Character Analysis
The tree, as the title suggests, is the main character in the book, and—as the title also suggests—she is giving…to a fault. Indeed, she gives to her own detriment. And yet, in the last line of the book, when she's been reduced to a mere stump, we are told that she is happy. Yeah. There's a lot to unpack here.
At the start of the story, it's clear that the tree and the boy have a loving relationship. He comes to visit her every day, plays games with her, and freely gives her his love and appreciation. And the tree? She gives the boy everything she can possibly give him, which makes her happy. Over time, it becomes clear that the boy is more of a taker than anything else, but this doesn't seem to bother the tree. At least, not at first. She's happy to give…and give…and give. Which makes her…what? A saint? A masochist? A fool? It's tough to tell.
One reason she's a difficult character to suss out is that we keep hearing "[a]nd the tree was happy" (29, 39, 45, 50, 56). We have no reason to doubt this statement until the boy cuts off her trunk and leaves her with nothing but her stump. At that point, we finally hear that "the tree was happy…but not really" (50-51). But that doesn't exactly make things any clearer.
That's because the way you view the tree and her motivations will have a lot to do with how you interpret the book as a whole. If you see it as a tender tale of parental love, then the tree becomes a selfless character who displays true generosity with no ulterior motives. If, instead, you see the relationship between the tree and the boy as codependent or abusive, the tree isn't so much a selfless giver as she is a character making unhealthy choices due to a poor sense of self-worth.
The only things we can say for sure about the tree are this: the tree's pronouns are she, her, and hers, and she'd do anything for the boy. Her motives and her personal identity depend upon your reading of the book and, as we say in the "Why Should I Care?" section, are open to interpretation.