Preview

Greed In Shel Silverstein's The Giving Tree

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
425 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Greed In Shel Silverstein's The Giving Tree
Some people will stay content in life and give to others, but others will take more than what they need.In the giving tree the author makes the tree caring and happy to give the boy what she has. But the boy wants more so the tree keeps giving him more until it has nothing left.In The Giving Tree, Shel Silverstein uses greed and the gift of giving to explain the tree cares for the boy but he doesn’t care for it.

In the giving tree the author uses the gift of giving to explain the tree cares for the boy. The tree gives to the boy to make him happy which makes the tree happy. one example is when the tree tells the boy, “Take my apples, Boy, and sell them in the city. Then you will have money and you will be happy." Another example is when the

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Ray Bradbury, and Li-Young Lee’s stories, “The Gift”, are both similar and different from each other. Both stories involve a gift, the gift being given by the father, a reason for why the father gives a gift, and how the boy reacts to getting the gift.…

    • 239 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the beginning of The Giver, Louis focuses in on a community where sameness is key and being unique is frowned upon. This community is enclosed and safe, but there is no sense of color, or physical and emotional differences. This shows us how if we want to get rid of jealousy,exclusion,judgement,and disagreement…

    • 409 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Simon, a Christ-like figure in Lord of the Flies, is a significant example in proving that humans are essentially good. For example, Simon cares about the well-being of the other boys: "...he turned to the poor broken thing that sat stinking by his side. The beast was harmless and horrible; and the news must reach the others as soon as possible" (Golding 147). Simon wants the other boys to be aware of the dangers that are actually facing them on the island so the boys do not put themselves or other boys in danger over a made up entity while they are trying to survive on the island. He does not want anyone to be overexerting themselves to try to kill the fictitious beast. Simon shows generosity when he volunteers to hike across the island: "'Someone's got to go across the island and tell Piggy we'll be back after dark.' ...Simon pushed his way to Ralph's elbow. 'I'll go if you like. I don't mind, honestly'" (Golding 117). Simon possesses a helpful nature even faced with the difficult task of surviving on an island with multiple other boys. Perhaps he volunteers to save the other boys from the trouble of this long walk. Simon proves that humans are essentially good by showing generosity and care while the act of the other boys forming friendships also proves humans are good.…

    • 229 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Greed can take over one’s mind and make them do something they never thought of doing. In the novel, Heart Of Darkness by Joseph Conrad is about a seaman named Charles Marlow, who is telling the lawyer, accountant, director of the company, and the unknown narrator on the steam boat about his experiences as an ivory transporter in Congo. Throughout the story, Marlow revealed his interest of learning more information about a man named Kurtz, an agent of ivory-procurement who portray by the people as a God and a genius. Marlow is shocked to see how the Europeans treat the natives of Congo as if they were animals and the corruption within the company. In addition, greed is one of many significant themes that often shown throughout…

    • 536 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    He thought for a moment that if he ate the full meal at lunch, it would probably be refilled (pg47). “How quickly one became greedy!” He thought after making a moral and ethical choice to not take advantage of the kindness of another. When children are faced with temptation and the outcome isn’t negative, the correct decision isn’t always obvious. I believe it was important for Tree-ear to correlate temptation with greed, and to appreciate what we have.…

    • 420 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    1. I think the importance of this story is to show haw good person is Mr. Thompson. Not many people can be so generous or kind a giving person likes him. Mr. Thompson it seems a very sharing person and I think he likes to help people and he had a very good feelings for those who is around him. Gesture that made Mr. Thompson is very plausible and I think it is a rare example for the rich people who do not love nothing else than their money.…

    • 629 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The Giving Tree Summary

    • 153 Words
    • 1 Page

    The boy in "The Giving Tree" by Shel Silversteen does not deserve the trees love. The tree gave everything while the boy gave nothing "so the boy climbed up the tree and gathered the apple. He takes and doesn't give so it's a one sided relationship. He also lied by sayying "I am too big to climb", then he "climbed up the tree and gethered her apples". Since he could climb the tree and only did it for personal gain instead of doing it for the tree it means he only cares about personal profit. She even says "the tree was happy... but not really". The boy ignores her at this pont like he doesn't care about her misery making him a complete narcisist. So in conclusion because of the relationships one sided behavior, the boys love of profit and…

    • 153 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Another good example of giving would be One Hen:How a small loan made a big difference. This book tells the story of a boy named Kojo who had to quit school after his father died. And, with his mother he uses a tiny loan from his village to buy a hen. Little did he know this tiny hen would make a huge difference. Within a year Kojo has a flock of 25 chicken and eventually has the biggest flock in Ghana, then in all of west Africa! Kojo repays the villages generosity by giving other families small loans. This book truly supports the quote “Give and you will receive, your gift will return you in full.” -Luke 6:13.…

    • 118 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    In his real life, Algernon is a reckless socialite and spendthrift. His aunt, Lady Bracknell, frequently comments on his frivolity, and asks if his endeavors are “the best use of his time and money.” Which is a token of generosity on her part, because Algernon has no wealth of his own; by extension of that notion, none of the young aristocrats have acquired wealth by their own means, because they have each received a large inheritance from the older generation. Even Jack Worthing, who is understood to be the poorest of the bunch, has his wealth tied into property via a sprawling manor house in the countryside. To escape from city life, Algernon decides to create a fictitious acquaintance, named Bunbury, whom he imagines to be an insufferable…

    • 302 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The Giving Tree

    • 299 Words
    • 2 Pages

    My all-time favorite book ever since I was a kid would be The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein. This is Silverstein’s most famous work; it is about a little boy and a tree grows old together. Whenever I read this book before, I was always angry at the boy for taking more than he should from the giving tree. The boy never seemed satisfied, despite being given all the needs he asked for until the tree is left with only its stump. Now that I read it, there are many ways that this poem can be interpreted. I believe that it is a metaphor for parenthood: Do not take things for granted and it is unethical to take everything from nature. As I reflect to this little passage, I have learned to be thankful to my parents for all the hard work they do for me and just appreciate all the things, especially the small things before it is too late.…

    • 299 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    True Giving In Buddhism

    • 528 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Giving in most cultures and religions is considered as an obligation of altruism and compassion. Despite its universal values in building a more caring and more humane society, giving is understood and interpreted differently from one culture to another, or from one religion to another. True giving in Buddhism is distinct from others in two main aspects: the things to offer and the attitudes of offering. The first difference is in what people should offer. Buddhism pays more attention to mental sufferings than bodily sufferings, which explains why material gifts ARE necessary but not as valuable as ‘wisdom’ giving.…

    • 528 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Giving Tree Thesis

    • 429 Words
    • 2 Pages

    “I guess that's part of loving someone. You’ll sacrifice everything for them, even when they'll give you nothing in return.” - Lauren Oliver. The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein is a fictional book that is about the relationship between a boy and a tree. In the beginning of the story, the boy and the tree played games all day and bonded. The tree is very happy when she and the boy interact because he brings joy and companionship to her life. As the story continues the boy becomes less and less interested in the tree and more interested in outside life. When the boy needed something he would come back complaining about what he wants and the tree would offer him something, and he would take it without hesitation. Happiness does not result from what we get, but what we give.…

    • 429 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    A Boy and a Tree

    • 576 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The Giving Tree is a story about the relationship between a boy and a tree. When the boy was young he and the tree became really good friends. The tree is sort of like a provider for the boy and always gives him what he needs, such as vines to swing from, shade to sit in, apples to eat, branches to build a house, a trunk to build a boat and a stump to sit on. As the boy got older the tree gave more, as the boy wanted more from her and because the tree loves the boy a lot she gives him everything she can to make him happy.…

    • 576 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Giving Is Beneficial ??

    • 440 Words
    • 2 Pages

    With people who never give out anything, their lives are likely to be boring and incomplete. Other people don’t want to be with them because they don’t receive anything. In fact, there are no people who don’t have anything to give. Even the poorest person in the world have something to give others,…

    • 440 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    We are living in a materialistic world. Everyone is running in a race to supersede the other but the problem is after achieving a lot in his life no one seems content and satisfied. This is because we have forgotten the actual essence of happiness and satisfaction. In spite of expecting and getting things from others if we start to learn giving with generosity, we could bring the actual happiness in our lives.…

    • 290 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays

Related Topics