The Selfish Giant Summary
The story “The Selfish Giant” was written by an Irish wit, poet, novelist and playwright, Oscar Wilde. This story is about a giant who learned an important lesson about love and sharing, and holds different meanings for people of different age.
Every afternoon, children went to play the giant’s garden. The garden where the children used to play was lovely with soft green grass. There were beautiful flowers, twelve peach trees, and the birds sat on the trees and sang their best and the children were also very happy with them to play there.
The giant returned from his friend Cornish ogre’s house after seven years. The giant was selfish. When he returned his house, he saw the children playing in his garden very happily. He did not like the children and said that he would not allow them to play there since the garden belonged to him and he put a notice that no one was allowed to play in his garden. Then, he enclosed his garden with a big wall so that no one could go and play there.
The children started to play on the road which was full of dust and pebbles (small hard stones). They said that they used to be happy to play in the selfish giant’s garden. They were not happy now. So, the Spring also did not visit the garden. There was only the Winter in his garden. The flowers did not raise high. The trees did not blossom. The birds did not sing. They all were happy and shared their happiness with the children’s happiness. But now, they were unhappy with the giant’s behavior to the children. The Snow covered the grass in the garden with white colour. The Frost painted the trees with silver colour. The Snow and the Frost called the North Wind which produced a loud voice throughout the day and blew the chimney-pots down. The Hail also came and fell on the roof of the giant’s house and broke the slates. The giant was shocked and worried that there was not the Spring in his garden. He did not know the reason that it was happened because he had not loved the children who came to play in his garden. One morning, he was in his bed and he heard some beautiful music. He looked out and saw the birds singing and the Spring was also there. He was surprised that there were not the Winter, the Frost, the Snow, the North Wind and the Hail any more. He came out and saw the most beautiful thing in his garden. He saw the children creeping into the garden through a little hole in the wall of the garden. The trees started blossoming, the birds singing, the flowers raising high, green grass laughing. There was the presence of the Spring with the presence of the children. But in the farthest corner of the garden, there was still the Winter because a little boy was standing and crying there to reach up to the branch of the tree. The tree bent its branch and said him to climb. This scene/event made the giant realize his mistake that he had been very cruel and selfish to the children. So, he helped the child climb up to the branch. Then, there also appeared the Spring in that corner as everything was cherishing. The little child kissed the giant. The giant became kind to the children. He knocked down the wall and allowed them to play there. He started playing with them everyday. But he missed the little child in the group of the children who had kissed him. He asked about the little child. The children said that they did not know about him. After many years, the giant became older and weaker to play with them. He just sat on a big chair and saw the children playing in his garden. He thought that the children were the most beautiful flowers than
all other flowers. One winter morning, he saw the little boy in the farthest corner of his garden. He ran to the child in a hurry. He became angry when he saw the wound prints of two nails on the little child’s hand and feet. He also said that he would kill that person with his sword if the little child said about it. The little child said that those were the signs/wounds of love done by the giant himself. Then, the giant knelt down in front of the little child and regretted for what he had done to him. The little child told him that the giant would go with him in his garden of Paradise because he had allowed the little child to play in the giant’s garden one time in the past.
At last, the child went away in that afternoon. The giant died there under the tree and his body covered with white beautiful flowers. The story teaches us that children are innocent and they are the source of happiness. So, everyone should love them as the nature has also loved them in the story.
The Selfish Giant Questions And Answer: Understanding the text
Answer the following questions.
a. Where did the children use to play ?
Ans: The children used to play in the Giant’s garden.
b. What did the Snow and the Frost do to the garden ?
Ans: The snow covered up the grass with her great white cloak and the Frost painted all the trees silver.
c.They also called the North Wind to stay with them.
What did the giant hear when he was lying awake in bed ?
Ans: The giant heard some lovely music when he was lying awake in bed.
d. Why do you think spring season never came to the giant’s garden ?
Ans: Spring season never came to the giant’s garden because the giant did not love the children that he did not let them play in his garden.
e.How did the giant realise his mistake?
Ans: The giant realized his mistake when he saw a small boy in every tree and the trees were so happy to have the children back again and they had covered themselves with blossoms. The Spring visited there. The birds were also flying and twittering with delight.
Reference to the context
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?
Ans: “There’ refers to the giant’s garden.
ii. What does ‘they’ refer to?
Ans: ‘They’ refers to the children who used to go to play in the giant’s garden.
iii. Why are they saying so?
Ans: They are saying so because the giant does not allow them to play in his garden.
“I have many beautiful flowers,” he said; “but the children are the most beautiful flowers of all.”
b.”I have many beautiful flowers,” he said; “but the children are the most beautiful flowers of all.”
i.Who is the speaker ?
Ans: The giant is the speaker.
ii.Who is he speaking to?
Ans: He is speaking to himself.
iii. Who are ‘the children’ that the speaker is referring to?
Ans: ‘The children’ are the ones who play in his garden.
iv. Why is the speaker saying that ‘the children are the most beautiful flowers of all’?
Ans: The speaker is saying that ‘the children are the most beautiful flowers of all’ because even the nature (seasons) also love them and they come to the giant’s garden when he lets them play in.
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? Describe it in relation to this fairy tale.
Ans: According to this fairy tale, the giant is growing very old and weak and he is looking for the little child who has kissed him with love. The little child can be taken as the God and wants to take the giant with him to the paradise. So he said to the giant, “You let me play once in your garden, today you shall come with me to my garden, which is paradise.” As soon as the little child said it, the giant died. So the coincidence of this event is the God comes to take the giant to the paradise.
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?
Ans: Personification is taken as one of the main figures of speech which makes this story more meaningful to the readers. Three examples of personification from the story are:
i.the Spring came all over the country but there was still Winter in the giant’s garden;
ii.the trees forgot to blossom; and
iii. the Snow and the Frost invited the North Wind.
The seasons have a big significance personified in the story because they loved the children very much. So they came to the garden when the children were playing there. Otherwise, only the Winter remained in the garden in the absence of the children. The seasons also taught a lesson to the giant that children are the most beautiful creations with whom even the nature is happy to play with them.
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.
Ans: The symbols used in this story are mentioned below along with their interpretations:
i.Children: Children are very innocent and they are the source of happiness for everyone.
ii.The seasons: The seasons are the divisions of a year which have different climates. Some seasons are very pleasing whereas some are very harsh. So The Spring is used in the story to create pleasure and the Winter is for displeasure in the garden in order to teach a lesson to the giant that everyone should love the children.
iii. The tree: The tree is very important thing for the human being. In the story, they did not blossom when the children were not playing in the garden. But they gave their company with their beauty blossoming while the children were playing there.
iv. The corner of the garden: The corner of the garden is a place which is created to teach a lesson to the giant. There was a little child, who could not reach up to the branches of the tree and crying bitterly; because of his this condition, the tree was still quite covered with Frost and Snow, and the North Wind was blowing and roaring above it. When the little child got up to the branches, there was Spring again. So the corner can be taken as a source of a happiness showing a condition of the children.
V.The snow: In the story, the snow is used to show a harsh time for the giant as it covered all the things in the garden when the children were not there.
vi. The wind: The wind in the story is also used as one of the displeasing things for the giant in the garden as it roared and rattled in the absence of the children.
vii. The frost: The frost in the story is used as a harsh thing as it painted all the trees silver and it invited the North Wind to create more harsh time for the giant so that he would get a lesson.
D. Which figure of speech is used for ‘winter, frost, snow, north wind, hail and little child’? Who is the little child compared to?
Ans: The figure of speech used for ‘winter, frost, snow, north wind, hail and little child’ is personification because the natural things as mentioned above are the regular phenomena of the nature as they occur in their own time. But here, the writer of the story very effectively used them to personify that children are the most beautiful flowers and they also enjoy with them. So, they gave their company to the children interrupting their regular occurrence.
Reference beyond the text
What is the main theme of this story “ The Selfsh Giant” ?
Ans: The main theme of the story is we should love the children because they are the most beautiful flowers. In the story, there was a selfish giant and he had a beautiful garden with different trees and
flowers where all the seasons visited to create pleasure. Likewise, the birds were also flying and twittering with delight because the children played there. When the selfish giant saw the children playing in his garden, he enclosed it with a big wall and kept a notice board writing TRESPASSERS WILL BE PROSECUTED. This made the children very sad and the poor children started playing on the dusty road. Looking at it, the seasons were also not happy with the giant so only the winter, frost, wind and hail settled in his garden. Spring did not visit there. The birds did not fly. The trees did not blossom. These all things made the giant very unhappy. Later, a little boy appeared and loved him and taught a lesson that if the giant loved the children, all the seasons visited in his garden. It made him very happy and he realized his mistake. Afterwards, he started loving the children and said that children were the most beautiful flowers. So he started playing with them.
b.Does God punish those who are cruel to children and very selfish ?
Ans: Yes, God punishes those who are cruel to children and very selfish. In the story, the giant was also very cruel to the children and very selfish. He did not let the children play in the garden due to which the seasons did not visit his garden. The birds also did not fly and twit. The trees did not blossom. The North Wind was wrapped in furs, roared all day about the garden and blew the chimney-pots. Likewise, the Frost painted all the trees silver and it was really a harsh time for the giant. The hail rattled on the roof of the giant’s castle and broke most of the slates. Moreover, he was dressed in grey and his breath was like ice. So, from this type of the giant’s condition, it can be said that God does not appear Himself to punish the cruel and very selfish person; instead, He takes different forms to punish those who are cruel to children and very selfish.