The Giving Tree
Silverstein, Shel. The Giving Tree. Illustrated by Shel Silverstein. Harper & Row, 1964. 64 pages.
As the title suggests, the focus of Silverstein’s story is a generous tree who repeatedly sacrifices pieces of herself to a reliant boy. At first, the boy simply swings on her branches, gathers her apples, and rests in the shade that she provides. However, as time goes on, the boy begins to take parts of the tree that are crucial to her being such as her leaves, branches, and eventually her trunk. Because the boy’s dependency, the tree is merely a stump at the end of the story.
Silverstein, who also illustrated the book, chose not to embellished the black and white drawings. Instead, the pictures’ simplicity brings the reader’s attention to the tree’s motion as she extends her arm-like branches to the boy and even embraces him in a hug. These pictures contribute to audience’s perception the tree’s selflessness and devotion to the boy’s ultimate success.
After surrendering so many parts of herself to the boy, is the tree actually a tree at the end of the story? Philosophers can argue for both yes and no. Either way, the boy’s destructive tendencies clearly impacted the tree’s well-being and sense of self. This is an significant realization for the book’s young readers who likely notice this unhealthy relationship. Silverstein constantly describes how the boy’s actions are impacting the tree’s happiness, and he even uses the same phrasing. For example, the sentence, “And the tree was happy” is repeated five times following the boy’s actions.
“And the tree was happy … but not really.”
Because the tree’s emotions are directly impacted by the boy’s behavior, this opens the door for young readers to question what is appropriate when conducting oneself in a relationship, romantic or otherwise.