Mia’s answer to “What is the overall message for this story??” > Likes and Comments
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But was the tree happy? would you be?
It depends on how you interpret the book yourself. ;)
I personally would not be happy, because giving relentlessly is not something that is important to me, and there's a point I often hit where I stop draining myself if I realize I'm spending too much effort on something. But the tree, however, kept giving, because that was what was important to the tree, or perhaps the author is describing how it's too easy to be taken advantage of or spread oneself thin. What are your thoughts?
TJ, The tree was happy when she gave her apples to the boy. She was happy when she gave her branches to the boy. When she gave her trunk to the boy, she was happy ... but not really.
Clearly, making the boy happy brought joy to the tree. Just as clearly, he eventually took enough that the joy dimmed, although I think the tree was also made unhappy by the fact that the boy had used to trunk to go away and that after some extended periods of neglect.
But the tree seemed pleased to have him back at the end and pleased to learn that she could still be of use.
Unconditional love should be reserved for one's children, but I don't think people can be happy in life unless they do something to increase the happiness of those around them.
It's a difficult balance to strike, and I like that this book leads people to think about and discuss the matter.
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TJ
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Sep 17, 2020 07:15AM
But was the tree happy? would you be?
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It depends on how you interpret the book yourself. ;)I personally would not be happy, because giving relentlessly is not something that is important to me, and there's a point I often hit where I stop draining myself if I realize I'm spending too much effort on something. But the tree, however, kept giving, because that was what was important to the tree, or perhaps the author is describing how it's too easy to be taken advantage of or spread oneself thin. What are your thoughts?
TJ, The tree was happy when she gave her apples to the boy. She was happy when she gave her branches to the boy. When she gave her trunk to the boy, she was happy ... but not really.Clearly, making the boy happy brought joy to the tree. Just as clearly, he eventually took enough that the joy dimmed, although I think the tree was also made unhappy by the fact that the boy had used to trunk to go away and that after some extended periods of neglect.
But the tree seemed pleased to have him back at the end and pleased to learn that she could still be of use.
Unconditional love should be reserved for one's children, but I don't think people can be happy in life unless they do something to increase the happiness of those around them.
It's a difficult balance to strike, and I like that this book leads people to think about and discuss the matter.
