I
didn’t know what to expect when my colleague shoved the book in my hand.
“You
must read it. And tell me what you think about it!” she said.
To
be honest, I wasn’t expecting anything at all.
I
looked at the book on my hand. It was a children’s book. “The Giving Tree” it
read. It was her daughter’s book.
I
flipped through the pages, it was an illustrated children’s book at that.
“It
won’t take me more than 5 minutes” I mentally made up.
Little
did I know how surprised and moved I was about to become.
Okay,
before I get to that, I will pry my brain to remember the children’s book with
lessons. Most usually do. They have good messages or a moral lesson as we used
to call it. There are many popular ones out there. Some are about life: the
story of the hare and tortoise over the top of my head; some about the
environment: Dr. Seuss’s the Lorax which was very cleverly written. So you see
what I mean; they could be children’s books but with hard hit lesson that we
should all know. I was about to discover something similar in the giving tree.
The
message or the metaphor used is more mature and emotional. The book is about a
boy and a tree. The tree loves the boy dearly and the boy visits the tree
regularly. The tree provides him shade on harsh sunny days, branches to climb
and have fun. Needless to say, the boy has endless fun when he is with the
tree.
As
the boy grows up, he needs money and asks the tree money. The tree does not
have money but suggests that the boy take the apples from the tree and sell
them in the market which would get him money.
As
more time goes, the boy visits the tree less and less only tending to come to
the tree when he needs something. The man that the boy has become needs wood to
build his house. He visits the tree and says that he wants to build a house.
The tree suggests the boy to cut the branches from the tree and build a house
for his family.
The
boy visits after massive gaps but every time the tree is more than happy to see
the boy and welcomes him with open arms. The boy, now a middle aged man comes
to visit the tree after long because is older now and wants to go away. For
that he will need a boat. The tree happily confides to provide its trunk for
the boat because it cannot provide much now. Now only a stump is left of the
tree.
The
man, now as an elderly, comes back and sits on the stump reminiscing his days.
Do
you see the allegory here? I’m sure you do. The tree is a metaphor for parents
who will do anything for their children. I have to be honest here, I was not
expecting this out of a children’s book. I mean sure other books have messages
and metaphors as well, but this hit in a whole other way. The giving tree gives
a beautiful insight of the harsh reality of the world where most children are
lost in their own world when they grow up. They do not give time to their
parents, only coming to visit when they see something of their own benefit. I’m
not saying this is true for everyone, but there are some people out there who
really do so.
Think
about it, give time to your parents; make them feel appreciated. While we grow
up, we forget that they are also growing older. Gone days never come back, make
sure you don’t regret. Do stuff together while you can, say what you’ve been
meaning to when you can. There is nothing bigger than family in this world.
Thank
you Priya didi for telling me to read this book. I will forever be grateful to
you.
I
am going to attach a link to the pdf and video of the book so you can get a
look at it yourself.
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