Where It All Goes Down
A Sparsely Wooded Area—or Maybe a Front Lawn?
Uh, yeah. That's a little vague. We know. But that was probably Shel Silverstein's intention.
The Giving Tree could take place anywhere that a tree could grow. And it could take place at pretty much any time in human existence after the creation of overalls, money, and markets for selling goods. Since that's the case, you might wonder, is the setting important? You bet it is.
It's important in its simplicity.
Because the story isn't tied to a specific time or location, it's easier to see this tale of give-and-take (and take, and take, and take) as a universal one. The relationship between the boy and the tree isn't meant to tell the story of one specific relationship. Instead, it tells a universal story of a type of relationship—one in which one party gives while the other party takes and mutual happiness proves elusive.
It could be about the unique bond that exists between a parent and child. It could be about humanity's relationship to nature. It could be about a narcissist and his codependent partner. All of these possibilities have been put forward by various readers and critics, and that's the beauty of Silverstein's simple setting: its lack of specificity allows for nearly endless interpretations. And that's something the philosophical Silverstein was no doubt aiming for.