preview

The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein Essay

Decent Essays
Open Document

The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein The Giving Tree is a modern children literature written by Shel Silverstein, which is also one of his first successful piece of work. It is about an apple tree who always gives and gives and a boy who always takes and takes. This might be another story to read before bed times for the kids but however, it portrays so many things, from deforestation to modern society. Personally, I believe that The Giving Tree portrays the theme of selflessness versus selfishness, like the unconditional love a parent has for his or her child. "I have only leaves and apples. Take my apples, Boy, and sell them in the city. Then you will be happy. And so the boy climbed up the tree and gathered her apples and carried …show more content…

The boy on the other hand is like us, the children who are used to receiving and receiving, so much that we take it for granted, so sometimes, we tend to forget to think about the tree or our parents. "Blessed is the mother who is able to help her child, at whatever age. This truth about parental happiness is surly known by any loving parents who has been compelled to watch impotently while his child is suffering." The example to prove this statement can be seen all through the story. "The forest is my house, but you may cut of my branches and build a house. Then you will be happy. And so the boy cut of her branches and carried them away to build his house. And the tree was happy." On the other hand, the boy still stays inconsiderate and selfish. He never even once mention to the tree how thankful he is or even a simply "thank you". "The love of the tree for the boy or the man is a selfless love, while the love of the boy for the tree is a selfish love. The boy never tries to help the tree (by pruning, feeding it, et cetera), while the entire being of the tree is devoted to helping the boy meet his most recent need, whether trivial or essential." Due to the popularity of the book, many people commented on it and so there are many different ideas, which can be view differently according to the readers' own judgement. " The boy is after all doing what is required of human being to do: he is growing up, going away, making

Get Access