I remembered today that I used to own The Giving Tree. It's another Shel Silverstein, but instead of a collection of poems, it's a story. I used to read it every time I went to Grandma's house. One year, shortly before I moved away from Kentucky, my uncle Steve gave me my very own copy.
Even when I was a child, I knew the book was about motherhood.
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I never realized it was about motherhood, per se, I just always took it as selfless giving, which ANYONE can do; motherhood emplies only females, but all this is only MY outlook on the book.
I love that book, too. I need to read it again. :)
Shel Silverstein never said what the book was "about", as far as I know. I suppose it could be simply about altruism.
However, the most obvious form of altruism in the world is motherhood*...and the details of the story, that the tree keeps giving and giving, and is happy to give, but is happiest when the Boy/Man is near her, seem to fit the mother/child relationship best of all.
At least to me!
If you think about it, parenthood by its very nature is a one-sided relationship. You don't ever give back to your parents everything they've given to you--rather, it's your job to give those things to your children. And thus the human race is able to continue.
But you wouldn't want any of your other relationships--romantic, friendship, professional--to be as one-sided as that.
* I say "motherhood" instead of "parenthood" here simply because traditionally, in our culture, the mother has been the nurturer. However, I won't say it's out of the realm of possibility for a man to fill that role.
If it was about fatherhood, the tree would have taken one of its branches to switch the boy with.
Ha ha, hilarious A.J.! ROFLOL!!!!
Heather,
Yeah, I always start sniffling when I read that book to my girls. "You Are My I Love You" is a real killer, check it out sometime. Beautiful. Can't finish it due to full on crying, while my daughters look at me quizzically.
I don't think that the parent/child relationship should be as one sided as we make it in our culture though.... and I take Silverstein's book as a reminder not to do so.
A.J.'s right.
Yeah, that's how I read it too :)
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