The Giving Tree
Shel Silverstein (1964)
“Sixty-four pages. No chapters. One of the most argued-over books in American children's literature — a story so simple it splits readers into opposite camps.”
Characters in The Giving Tree
by Shel Silverstein · 1964 · 2 characters analyzed
Cast: The Tree, The Boy.
Character Analysis
The tree is female, the boy is male, and Silverstein never comments on this. She loves the boy completely, gives everything she has across a lifetime, and says she is happy. Whether this is a portrait of pure love or a portrait of what love does to the person who loves without limit is the question the book refuses to answer. She is the only character with consistent emotional interiority — we are told her feelings at every stage. The boy's feelings are withheld entirely.
Short sentences, direct address, no demands, no conditions. 'Take my apples. Take my branches. Take my trunk.'