The Selfish Giant Oscar Wilde

 

The Selfish Giant

                        Oscar Wilde

the Giant’s garden.

It was a large lovely garden, with soft green grass. Here and there over the grass stood

beautiful flowers like stars, and there were twelve peach-trees that in the spring-time

broke out into delicate blossoms of pink and pearl, and in the autumn bore rich fruit.

The birds sat on the trees and sang so sweetly that the children used to stop their games

in order to listen to them. ‘How happy we are here!’ they cried to each other.

One day the Giant came back. He had been to visit his friend the Cornish ogre, and had

stayed with him for seven years. After the seven years were over he had said all that

he had to say, for his conversation was limited, and he determined to return to his own

castle. When he arrived he saw the children playing in the garden.

‘What are you doing here?’ he cried in a very gruff voice, and the children ran away.

‘My own garden is my own garden,’ said the Giant; ‘any one can understand that, and

I will allow nobody to play in it but myself.’ So he built a high wall all round it, and

put up a notice-board.

TRESPASSERS

WILL BE

PROSECUTED

He was a very selfish Giant. The poor children had now nowhere to play. They tried to

play on the road, but the road was very dusty and full of hard stones, and they did not

like it. They used to wander round the high wall when their lessons were over, and talk

about the beautiful garden inside. ‘How happy we were there,’ they said to each other.

Then the Spring came, and all over the country there were little blossoms and little

birds. Only in the garden of the Selfish Giant it was still Winter. The birds did not

care to sing in it as there were no children, and the trees forgot to blossom. Once a

beautiful flower put its head out from the grass, but when it saw the notice-board it

was so sorry for the children that it slipped back into the ground again, and went off

to sleep. The only people who were pleased were the Snow and the Frost. ‘Spring has

forgotten this garden,’ they cried, ‘so we will live here all the year round.’ The Snow

English: Grade 11 195

covered up the grass with her great white cloak,

and the Frost painted all the trees silver. Then they

invited the North Wind to stay with them, and he

came. He was wrapped in furs, and he roared all

day about the garden, and blew the chimney-pots

down. ‘This is a delightful spot,’ he said, ‘we must

ask the Hail on a visit.’ So the Hail came. Every

day for three hours he rattled on the roof of the

castle till he broke most of the slates, and then he

ran round and round the garden as fast as he could

go. He was dressed in grey, and his breath was

like ice.

‘I cannot understand why the Spring is so late in

coming,’ said the Selfish Giant, as he sat at the window and looked out at his cold

white garden; ‘I hope there will be a change in the weather.’

But the Spring never came, nor the Summer. The Autumn gave golden fruit to every

garden, but to the Giant’s garden she gave none. ‘He is too selfish,’ she said. So it was

always Winter there, and the North Wind, and the Hail, and the Frost, and the Snow

danced about through the trees.

One morning the Giant was lying awake in bed when he heard some lovely music. It

sounded so sweet to his ears that he thought it must be the King’s musicians passing by.

It was really only a little linnet singing outside his window, but it was so long since he

had heard a bird sing in his garden that it seemed to him to be the most beautiful music

in the world. Then the Hail stopped dancing over his head, and the North Wind ceased

roaring, and a delicious perfume came to him through the open casement. ‘I believe

the Spring has come at last,’ said the Giant; and he jumped out of bed and looked out.

What did he see?

He saw a most wonderful sight. Through a little hole in the wall the children had crept

in, and they were sitting in the branches of the trees. In every tree that he could see

there was a little child. And the trees were so glad to have the children back again that

they had covered themselves with blossoms, and were waving their arms gently above

the children’s heads. The birds were flying about and twittering with delight, and the

flowers were looking up through the green grass and laughing. It was a lovely scene,

only in one corner it was still Winter. It was the farthest corner of the garden, and in it

196 English: Grade 11

was standing a little boy. He was so small that he could not reach up to the branches of

the tree, and he was wandering all round it, crying bitterly. The poor tree was still quite

covered with Frost and Snow, and the North Wind was blowing and roaring above it.

‘Climb up! little boy,’ said the Tree, and it bent its branches down as low as it could;

but the little boy was too tiny.

And the Giant’s heart melted as he looked out. ‘How selfish I have been!’ he said; ‘now

I know why the Spring would not come here. I will put that poor little boy on the top

of the tree, and then I will knock down the wall, and my garden shall be the children’s

playground forever and ever.’ He was really very sorry for what he had done.

So he crept downstairs and opened the front door quite softly, and went out into the

garden. But when the children saw him they were so frightened that they all ran away,

and the garden became Winter again. Only the little boy did not run, for his eyes were

so full of tears that he did not see the Giant coming. And the Giant stole up behind him

and took him gently in his hand, and put him up into the tree. And the tree broke at

once into blossom, and the birds came and sang on it, and the little boy stretched out

his two arms and flung them round the Giant’s neck, and kissed him. And the other

children, when they saw that the Giant was not wicked any longer, came running back,

and with them came the Spring. ‘It is your garden now, little children,’ said the Giant,

and he took a great axe and knocked down the wall. And when the people were going

to market at twelve o’clock, they found the Giant playing with the children in the most

beautiful garden they had ever seen.

All day long they played, and in the evening they came to the Giant to bid him good-bye.

‘But where is your little companion?’ he said: ‘the boy I put into the tree.’ The Giant

loved him the best because he had kissed him.

‘We don’t know,’ answered the children; ‘he has gone away.’

‘You must tell him to be sure and come here tomorrow,’ said the Giant. But the children

said that they did not know where he lived, and had never seen him before; and the

Giant felt very sad.

Every afternoon, when school was over, the children came and played with the Giant.

But the little boy whom the Giant loved was never seen again. The Giant was very kind

to all the children, yet he longed for his first little friend, and often spoke of him. ‘How

I would like to see him!’ he used to say.

Years passed, and the Giant grew very old and feeble. He could not play about any

English: Grade 11 197

more, so he sat in a huge armchair, and watched the children at their games, and

admired his garden. ‘I have many beautiful flowers,’ he said; ‘but the children are the

most beautiful flowers of all.’

One winter morning he looked out of his window as he was dressing. He did not hate

the Winter now, for he knew that it was merely the Spring asleep, and that the flowers

were resting.

Suddenly he rubbed his eyes in wonder, and looked and looked. It certainly was a

marvellous sight. In the farthest corner of the garden was a tree quite covered with

lovely white blossoms. Its branches were all golden, and silver fruit hung down from

them, and underneath it stood the little boy he had loved.

Downstairs ran the Giant in great joy, and out into the garden. He hastened across the

grass, and came near to the child. And when he came quite close his face grew red with

anger, and he said, ‘Who hath dared to wound thee?’ For on the palms of the child’s

hands were the prints of two nails, and the prints of two nails were on the little feet.

‘Who hath dared to wound thee?’ cried the Giant; ‘tell me, that I may take my big

sword and slay him.’

‘Nay!’ answered the child; ‘but these are the wounds of Love.’

‘Who art thou?’ said the Giant, and a strange awe fell on him, and he knelt before the

little child.

And the child smiled on the Giant, and said to him, ‘You let me play once in your

garden, today you shall come with me to my garden, which is Paradise.’

And when the children ran in that afternoon, they found the Giant lying dead under the

tree, all covered with white blossoms.

Understanding the text

Summary

Once there is a selfish Giant. The Giant has a beautiful garden full of green grass, trees and flowers. As he has been to visit his friend, the Cornish ogre, the children enjoy playing in the garden. But when he returns after seven years, he sends the children away and keeps the garden closed up. As a result, all the seasons except winter refuse to grace the Giant's garden, and so only winter weather with frost, snow and wind prevails. With each passing day the Giant’s anxiety grows for his garden until one day he wakes up in the morning to hear the laughter of the children and to see the touch of spring in his garden. He is very happy and runs outside to play with the children who enters through a small hole in the fence. In the farthest corner of the garden, he sees one small boy blinded by his own tears of frustration because he can’t climb a tall tree. Unlike the other children, the little boy hugs and kisses the Giant for helping him to climb the tree. The spring prevails everywhere. Much to the Giant's sadness, the small boy who kissed him never appears again. The Giant grows very old and weak in the presence of the happy children sharing his garden space. When the Giant is nearing the end of his days, the small child comes to his garden again. The Giant is angry when he notices that the boy has imprints of two nails on his hands and feet. But the boy tells him not to be upset because they are wounds of love, and he comes to take the Giant to heaven. Shortly afterwards, the happy Giant dies, and his body is found lying under the tree, covered in blossoms.

Answer the following questions.

a. Where did the children use to play?

They used to play in the Giant's garden.

b. What did the Snow and the Frost do to the garden?

The Snow covered up the grass with its great white cloak and the Frost painted all the trees silver. Then, they invited the North Wind to stay with them.

c. What did the giant hear when he was lying awake in bed?

The giant heard some lovely music.

d. Why do you think spring season never came to the giant's garden?

I think spring season never came to the giant's garden because he didn't permit the children to play there.

e. How did the giant realise his mistake?

He realized his mistake as the children stopped visiting the garden and the garden never experienced the spring season.

Reference to the context

A. Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.

a. “How happy we were there!” they said to each other.

i. Where does ‘there’ refer to?

i. 'There' refers to the Giant’s garden.

ii. What does ‘they’ refer to?

ii. 'They' refers to the children.

iii. Why are they saying so?

iii. They are saying so because the Giant doesn't let them play in his garden

b. “I have many beautiful flowers,” he said; “but the children are the most beautiful

flowers of all.”

i. Who is the speaker?

The Giant is the speaker.

ii. Who is he speaking to?

ii. He is speaking to himself.

iii. Who are ‘the children’ that the speaker is referring to?

iii. The children are the ones who play in the Giant’s garden.

iv. Why is the speaker saying that ‘the children are the most beautiful flowers

of all’?

The speaker is saying that 'the children are the most ........' because children or flowers are the source of happiness

c. When the little child smiled at the Giant, and said to him, "You let me play once

in your garden, today you shall come with me to my garden, which is Paradise,"

shortly afterwards, the happy giant dies. What is the coincidence of this event?

When the Giant was very old and weak, he couldn’t play with the children any more. He sat in his armchair and watched the children playing. One winter morning, the little child whom he once helped to climb the tree appeared and offered him never ending and peaceful life in his garden i.e. heaven. At the same time, the Giant died. Thus, the occurrence of the child’s offer of eternal life in heaven and the death of the Giant is the coincidence. However, from the religious point of view, reappearance of the child, with prints of nails on the palms of the hands and feet, and the biological death of the Giant have a close association.

Describe it in relation to this fairy tale.

The story ‘The Selfish Giant’ makes the use of personification as one of the main figures of speech which gives human qualities to the non-human objects. In the story, the technique of personification has made non- human entities more vivid or helped the readers understand and sympathize with or react emotionally to them. The effect of this is to make flowers, seasons, frost, snow, wind, hail and one of the trees to reinforce the story writer’s moral vision.

The flowers are personified when one of them begins to bloom, then sees there are no children in the garden, and goes back to sleep. This variety of personification continues with the happiness of snow and frost as the garden lacks the spring season and they invite the north wind to the garden. The wind is personified when it says with delight that they must ask the hail to visit the garden.

The story has the significance of the seasons personified. At the beginning of the story, the seasons bless the garden with pleasant weather until the Giant sends the children away from his garden. Repulsed by the Giant's unkindness the spring season leaves the garden. The seasons' disfavor indicates that the Giant's selfishness goes against the natural order and thus deserve punishment.

B. The story makes use of personification as one of the main figures of

speech. Cite three examples of personification from the story. What is

the significance of the seasons personified in the story?

The story ‘The Selfish Giant’ makes the use of personification as one of the main figures of speech which gives human qualities to the non-human objects. In the story, the technique of personification has made non- human entities more vivid or helped the readers understand and sympathize with or react emotionally to them. The effect of this is to make flowers, seasons, frost, snow, wind, hail and one of the trees to reinforce the story writer’s moral vision.

The flowers are personified when one of them begins to bloom, then sees there are no children in the garden, and goes back to sleep. This variety of personification continues with the happiness of snow and frost as the garden lacks the spring season and they invite the north wind to the garden. The wind is personified when it says with delight that they must ask the hail to visit the garden.

The story has the significance of the seasons personified. At the beginning of the story, the seasons bless the garden with pleasant weather until the Giant sends the children away from his garden. Repulsed by the Giant's unkindness the spring season leaves the garden. The seasons' disfavor indicates that the Giant's selfishness goes against the natural order and thus deserve punishment.

C. This story can be read as a fairytale, where the children, the seasons,

the tree, the corner of the garden, the snow, the wind and the frost are

all used as symbolism. Interpret those symbols.

The story ‘The Selfish Giant’ is a fairy tale. The story writer has adopted the approach of symbolism to teach the readers a moral lesson. The children symbolize innocence and love. Likewise, seasons represent hope, life and death. The tree is the symbol of patience whereas the corner of the garden stands for heaven. The snow, the wind, and the frost signify grief, sorrow and discomfort.

D. Which figure of speech is used for ‘winter, frost, snow, north wind,

hail and little child’? Who is the little child compared to?

As a fairy tale, the story is full of figures of speech. Both the methods of personification and symbolism are used for winter, frost, snow, north wind and hail. The little child is presented as the Christian symbol. He is compared to Jesus Christ.

a. What is the main theme of this story?

Oscar Wilde has covered the themes of unselfishness and love. At the beginning of the story the giant is very selfish and cold towards the children, and builds a high wall around the garden and puts a notice–board to stop them. But later he realizes his mistake when the children stop coming to the garden and the garden never experiences the spring season until he allows them to play in his garden. As he knows the meaning of love and sharing, the spring weather comes. Not only the Giant brings happiness to the children but he also ensures that he will get into Heaven with his act of kindness. The Giant’s nature is associated with that of human beings. We rarely share our belongings to any one even if someone is needed. We are selfish too. The story teaches us to share love to get love in return.

b. Does God punish those who are cruel to children and very selfish?