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  • Writer's pictureRina M. Steen

The Giving Tree: A Parable for Learned Helplessness


The Giving Tree: A Parable for Learned Helplessness


One of Shel Silverstein's best-known works and considerably the most successful children's book since its publication in 1964, The Giving Tree is a story for all ages. The picture book follows a little boy and an apple tree that develop a friendship with one another and how their give and take relationship evolves throughout the boy's life. While The Giving Tree has sold over 10 million copies since its initial publication and consistently ranked as one of the best children's books of all time, there is also much debate regarding the story's themes (Debczak). As a whole, the themes present in The Giving Tree are incredibly ambiguous and dependent on the audience. Silverstein's novel has been used in a religious capacity to promote the interpreted theme of unconditional love; parents have utilised the story as the love between a parent and child; it has even been construed as a relationship between Mother Nature and humanity. But the theme this analysis will be focusing on is the learned helplessness displayed in Silverstein's story, presented through the characters of the boy and the tree.


Reading The Giving Tree as a parable, or a "very short narrative about human beings presented so as to stress the tacit analogy, or parallel, with a general thesis or lesson that the narrator is trying to bring home to his audience," can provide insight into the overarching theme of helplessness present in the story (Abrams and Harpham). Helplessness is personified in the boy's character, who constantly asks the tree for things as he grows up—first apples, then branches, and eventually her trunk. However, by consistently requesting things from the tree, the boy's helplessness becomes a learned behaviour, and he grows to expect the tree's help. For instance, as the boy grows up, he shows no initiative to better his life and instead goes to the tree for assistance, of which she indulges in his requests. According to a Symposium of articles regarding The Giving Tree, contributing author Meilaender suggests that "[the tree's] self-giving is unqualified. Why shouldn't [the boy] greedily return [to the tree] to get what he can in the service of his desires?" (Meilaender). In this, Meilaender argues that while the boy is learning how to be helpless, the tree also enables this behaviour and thus begs the question: is the tree, who has done nothing but love the boy, doing him a disservice?


The tree is portrayed as a motherly figure that adores the boy as he grows up. In the same Symposium as Meilaender's article, Gellman writes that "the entire being of the tree is devoted to helping the boy meet his most recent need, whether trivial or essential" (Gellman). However, because of her love for him, is the tree blinded by the helplessness the boy has adopted? Meilaender proposes that "such a love does not lead to growth," but rather "diminishes both tree and boy" (Meilaender). The boy learns helplessness because the tree grants him every wish, but in doing so, she also proves herself to be helpless—while the boy is unable to act without the tree's help, she too is unable to help herself from being taken advantage of. The tree loves the boy too much to deny him his desires, but in doing so, she eradicates herself in the process. While the tree is helpless to stop herself from becoming a stump, the boy doesn't stop that happening either—he continuously makes selfish requests of the tree. And though the tree perpetuates the cycle, it raises the argument: is self-sacrifice a form of helplessness? Given the book's name, The Giving Tree, is the tree really "giving," and therefore sacrificing herself, to the boy? Or is she so devoted to him that she overlooks his helplessness?


In the end, both the tree and the boy are left unsatisfied—the former is a literal stump of who she once was while the latter is a dejected old man. By identifying and reading Silverstein's book as a parable for the purpose of this analysis, this idea of self-sacrificing and helplessness can also be applied to societal behaviours today: more or less, everything is available at the touch of a button, such as food delivery, ride-share services, even educations. But, like the boy's needs, immediacy is prioritised, and much of the human connection is sacrificed to meet this demand. Despite The Giving Tree's 1964 publication, a parabolic reading proves this story is none the more valuable or relevant as it is now.


Happy Reading!





Works Cited:

“Parable.” A Glossary of Literary Terms, by Meyer H. Abrams and Geoffrey Galt Harpham,

Thomson Wadsworth, 2012.

Debczak, Michele. “7 Surprising Facts About The Giving Tree.” Mental Floss, 11 Jan. 2019,

https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/570385/the-giving-tree-shel-silverstein-book facts#:~:text=The%20Giving%20Tree%20was%20a%20surprise%20success.&text=Today%2C%20nearly%2055%20years%20after,than%2010%20million%20copies%20worldwide.

Gellman, Marc. “The Giving Tree: A Symposium: Various.” First Things, 1 Jan. 1995,

https://www.firstthings.com/article/1995/01/the-giving-tree-a-symposium.

Meilaender, Gilbert. “The Giving Tree: A Symposium: Various.” First Things, 1 Jan. 1995,

https://www.firstthings.com/article/1995/01/the-giving-tree-a-symposium.

Silverstein, Shel. The Giving Tree. Harper and Row, 1964.

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