Rabble Blogging

Personally, I think the message of The Giving Tree was supposed to be a negative one.

When I read it as a child I most certainly didn’t think the tree’s situation was ideal or even something I wanted. If anything, it taught me that allowing yourself to be used by someone who is ungrateful and selfish leaves you with nothing and that no matter what you give or how much of yourself you sacrifice you’ll still end up with nothing in return.

I didn’t think it depicted love, either. The boy certainly didn’t give the tree love in return for everything she had given him.

I saw it as a cautionary tale. The message I took away from it was that if you allow yourself to give all of who you are to people who do not care about you, you will not receive love or even gratefulness. In the end they will just sit on you and continue to use you until you have nothing left for them to use or take.