The Giving Tree

In response to Mr. O'Connor's blog post on the American Studies blog, I have found messages in a book read to me when I was younger, The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein. These messages are secret because many children read the book for entertainment, and do not think deeply about it. The plot of the book is a relationship between a boy and a tree that can talk. The tree gives the boy everything he needs, acting like a parent. The boy as a child takes apples from the tree to eat, and branches for shade and to swing on. As the boy grows older he needs more and more, and eventually cuts the tree down to build a home. Then as an old man he comes back to the stump of the tree. He now wants a place to rest, and the tree tells him to sit on its stump, he does and the tree is happy.

After rereading it the main lesson I got out of the book is to be selfless: the more you give the happier you are. The tree keeps on giving and only becomes happier each time. Even when the tree has nothing left, it is still happy. This is trying to teach children to help others and to not worry about having things and they will be happy. Personally, I think this is a good message to be teaching our children. With all the advertisements and other media telling them to buy as much as they can, this is a way to fight it.

The book also shows the supposedly average life of an American. The boy is careless as a child, and is given what he wants. Then as an adult he becomes more stressed and needs to take care of bigger things. Then as an old man he is tired and just wants to sit down.
Although this is a picture book targeted mainly at children, it has many deeper messages. When I was learning to read, I was also learning how to live my life.