Themes in Literature/Isolation and Community/The Selfish Giant

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Summary
A Giant had a beautiful garden where children loved to play in while the Giant had been abroad for seven years and when he returned, he was upset to find the children playing in his garden, so he built a wall around it to keep them out and put up a sign threatening anyone who entered the garden without Giant’s permission. From then on, the children were forced to play on the dusty, hard road. Because of this selfish act, Spring, Summer, and Autumn stopped being interested in visiting the Giant’s garden and only Winter existed there. As the months passed, the Giant became very puzzled as to why the seasons did not change, but one morning he finally heard a bird singing in the garden. When he looked out the window he saw that the children had sneaked into the garden, causing Spring to come back and the trees and flowers to blossom again. Still, Winter remained in one part of the garden where a little boy was crying because he was unable to reach up and climb a nearby tree. The Giant then understood that his selfishness had caused Spring to avoid his garden and he felt very sorry, resolving to destroy the wall so the children could play in it whenever they want.

But when the Giant went into the garden, the children ran away, afraid of him, except for the little boy who was still crying; so the Giant picked him up gently and helped him up into the tree, which immediately burst into bloom and filled with singing birds. The little boy then kissed the Giant for helping him.

The Giant then tore down the wall and let the children play in the garden as much as they wanted. When the evening came and the children had to go home, the Giant looked for the little boy who had kissed him, but he was nowhere to be found and the other children did not know who he was or where he lived. Many years would pass before the Giant saw the little boy again.

At the end of the story, the Giant was old and it was Winter in his garden again. He looked out of the window and saw a golden tree with silver fruit and white flowers--and under this golden tree is the little boy that he loved best of all the children. Filled with joy, he ran down to meet him but then turned angry because the child had wounds in his hands and feet. The Giant demanded to know who had hurt his friend, but the little boy told him not to be angry because the wounds in his hands and feet represent divine love: he is Christ, and to reward the Giant’s generosity, he has come to take him to God’s garden, which is Paradise.

Analysis
The short story “The Selfish Giant”, is a Christian story Its main message is that selfishness does not pay off, as it can lead to misery. We see in the story that the Giant did not want the children playing in his garden and built a wall enclosing it. He explains himself by saying, "My own garden is my own garden, anyone can understand that, and I will allow nobody to play in it but myself." The garden represents the Giant’s heart. As a result of the Giant’s wall, Spring did not come and Winter, Hail, Snow, and Frost stayed. This is much like how the Giant's heart was cold.

Even though he achieves his goal of being the only one to enjoy the garden, the Giant was unhappy. In the story, we see that the Giant wonders of when Spring will come: “ ‘I cannot understand why the Spring is so late in coming,’ said the Giant, as he sat at the window and looked out at his cold white garden; ‘I hope there will be a change in the weather.’ ” Spring is a beautiful time when everything is pretty and becoming full of life again. Spring is also significant in the story as Easter is in spring, which also is the time of Jesus' resurrection. A time where it is remembered that Jesus Christ dies showing his love for his people and pays for their sins and lives again in three days.

It is only when the children are allowed back into the garden to play that Spring comes back and the Giant himself feels better and just like the weather his heart softens and becomes beautiful again:

"One morning the Giant was lying awake in bed when he heard some lovely music. It sounded so sweet to his ears that he thought it must be the King's musicians passing by. It was really only a little linnet singing outside his window, but it was so long since he had heard a bird sing in his garden that it seemed to him to be the most beautiful music in the world..” “.And the Giant's heart melted as he looked out.'"

This relates to isolation and community as when you are isolated and by yourself, you may not be happy, and if you have something to offer your community you should and you may even be rewarded for such actions.

In the end, the Giant was rewarded for what he has done in changing his ways and becoming charitable and kind to others, behaviors that are highly looked upon in Christianity.

The little boy who was always at the very corner is Christ in disguise:

“ For on the palms of the child's hands were the prints of two nails, and the prints of two nails were on the little feet.” We know Christ was nailed to a cross for his people and died to pay for their sins. And the Giant was redeemed for the way he had been and thus was able to enter Paradise. It is important to recognize this as in the story we know that the Giant was redeemed and the Giant is accepted by Christ and into his “garden” of paradise which we know as heaven. By this, it is also perceived that the Giant has been accepted into the Christian community. In this story, the characters and objects are symbols. For instance, the garden represents the Giant’s heart and putting up the wall the Giant is not allowing anyone in or guarding himself rather and not being kind or genuine, thinking it would be better. But of course, we see it is not the truth and when the walls are broken down allowing children to play representing innocence, sweet, goodwill nature, redemption is, therefore, is given when done. The different weathers were much like people as the nice things like the blossoming of flowers and fruits didn’t happen. Also showing how they did not want to be with the Giant. As the story says, “But the Spring never came, nor the Summer. The Autumn gave golden fruit to every garden, but to the Giant’s garden she gave none. "He is too selfish," she said. We can all relate to this as our own friends may not want to hang around us if we are not kind to them.

Questions To Think About

 * 1) When was the last nice deed you did for someone? What was it and why?
 * 2) Did you think it was nice of the Selfish Giant to keep the children from playing in his garden?
 * 3) How did the Giant try to be nice to the children towards the end of the story?


 * 1) How did the Giant change from the beginning of the story to the end?

Word Scramble!
Complete the fun word scramble below and remember key things from the story! Click to find out the answers!