Character Clues

Character Analysis

Direct Characterization

For both the tree and the boy, we get a lot of direct characterization in the early pages of the book. We learn straight from the narrator that the tree loves the boy, the boy loves the tree, and the tree is happy. We can also tell from the illustrations full of smiles (11, 22) and contented hugs (26) that these two are having a grand time.

When the boy starts to grow up, we stop getting direct details about him through the text. While we continue to have the tree's feelings related in this way (with phrases like "the tree was happy" and "the tree was happy…but not really"), we don't get any direct information about the boy's state of mind.

Dialogue

We could analyze both the boy and the tree solely through the words they speak. So let's do that!

The first lines of dialogue appear on page 36, and each time the tree addresses the boy at the beginning of one of his visits, she urges him to come play and be happy (36, 40). It's clear from the way she calls to him each time that she has missed him and is happy to see him. It's also clear that she wants nothing more than for him to be happy.

This is evidenced by the fact that every time the boy asks for something, she finds a way to give it to him in hopes of securing his happiness. "Take my apples" (36), she tells him when he needs to make money; "you may cut off my branches" (41), she says when he needs wood to build a house; and "[c]ut down my trunk and make a boat" (47), she tells him when he wants to sail away. In each instance, she follows up her offer with some version of "and then you will be happy."

From this, it's obvious that the tree is a giver, and a completely selfless one at that. The boy's happiness is her only concern, even if she has some strange ideas about how she can help him achieve it.

The boy, on the other hand, doesn't make offers. He makes demands. "I want some money" (36). "I want a house…I want a wife and I want children" (41). "I want a boat that will take me far away" (46).

There are no "pleases," and there are no "thank yous." The boy is all about the boy, and you know what else his dialogue tells us? That's not working so well for him. In addition to his demands, his other primary use of language is to communicate his discontent.

"I'm too big to climb and play" (36), he tells the tree during his first post-childhood visit. "I'm too busy to climb trees" (41), he tells her next. And eventually his excuses become downright depressing. "I am too old and sad to play" (47), he tells the tree when he comes to ask for a boat.

In the end, the boy does finally say, "I don't need very much now" (54), but given his track record to this point, it's not clear that this is a good thing. Especially since he follows it up with "I am very tired" (54). We'd like to believe that the boy has learned something over the course of his long life, but as much as we learn from his dialogue, that's one thing we can't be sure of.

Physical Appearances

Because this is a picture book, we get our descriptions of physical appearances through the illustrations, and they are very informative.

At the beginning of the book, the tree is lush and lively. She has plenty of leaves and a pleasant curve to her trunk that she uses to reach over and hug the boy or tap him in the middle of a game of hide-and-seek (23). When the boy leaves her for a peer's company, her leafy branches rest crossed in front of her, communicating her feelings of loneliness (34).

And, of course, as the story unfolds, we see her reduced from a verdant tree with abundant fruit to a fruitless (38), limbless (42), trunkless (48) stump (51).

In the end, she perks up a bit again when she realizes she has one last thing to offer the boy—a resting place—and even though she's a stump, she stands a little bit taller (55).

The boy's physical appearance also communicates a great deal about his character. In the beginning, he's a young squirt in short overalls, full of smiles and with a wild head of hair (28). We see him become a brooding youth (30) when he leans up against the tree as a young teen and, later, a healthy-looking boy seeking to make his fortune in the world (37).

From there, we're afraid it's all downhill for the boy. Each time he comes back to see the tree, he has less hair (41), worse posture, and a more sour look on his face (47). Indeed, the last time the boy comes back, as an old man, he is stooped and wrinkled, and just looking at his hands makes our joints sore (52).

But it's the last picture that concerns us most, and here's why. When we look at the boy as an old man, seated on the stump (55), we can't quite make out the expression on his face. His back is curved, his shoulders are a bit hunched, and yet, we almost think we see a little bit of hope in his eyes. Or maybe sadness. But maybe hope. And although there's one dark line on his face that arches downward, behind that line of his cheek, he almost seems to be sporting a mild smile.

We can't be sure, but we think—judging purely from this illustration—that the boy may finally be content. Or, at least, not miserable. What do you think?