Depiction of family in The Giving Tree (Blog #7)

The Giving Tree has always made me sad, but it's an amazing children's story. The tree in the story is an overt metaphor for a parent. The boy, the only person in the story, gets everything he needs from the tree. When he was young, he played with the tree and spent much time with it. As he grows up, his needs change, and he only returns to material things, like the branches of a house. The book portrays the child as a bit of a spoiled brat. At least, that is how I interpreted it as a child. I was committed to being better than the boy, and the book made me cautious of being inappreciative. Looking back, that was definitely the purpose of the book. It genuinely made me a better person. As I get older, I'm starting to see that "brat" or "spoiled" may be the wrong words to describe the boy. Now, I feel like "taker" is more accurate. A central point of parenthood is raising your children to be independent and not need you anymore. He still returned when he needed material things, but for the most part, he grew distant and no longer needed the tree. In that sense, the tree was a "good" parent, as subjective as that is. The story still makes me sad, especially as I go through college. Having so much independence and feeling more like an adult feels nice, but I know I should be more appreciative. It's not that I'm not grateful, but I know I need to show it and say it more. 

Comments

  1. I was also always saddened by the story of the giving tree. I couldn't believe that the boy would, as I saw it, hurt the tree so badly and always come back for more. It reminded me of another parent/child relationship book about a tree called The Acorn Inside the Oak Tree or something like that. Oh my gosh. Why are tree books so sad?? I don't know if I should recommend you read it but it's very similar, as the mother oak encourages her child to start a life of its own. Literally I cry.

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