I don’t know how I should address Shel Silverstein now. A genius? No, that would be too mundane. Just in thirty pages of words and images, he explained the human condition in a simple yet fulfilling manner. The man is a writer of countless children stories and poems. Personally, he was a familiar name back in my high school days. Due to the difficulty of finding his books back then, his name slipped off my reading list. Last week a dear friend of mine lent me her Silverstein’s poem collection, Falling Up. The book impressed me so much that I scouted the Net for his other works. This was how I found The Giving Tree, a children fairy tale that shall haunt me with some smiles and lots of regrets.
The book is about a long-lasting relationship between a boy and a tree. The tree loves the boy very much, and would gladly provide the boy with what he wants: branches to swing on, shade to sit in, and apples to eat. As the boy grows older he requires more and more of the tree. In the ultimate act of self-sacrifice, the tree lets the boy cut it down, so the boy can build a boat. The boy leaves the tree, now a stump. Many years later, the boy returns as an old man. The tree sadly says the she has nothing left to give. The boy replies he doesn’t need much, now that he is old and lonely. The tree suddenly exclaims, "Good! A tree stump is a great place to do just that! Come boy, sit down and be happy." The boy agrees and the tree is happy at last.
For a children book, The Giving Tree is a bit misleading. Who could guarantee that young readers wouldn’t imitate the boy’s selfishness? After all, the boy is the most recognizable character kids could aspire to. But then, as an adult reader who had his share of bitter and better times, I couldn’t be that narrow-minded. To me, the book simply shows that childhood is a time of relative happiness, compared to the sacrifices one has to make in adulthood.
True, the boy is greedy. To the end of the book, the boy acts as an insatiable entity, who constantly receives and never gives anything back to the tree. But then, the tree doesn’t mind. The tree loves the boy. As long as love is involved, life could not be seen as a matter of good versus evil. Nor could it be seen as one long economic transaction. Love is what makes the tree keep giving freely to the boy, and waiting hopefully for the boy’s return. The tree wants the boy to be happy, that’s why it tries hard to give what the boy needs. It is only sad when it could not give.
Based on the perspective above, I believe this book is about parenthood as much as it is about childhood. Imagine this: the tree is your mom and dad, and the boy is you. Would you dare not to call yourself selfish now? The more you blame the boy, the more you have to fault human existence. The more you blame the tree, the more you have to fault the very idea of parenting.
Yes, The Giving Tree is a sad tale. Yet it is sad in a way that life is tragic. We were children once. We were all insatiable entities, who constantly receive and never give anything back to our parents. As time goes by, we grow old by using others and getting used up. But still, our parents would always be the ones we use up the most. After all, they are our first capital in our worldly existence. Our limitation as humans however should not be regretted or despised. Being incomplete is what makes giving and receiving possible. Should our fathers and mothers count the cost before caring for us, then we would all be doomed.
—A review of Shel Silverstein's The Giving Tree, which is written after watching YI YI (Edward Yang, 2000). Dedicated to my family, which at times looks like breaking up. Together, we survived the ordeal.
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