The Selfish Giant Analysis

An Analysis on “The Selfish Giant” “The Selfish Giant” by Oscar Wilde is a short story with deep meaning behind it. The story is short in length but does not lack excellence. Wilde’s story starts off innocent as he describes a beautiful, peaceful garden with children playing in it. When you first start to read this short piece it may come across as a child 's bedtime story; however, the meaning and message within the story gets deeper and more complex as the story progresses. Wilde has always had a great writing style that easily engages a reader. His unique writing style was not missing from “The Selfish Giant.” Within the story, Wilde has great plot development, fantastic descriptions of the setting, beautiful character traits and imagery …show more content…
In the beginning of the story while the kids are playing the garden is thriving with life and beauty (**). These descriptions come up at the beginning and end of the story. The colors and life within the garden give off a happy vibe and make the reader feel good inside. The contrast to the early and ending setting comes in the middle. The kids are kicked out and the garden becomes a winter wasteland. The wind is constantly blowing and the air is cold. No flowers grow and the trees never blossom (**). The setting of this section of the story gives off a lonely feeling. These descriptions make me think of someone who has lost all of their family members and is the last one left living. Another word that could be used to describe the setting would be isolationism. Wilde did a fantatstic job describing the setting and showing the contrast within the setting in the …show more content…
In “The selfish Giant,” Wilde’s character, known as the Giant, is the most important. In the story the Giant changes character traits. Wilde used direct characterization of the Giant being selfish and a loner. Wilde wrote “My own garden is my own garden," said the Giant; "any one can understand that, and I will allow nobody to play in it but myself.” Following that dialogue Wilde directly wrote ‘He was a very selfish Giant” (**). Wilde also used indirect characterization for the Giant by implying that the Giant was lonely. During the everlasting winter, the Giant is all alone and couped up inside his home (**). This would make any living creature feel lonely and was a greatly implied by Wilde. Later on in the story a new character trait is shown for the Giant. He is forgiving and loving. He allows all the kids to come back and play in his garden and cares for the kids a great deal (**). Wilde used one more indirect characterization that implies that the Giant is quick tempered. When he sees that the tree has been damaged he instantly gets flaming mad and begins to yell (**). The Giant does not think calmly about the situation and goes straight to being angry. Oscar Wilde’s characterization of the Giant, both directly and indirectly, shows great before, middle and end changes that the Giant