Summary
“The Giving
Tree” is a story written by Shel Silverstein. The narrator talks about a tree
and a boy who loved each other. The boy was growing up and his way of thinking
changed. He wanted money instead of a friend so, he asked the tree to give him
some and the tree gave him apples. The boy took the apples, sold them to make
money and left.
He came
back again after a very long time and, this time, he wanted to start a family
so, he needed a house. He asked the tree to give him one and the tree gave the
boy its branches to make a house.
The boy
left once more for a long time and he came back after many years. He wanted to
travel away in the sea so, he needed a boat. He asked the tree to give him a
boat and the tree gave him its trunk to make one. The boy left again...
The years
went by and the boy returned to the tree one day. The tree couldn’t give him
anything else to the boy, although it wanted to make the boy happy. But the
tree was now nothing more than a stump. The boy didn’t want anything more as he
was too old and too tired. He only wanted a place to sit and rest. So the tree
said: “Come boy! Come and sit down on my stump, rest and be happy!”. And the
tree was happy...
In my
opinion, the story shows the exploitation of the environment by man. People
always ask for more and more, usually by taking advantage of nature. Until
when? Very soon the water on the planet will run out, as well as oil.
Governments should take that into consideration and change direction. Apart
from that, the story of the tree and the boy could symbolise the friendship
between two people or the relationship between a child and its mother and how
one takes advantage of the other. But, it all depends on each person’s personal
perspective...
Chris Sp.
In my
opinion, the story is about people’s relationships. As I was watching this
story, I felt sad because it brought out a lot of emotions. The story
symbolizes people who care only about themselves and don’t consider other
people’s feelings and needs.
Alex P.
I think
that the story talk about friendships and what true friends are like. The story
made me feel touched and I felt a bit strange because the tree was happy even
when the boy went away from it. I believe that the message is that friends
should stand by each other through good times and bad...
Konstantina H.
In my view,
the story is about family and our parentswho always try to give us everything.
But, children usually don’t stop asking for more so, parents give all they have
until they have nothing more to offer. Therefore, the deeper meaning is to stop
asking for more. Our parents try to do the best they can and provide us with
anything we want until they are no longer with us. The story tries to teach us
how to be happy with the things we already have and be thankful for our
parents. But, nowadays, a lot of young people aren’t happy with that. They want
more material things and forget about the things that really matter.
Dimitra Ts.
This story
is really emotional and I think that it has many symbolisms about life and
nature. First of all, that we don’t respect nature and all the things it
provides us with. Instead, we destroy the environment and our surroundings.
Another symbolism is that people, as they grow older, stop wanting as many
things. They need friendship and love instead of material things. I think that
when you become older, you start thinking that no one really needs your help,
that you are not useful anymore and you see things differently than when you
were younger. The only thing that you want is to rest peacefully.
Fotis X.
I believe
that the deeper meaning of this story has to do with friendship. The way I see
it, the tree symbolises a friend who is always there for you. The boy who grows
up to be a man symbolises all people who, as the time passes and they grow
older, they need different things at different stages of their life and they
ask their closest friends to help them get them but, without doing anything in
return for them. In the end, I think that true friendship is more valuable than
anything that money can buy.
Thanos L.
In my
opinion, the tree symbolises God who gives us everything but people only keep
asking for more and more. They don’t like what they have and, most importantly,
they don’t appreciate what they have, such as their health. The boy symbolises
an ordinary person who isn’t happy with his life.
Kostas S.
In my view,
the story isn’t just about a boy and a tree but it’s really about giving things
to people who really need them. I believe that the tree symbolises a person who
has money and other goods he/she can give to others, whereas the boy symbolises
people who are in need because they don’t have money. The story on the whole is
quite emotional and I felt touched as, the deeper meaning is to share the
things you have with those who need them, in order to make yourself and others
happy.
Nefeli A.
In my
opinion, the boy represents modern children and the tree represents parents. We
always ask them for things and they give us all they have. But, we never give
anything back in return... We just keep on asking and we feel that we never
have enough but, as we get older, we realise that what we did was wrong. Also,
I think that the fact that the tree was happy when giving the boy what he
wanted is the same as what our parents feel; they are happy when we are happy.
