The premise of the book is how a boy and a tree have a forever lasting relationship, but soon the boy grows up and begins to need things from the tree. Eventually he uses all that the tree can give him, her apples, her branches, her trunk, until she is nothing but a stump. Defeated and sad was the tree until one day the boy came again, now an old man, looking for a quiet, resting place. Again the tree was able to provide for the boy; giving both comfort and joy to both the tree and old …show more content…
I previously posed a question asking why trust is so easily broken, but so difficult to build, but in the story of The Giving Tree the answer seems so simple: forgiveness. Growing up in a predominately Christian world, one would think that forgiveness would be easy as it is so heavily stressed in religious teachings. Forgiveness, however, is a lot easier said than done. Do people forgive to save their own soul, or to save the one seeking forgiveness? Is it true forgiveness if you are not doing so with a pure heart and for all of the right reasons? If one wants to rebuild a relationship based on trust, then one must fully commit to forgiving the