Illustration Analysis
The topic that I have chosen for my project is self-sacrifice in children’s literature and one of the books that I found displays self-sacrifice extremely well is Shel Silverstein’s The Giving Tree. This book was published by Harper and Row in 1964 and is one of Shel’s most popular children’s books. It features a young boy and a tree which are close friends, and as they grow older they grow apart. However, as the boy grows up he starts to see all the needs for the tree. Silverstein displays strong artistic mediums such as Line, Shape, Character Placement and Movement.
Shel’s book seems to be full of artistic mediums, and one that seems very prominent is line. Line is the artistic medium that can affect the image produced. Line is used to create certain intricate details that can give off the illusion of seriousness or nonchalance. Often times words or images that are written in larger bolder lines have less of a deep meaning when comes to illustration and lines that are thin are representative of more intricate characters and pictures. In Shel’s book we see very thin lines which give the persona that the tree and the boy are very serious, and that they have a very real relationship. The deepness of the relationship between the tree and the boy makes the reader realize the trees feelings and sympathize with it so much more. As the story progresses we see a much simpler artistic depiction of the tree to show that the tree is deteriorating.
Another artistic medium that the author uses is shape, which is crucial in understanding emotions and many other factors in picture books. The biggest thing that we see is the shape of the tree change it moves between a vertical and diagonal position which we know to signify that the tree has emtion and is very dynamic. We also see as the story progresses, the tree is getting smaller and is being withered away because of the boy taking things off of it such as apple, branches, and strength. In the end the tree is left to be a stump for sitting. So, the tree went from tall and large, which symbolizes strength, and ended up as a trunk. The significance of this is because we see that the tree is willing to give up its strength for the love of the boy. In the end the tree has given the boy everything, and now the tree depicted as being very humbled and almost meek.
Shel Silverstein also uses character placement a lot in his literature, especially in The Giving Tree. He has the boy playing around and we know that the boy is playing because Shel appears to draw three boys. We know there is only one boy so the fact that he draws three is probably to symbolize the fact that the boy was playing, or maybe that he was running all over the place. It is possible that Shel also meant to create multiple boys in order to make it seem like time was passing by, which is a strong theme in the book. The Giving Tree is all about time, the boy is changing over time, and also is running out of time to play with the tree. We see the boy getting older and caring less about the tree. What I think Shel is trying to say in this book is that even when it seems like no one cares, giving up your happiness is sometimes the best way to show others happiness. In the book the tree gave up everything it had and even told the boy, “I wish I could give you something…but I have nothing left.” But what was remarkable was that in the end, after the tree had given up everything it still was able to make the boy happy. This is a great example of self-sacrifice, because the tree just wanted to please the boy and through sacrificing itself in different ways it finally was able to.
Finally, we see a large amount of movement in the illustration and even in the text that causes us to believe the tree is a real thing. In the beginning in all the pictures we see the tree moving back and forth which gives us the impression that the tree is playing too, and is happy. As the text progresses the tree starts to move less and less, just as the boy plays with it less and less. This seems to be symbolic of the fact that the tree is losing its own happiness as the boy has no time for it. In the end the tree doesn’t move, but at the end of his life the boy comes back and talks to the tree. The tree doesn’t have anything left, and can’t play, but when the boy suggests that he sit on the tree and rest a little we see in the text that the tree, “Straightened herself up.” This seems to project the idea that the tree is rekindling its happiness now that the boy has made time for her.
In conclusion this book is a fantastic example of sacrificing yourself in order to make the ones you love happy, and in doing so those that you have given everything up for will come back for you. There is also a great moral concept of time, and time management. The boy was unable to manage his time in a way that would allow him to see the tree, and as a result the tree felt unloved, even though it never stopped loving the boy.
The topic that I have chosen for my project is self-sacrifice in children’s literature and one of the books that I found displays self-sacrifice extremely well is Shel Silverstein’s The Giving Tree. This book was published by Harper and Row in 1964 and is one of Shel’s most popular children’s books. It features a young boy and a tree which are close friends, and as they grow older they grow apart. However, as the boy grows up he starts to see all the needs for the tree. Silverstein displays strong artistic mediums such as Line, Shape, Character Placement and Movement.
Shel’s book seems to be full of artistic mediums, and one that seems very prominent is line. Line is the artistic medium that can affect the image produced. Line is used to create certain intricate details that can give off the illusion of seriousness or nonchalance. Often times words or images that are written in larger bolder lines have less of a deep meaning when comes to illustration and lines that are thin are representative of more intricate characters and pictures. In Shel’s book we see very thin lines which give the persona that the tree and the boy are very serious, and that they have a very real relationship. The deepness of the relationship between the tree and the boy makes the reader realize the trees feelings and sympathize with it so much more. As the story progresses we see a much simpler artistic depiction of the tree to show that the tree is deteriorating.
Another artistic medium that the author uses is shape, which is crucial in understanding emotions and many other factors in picture books. The biggest thing that we see is the shape of the tree change it moves between a vertical and diagonal position which we know to signify that the tree has emtion and is very dynamic. We also see as the story progresses, the tree is getting smaller and is being withered away because of the boy taking things off of it such as apple, branches, and strength. In the end the tree is left to be a stump for sitting. So, the tree went from tall and large, which symbolizes strength, and ended up as a trunk. The significance of this is because we see that the tree is willing to give up its strength for the love of the boy. In the end the tree has given the boy everything, and now the tree depicted as being very humbled and almost meek.
Shel Silverstein also uses character placement a lot in his literature, especially in The Giving Tree. He has the boy playing around and we know that the boy is playing because Shel appears to draw three boys. We know there is only one boy so the fact that he draws three is probably to symbolize the fact that the boy was playing, or maybe that he was running all over the place. It is possible that Shel also meant to create multiple boys in order to make it seem like time was passing by, which is a strong theme in the book. The Giving Tree is all about time, the boy is changing over time, and also is running out of time to play with the tree. We see the boy getting older and caring less about the tree. What I think Shel is trying to say in this book is that even when it seems like no one cares, giving up your happiness is sometimes the best way to show others happiness. In the book the tree gave up everything it had and even told the boy, “I wish I could give you something…but I have nothing left.” But what was remarkable was that in the end, after the tree had given up everything it still was able to make the boy happy. This is a great example of self-sacrifice, because the tree just wanted to please the boy and through sacrificing itself in different ways it finally was able to.
Finally, we see a large amount of movement in the illustration and even in the text that causes us to believe the tree is a real thing. In the beginning in all the pictures we see the tree moving back and forth which gives us the impression that the tree is playing too, and is happy. As the text progresses the tree starts to move less and less, just as the boy plays with it less and less. This seems to be symbolic of the fact that the tree is losing its own happiness as the boy has no time for it. In the end the tree doesn’t move, but at the end of his life the boy comes back and talks to the tree. The tree doesn’t have anything left, and can’t play, but when the boy suggests that he sit on the tree and rest a little we see in the text that the tree, “Straightened herself up.” This seems to project the idea that the tree is rekindling its happiness now that the boy has made time for her.
In conclusion this book is a fantastic example of sacrificing yourself in order to make the ones you love happy, and in doing so those that you have given everything up for will come back for you. There is also a great moral concept of time, and time management. The boy was unable to manage his time in a way that would allow him to see the tree, and as a result the tree felt unloved, even though it never stopped loving the boy.