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My first read of "The Giving Tree" was at 30, and my first reaction wasn't any particular interpretation but a feeling of sadness. I've felt like both the boy and the tree in a relationship, but if I had to pin down what I found sad about the story, it is not so much the tree's self-sacrifice in the name of love as the fact that the sacrifices do not even result in the human becoming happy - the futility of offering love to someone who is not satisfied in themselves. In fact the only times when the boy is not hurting the tree and the tree seems to be doing the boy some good are when the boy is very young and when he has grown very old. Both these times he only asks simple things of the tree that will not hurt it. For me it's a story of a guy who starts life satisfied with the simple, graduates to wanting more than his fair share and being willing to hurt someone he loves to try to get it, and needs to spend his whole life to relearn to be satisfied with the simple, but by this time the damage to himself and the one who loves him is somewhat done; the relationship can never be like it was at the start, but it is all the old man and the tree have left. Not exactly uplifting, but it's written in language simple enough for a very young person to read and be saddened by, which maximizes the chance of the message sinking in. A relationship can be like this; it doesn't have to be.

Sounds interesting.

I agree with you. I have read that story to my 6 year old son and he didn't understand the man actions. He thought the tree was generous to a fault and so destroyed itself in the process. This story is about a distorted relationship and my kid understood that.

My first read of "The Giving Tree" was at 30

-- 15 Dec 2013, 06:31 --

My first read of "The Giving Tree" was at 30

gali wrote:I agree with you. I have read that story to my 6 year old son and he didn't understand the man actions. He thought the tree was generous to a fault and so destroyed itself in the process. This story is about a distorted relationship and my kid understood that.

I think you chose it for him at the right age - I hope my son understands it too when he is old enough for me to read it to him.

This is one of my moms favorite books but I always thought it was kind of sad.

anjolyn wrote:This is one of my moms favorite books but I always thought it was kind of sad.

is one of my favorite books and I think it is sad. my mum wouldn't have liked it though - she hated sad books

I always thought that the book was sad.
The tree gives everything to the boy but the boy abuses the relationship. And at the end of the book when the boy sits on the tree stump - he still has not learned his lesson. I think the book shows greed.

sromem wrote:I always thought that the book was sad.
The tree gives everything to the boy but the boy abuses the relationship. And at the end of the book when the boy sits on the tree stump - he still has not learned his lesson. I think the book shows greed.

I agree it's about greed but I think the boy as an old man has learned his lesson, although it's too late to do much about it and he still talks in terms of what he wants

I received this book as a gift when I was 9 or 10. It was from my "prayer parent" at my cousin's church. I still have it. I remember that the book always made me feel lonely.

ellsbethwhimsy wrote:I received this book as a gift when I was 9 or 10. It was from my "prayer parent" at my cousin's church. I still have it. I remember that the book always made me feel lonely.

what is a prayer parent? is it like a God parent? someone once told me they think the tree's love is like a parent's love, so maybe not everyone sees it as a sad book.

From what I remember, one Sunday the pastor had all of the kids stand at the front of the church (it was a small church, so there weren't that many of us). He asked the congregation for volunteers to be prayer parents. A prayer parent chose a specific kid and committed to pray for that child, not just once, but as they grow up. At least, that's what my very fuzzy memory tells me

My prayer parent happened to be a teacher, and when my birthday rolled around a few weeks later, she sent me The Giving Tree. She added a little note at the front, and from what I recall, she too likened the tree's love to a parent's love. And then she likened a parent's love to God's love.

It's one of my favorite gifts, even though I haven't had any contact with the giver in ages.

All of Shel Siverstein's writing is perfect. I think however it's better appreciated by pre-teens and up to adults. "The Giving Tree" is like "Love You Forever"...the cycle of life, sad but true.

ellsbethwhimsy wrote:From what I remember, one Sunday the pastor had all of the kids stand at the front of the church (it was a small church, so there weren't that many of us). He asked the congregation for volunteers to be prayer parents. A prayer parent chose a specific kid and committed to pray for that child, not just once, but as they grow up. At least, that's what my very fuzzy memory tells me

My prayer parent happened to be a teacher, and when my birthday rolled around a few weeks later, she sent me The Giving Tree. She added a little note at the front, and from what I recall, she too likened the tree's love to a parent's love. And then she likened a parent's love to God's love.

It's one of my favorite gifts, even though I haven't had any contact with the giver in ages.

Ah prayer parent is a nice idea and perhaps fairly original since my googling it didn't really find anything. I was never big on the idea that love = self sacrifice but now that I am a parent I think it's sometimes true

-- 01 Jan 2014, 16:40 --

Loveabull wrote:All of Shel Siverstein's writing is perfect. I think however it's better appreciated by pre-teens and up to adults. "The Giving Tree" is like "Love You Forever"...the cycle of life, sad but true.

the words are simple but the ideas are not.

I remember reading this as a young girl and always crying but never knowing why it was so sad. This was definitely and interesting interpretation of the meaning behind the book.