Even if there weren’t a picture of it above, you’d probably be able to give a pretty good description of the The Giving Tree‘s cover. The book is Shel Silverstein’s enduring classic of children’s literature, and we’re willing to bet you’ve read it.
You know the story:
Boy plays with tree, boy grows up, boy takes from tree, tree gets reduced to stump, tree remains unconditionally happy throughout.
What in the world could there possibly be to reconsider about such a seemingly innocent book, especially one that’s so beloved by so many generations?
Lots, it turns out.
Welcome to the wonderful world of literary criticism! It’s a huge world, with a rich history stretching back to antiquity and no shortage of competing methods and schools of thought.
At its most basic, you might say literary criticism means going beyond the assumption that a book simply is what it is. As the famous literary critic I. A. Richards writes in the preface of his book Principles of Literary Theory, “A book is a machine to think with…”
A book’s author has goals when she writes a book. A book’s reader has his own experiences that he brings to the reading experience. A book never exists in a vacuum. Rather, it exists alongside every other book, just as it exists alongside every book of literary criticism that talks about books that exist alongside other books…
It all gets very complex very quickly. There’s a reason why some of the top universities in the world offer PhD programs in literary criticism and theory. To be sure, literary criticism is about much more than just saying, “I liked this book” or “I didn’t like this book.”
The reception of The Giving Tree is just important and complex enough to have persuaded plenty of writers to come up with some very serious interpretations of the book.
Is it, as one critic writes, “the most divisive book in children’s literature?”1
Does it, as a professor of ethics writes, “hint at a possibility of love somewhat brighter than the actual human experience of it?”2
Is it, as a feminist reading of the book argues, a story that teaches young boys that it’s okay to hurt girls?3
Does it, as a rabbi writes, “remind ourselves of the very different judgments produced by utilitarian and deontological ethical systems?”4
That last one is something else, right?! Basically, this writer means that the tree in The Giving Tree has pure motives in giving more and more to the boy (appearing “deontologically pristine”), yet the tree also “produced a spoiled little snot” (practicing very poor “utilitarian judgment”).
Think about your interpretation of the book. Think about the role it’s played in your life. Question the assumptions you may have had about it. And, while you’re at it, give it another read. It’s gotta be an easier read than whatever you’ve been assigned in English class, right? Hmm, maybe not…
1—Bird, Elizabeth (May 18, 2012). “Top 100 Picture Books #85: The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein”.
2—May, William F. (January 1995). https://www.firstthings.com/article/1995/01/the-giving-tree-a-symposium.
3—Daly, Mary (1990). Gyn/Ecology: the Metaethics of Radical Feminism. Boston: Beacon Press.
4—Gellman, Marc (January 1995). https://www.firstthings.com/article/1995/01/the-giving-tree-a-symposium.
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