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Sacrifice And Love In Shel Silverstein's The Giving Tree

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In your life, there is one person… you may know them, you may not, but there is someone out there in this world that would do anything for you. They are happy when you're happy, they are sad when you're sad, and that says a lot about a person who cares more about others than themselves. In this poem, the caring, kind, and non-self absorbed character is not a person, it is actually a tree. “The Giving Tree” by Shel Silverstein pursues the topic/theme of sacrifice and love, by showing how the tree gave so much to the boy as he grew up, to make sure he was happy… because if the boy is happy, then the tree is happy. The giving tree is a parent figure towards the boy. He needed money, so the tree gave him apples to sell. He needed a house, so he cut off the trees branches to build one. He wanted a boat, so he cut …show more content…

Everyone should feel lucky about what they have, and the boy in the poem The Giving Tree, did not understand the amazing thing he had… the tree. The tree would play with him, and the tree was there for him, but the boy took every amazing thing the tree had for granted. Some quotes from the poem that explain this topic well are… “Come, boy, come and climb up my trunk and swing from my branches and eat apples and play in my shade and be “happy” “I am too big to climb and play said the boy.” “I want to buy things and have fun. I want some money. Can you give me money? ”The boy didn’t think once about what the tree wanted, he just thought of himself. Throughout the story… the one thing the tree wanted was to have the boy climb up her trunk, swing from her branches, eat apples, play in her shade, and be happy. But as the tree gives all it has to the boy… she never really gets what she wants. Being greedy is not a good thing in life, and I feel that this poem helps people understand it a lot

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