothing