Table of Contents
What is the moral of the story of The Giving Tree?
Not tallying things up is one hard lesson for us needy people to learn, but The Giving Tree teaches it so well. She gives and gives and gives, never expecting anything in return, never asking for her due, never REMINDING the Boy of all she has sacrificed. It’s not martyrdom, it’s just unchecked altruism.
What is the main idea in The Giving Tree?
The Giving Tree considers the nature of altruism and the obligation to give of oneself in a relationship. Once there was a tree who loved a little boy. Every day the boy would come to the tree to eat her apples, swing from her branches, or slide down her trunk… and the tree was happy.
Why is The Giving Tree a banned book?
The Giving Tree was banned from a public library in Colorado in 1988 because it was interpreted as being sexist. Some readers believe that the young boy continually takes from the female tree, without ever giving anything in return.
Why was the tree happy at the end of the story?
In an effort to make the boy happy at each of these stages, the tree gives him parts of herself, which he can transform into material items, such as money (from her apples), a house (from her branches), and a boat (from her trunk). With every stage of giving, “the Tree was happy”.
What does the tree symbolize in The Giving Tree?
The tree would represent the parent and the boy would represent the child. Often times, a parental figure gives so much to their children that they are left with nothing else to give. The selflessness of the parent ends up destroying themselves in the long run.
Why is The Giving Tree so sad?
When we see the aging boy’s loss of his childhood happiness and the tree’s longing to regain it, we encounter the loss intrinsic to life and long for the place where wholeness awaits. We are both the boy and the tree. Against this backdrop the tree’s love gains its heft.
Why was The Giving Tree considered sexist?
The predatory nature in which the boy takes from the woman and how he expects her to cater to his wants and needs without regard to her well-being is a sexist theme of the book, according to many of its readers. This interpretation of the book was influenced by Silverstein’s history with women and literature.
Why is The Giving Tree controversial?
This book has been described as “one of the most divisive books in children’s literature”; the controversy stems from whether the relationship between the main characters (a boy and the eponymous tree) should be interpreted as positive (i.e., the tree gives the boy selfless love) or negative (i.e., the boy and the tree.
Is the tree in The Giving Tree a woman?
In The Giving Tree, the main character is, well, a tree. But Shel Silverstein decides to refer to the tree with feminine pronouns: she, her, hers. And that, dear Shmoopers, stirs up all kinds of issues around gender.
Who was more loving the boy or the tree Why?
Answer – (vi) Who was more loving – the boy or the tree? Why? The tree was indeed more loving. It sacrificed everything to keep the thoughtless boy happy and never complaint.
Is The Giving Tree about capitalism?
Readers cite it as a cautionary tale regarding both the social welfare state and the obscenity that is late-stage capitalism.
What was the gift given by the wish yielding tree?
Answer: The gift was given by the tree when he went to the tree and prayed to give him a pitcher..
Is The Giving Tree a metaphor?
The Giving Tree is about a lifelong friendship between a man and an apple tree. The tree is a metaphor for perfect altruism; the man is a metaphor for perfect selfishness.
Is The Giving Tree satire?
But ‘The Giving Tree’ doesn’t feel like satire. It’s certainly not considered satire by the millions of parents who read it to their children.
