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Shel Silverstein’s “The Giving Tree” written in the 1960’s, is a short illustrated story that is cherished dearly by children and admired by adults (Kimmel 1). The Giving Tree is about the relationship between a loving apple tree and a playful little boy, which represents the relationship between a parent and child; however, the reader is able to decipher a much deeper meaning by looking at the story closely. Moreover, Silverstein uses the characters in “The Giving Tree” to demonstrate the parents’ unconditional love for their children; the lively apple tree portrays how giving a person too much support can hinder them from attaining full independence, and also shows how unconditional love can be damaging both psychologically and physical.
In the beginning, Shel Silverstein develops the plot of the story through a tree, a well-known source of strength and protection (Cousin 2). Silverstein uses personification to give the tree
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Further, the tree gives literally all of her beings to the little boy. Silverstein makes us ponder over the question, was the little boy really worthy of the unconditional love the tree showed him time after time? For the simple fact, there’s nowhere in the story, where little boy even gives the tree a mere “thank you” for all that she had provided for him. Furthermore, it makes the reader wonder would the little boy have found another route, if the tree didn’t kindly assist him with his every need (Cousin 3). Would the little boy have learned the proper skills and hard work that goes into being a man? Or would he have found a way to make money without selling the tree’s apples, build his own home, take care of his own family, and also develop his own contentment and pleasure (Kimmel
Knowles foreshadows the boys’ loss of innocence through the war, and their constant jumps from the tree. While getting ready for the war the boys practice and show off their skills on the tree by the Devon River. These jumps are done for fun yet the boys see them as a routine, something that has to be done. Knowles brings the theme of the loss of innocence in the novel for the first time by portraying Finny as the defender who gets the boys out of trouble by saying they had to jump out of the tree (22). This foreshadows how the innocence of the boys will be banished from themselves and their world. The tree also symbolizes the Forbidden Tree of Knowledge. Just like it is forbidden to eat the fruit, jumping from the tree was not allowed as well. By jumping from the tree the boys symbolically accept their loss of innocence, just like Adam and Eve accepted theirs.
“Don’t judge a book by its cover.” This is a phrase that has been uttered numerous times to children by their parents. This aphorism has been used to not only apply to books but also people. In The Black Walnut Tree by Mary Oliver, the speaker faces a conflict between the literal and figurative meaning of a tree in her yard. In the beginning of the poem, the mother and daughter “debate” selling the tree to “pay off their mortgage.” But with a shift from literal language to figurative language comes a symbolic representation of the tree, one that represents family heritage and their ancestors’ hard work.
Betty Smith’s A Tree Grows in Brooklyn presents the problems of a young girl coming of age, a time when she is faced with new challenges and must overcome obstacles. Throughout the book the protagonist, Francie Nolan discovers herself maturing as she struggles with loneliness, the loss of innocence and a life of poverty in a Brooklyn slum. This theme is evident in (1.) her love for books which she uses as companionship, (2.) her outlook on the world as she matures and finally, (3.) her realization that in order to succeed in life she must obtain an education and work hard to do it.
Anne Frank is a famous author of a book she wrote while she was hiding during World War Two. There was a tree that stood in her neighbor’s garden and she frequently looked at it (Frank 233, 158, 209, 213). The tree gave Anne Frank Hope (Anne Frank Sapling Planted on Capitol Hill). They both shared some time together while a very important and tragic event was going on in the world (Anne Frank Tree). The Chestnut tree was there before Anne Frank went in hiding, during Anne Frank was in hiding, and a couple years after Anne Frank was in hiding (Anne Frank Tree). The tree helped Anne Frank get through the rough times in hiding by providing her with mental hope and strength since she was a normal female teenager (Mental Health & Function). Even though there were terrible events going on in the world, the tree still changed as the seasons came by and grew stronger and bigger every day (Frank 209). Once the Frank family got sent to the concentration camps, the tree did not stop growing and fighting the disease it had (Cohen-Janca 2). The tree kept on fighting its disease while Anne Frank was fighting for her survival and without knowing, the survival of others.
Betty Smith’s novel A Tree Grows In Brooklyn is a tale of poignant family relationships and childhood and also of grim privation. The story revolves around the protagonist of the story, young Francie Nolan. She is an imaginative, endearing 11-year-old girl growing up in 1912, in Brooklyn, New York. The entire story revolves around Francie and the Nolan family, including her brother Neelie, her mother Katie and her father Johnny. An ensemble of high relief characters aids and abets them in their journey through this story of sometimes bleak survival and everlasting hope. As we find out, the struggle for survival is primarily focused against the antagonist of this story, the hard-grinding poverty afflicting Francie, the Nolan’s and Brooklyn itself. The hope in the novel is shown symbolically in the “The “Tree of Heaven””. A symbol used throughout the novel to show hope, perseverance and to highlight other key points.
One might think, based on the cultural importance of individualism in the United States, that a person can lead a successful life without any companions or loved ones. However, in The Bean Trees, author Barbara Kingsolver shows otherwise. Through the development of a flowering plant motif in this novel, the world is shown to be a place where people need others who love and care for them to live a fulfilling life. The motif of flowering plants develops meaning through the author’s continued use. Kingsolver introduces this motif in the chapter “The Miracle of Dog Doo Park” when the wisteria blossoms out of the seemingly hostile environment of the polluted, parched park. The word “miracle”
“The Pain Tree” written by Olive Senior tells the story of a woman who comes back home after many years and begins to think about her childhood in a new light, which changes much of what she thought she knew of her family and childhood. The story shows the main character, Lorraine, revisiting the memories of her family and the woman who had taken care of her as a child, Larissa. Children mainly focus on the happy memories which may be tied to more important topics that they do not understand until they are older. Most children do not pick up on many of the complicated things happening around them. Lorraine can now see the bigger picture of her relationship with Larissa and how large the divides were between Lorraine’s family and Larissa’s
Instructor’s comment: This student’s essay performs the admirable trick of being both intensely personal and intelligently literary. While using children’s literature to reflect on what she lost in growing up, she shows in the grace of her language that she has gained something as well: an intelligent understanding of what in childhood is worth reclaiming. We all should make the effort to find our inner child
In the fictional novel, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, Betty Smith tells the life experiences of one girl growing up in Brooklyn, New York. The main character of the book, Francie, fulfills the pattern of a questing hero. Smith leads the reader through the high points of Francie's life as well as the low. One learns of all the obstacles Francie accomplished and while reading, begins to love and appreciate the girl.
Analysis: This setting shows in detail a location which is directly tied to the author. He remembers the tree in such detail because this was the place were the main conflict in his life took place.
Beloved, a novel by Toni Morrison, highlights the physical and emotional horrors that slaves suffer after their escape from slavery. The symbolism of trees is prominent in this novel as a cultural symbol of life. However, Morrison uses trees to illustrate more than just a representation of life. She uses them to show how in a time of oppression and suffering, one can always mend the pain, escape from it, and eventually begin a new life. The idea that trees symbolize healing, freedom, and life is portrayed by the actions and feelings of the main characters, Sethe, Denver, and Paul D.
The author uses imagery, contrasting diction, tones, and symbols in the poem to show two very different sides of the parent-child relationship. The poem’s theme is that even though parents and teenagers may have their disagreements, there is still an underlying love that binds the family together and helps them bridge their gap that is between them.
In a time where horses slowly disappeared from streets, being replaced by automobiles, and on the impoverished Brooklyn tenement buildings, there resides the Nolan family. Surviving by just a few dollars a week, Katie Rommely Nolan, with an alcoholic husband, struggles to provide for her family. In A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith, Katie’s beautiful hands are damaged by the products she uses to clean building, for just some cents a day. Katie’s life purpose is to obtain land and provide a successful life for her children, Francie and Neeley Nolan. In A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, Katie Nolan struggles to achieve her American Dream of providing her children with a fulfilling and successful life, that is superior to hers, through the means of education.
In “The Tree,” the speaker talks to a tree and express thanks for its “delightful shade” (1). The speaker goes on to talk of the others who benefited from the existence of the tree and gave it something back in return, such as the birds singing, travelers praising it’s welcome shade, and nymphs making crowns from its blooms. The speaker wonders what she can do to repay the shade given her by the tree. She decides to wish something for the tree’s future. She wishes, “To future ages may’st thou stand / Untouch’d by the rash workman’s hand” (19 – 20). Ultimately, she wishes something such as “some bright hearth” (32) be made from the tree at its death.
Furthermore, another form of symbolism and allusion that Plath includes in the novel to emphasize the struggles in which a woman withstands as she grows is the fig tree. Within the story of the fig tree, it is actually a based on the Biblical story of the Garden of Eden where the tree symbolizes conflict between genders. The story details a doomed relationship between a Jewish man and a nun. Interestingly enough, she infers that her relationship with Buddy is also hopeless when she states, “It seemed Buddy and I were like that Jewish man and that nun” (Plath 55). She figures that even though Buddy and her attend the same church, they may as well be following different religions due to their extreme differing perspectives regarding gender roles. In regards to symbolism, the tree implies the decisions Esther must face in her life because she can only pick one fig, yet she wants them