Short Stories The Selfish Giant Summary Characters Themes Analysis by Oscar Wilde
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Characters
Giant
Giant is a complex character. Due to his physical attributes, it is easy to take him as a brute and he feels more comfortable leading a lonely and secluded life. However, he is not devoid of compassion as is shown by his gesture to the little boy.
In the end, he does meet the kid but only to find him waiting to take him away to a different world. The Giant dies in the comfort that he could finally be at peace and closer to his little friend.
Boy
The boy is of tender age and short stature. He is unable to climb the trees and feels sad due to it. But he is innocent and lacks fear for the giant. When the giant helps him up the tree, he kisses him and shows his gratitude.
He is gentle and compassionate and does not judge others in appearance alone. In the end, he returns to take the giant with him to the next world where there will be no isolation, sadness or injustice.
Other Kids
All the other kids are shown as a collective of boisterous and mischievous bodies of energy, they are scared of the giant and his brutish appearance but they are attracted to the blossoms of his garden.
The lure of open spaces to play is too much for them and they break into the garden to have playful time. After the Giant's change of heart, they accept him as a friend and spend many days playing and having fun together.
They can sense the giant's sadness as he asks them for the little boy and try to locate the little boy but to no avail as he was an outsider to their group.
Themes
Arrogance
The Giant represents the human vices of arrogance and greed. The Giant is proud of his garden and wants to enjoy it all on its own. He refuses even innocent children to enter it and find them annoying. Due to his heart filled with arrogance, he does not feel affection toward anyone and lives a life full of anger and pride.
Isolation
The Giant does not want any company as he does not want anyone else to share the beauty of his garden. He is selfish and thus finds himself all alone. He threatens and scares everyone including small children. This rude behavior of the Giant isolates him and also leaves his garden in a wintry and frozen state.
Love and Compassion
He enjoys letting kids wander and play inside his garden and even joins them in all the frolics. The warm emotions of compassion and care bring a change in the Giant's view of others and make him more content and happy in his own life. Finally, he finds solace and dies in peace.
Salvation
The central theme of the story is about salvation and saving oneself from the ultimate punishment of a loveless life. The Giant was all alone because he did not show love to others. He considered them a nuisance.
However, when he realizes that the small children only wanted to play and smile, he welcomed them in his garden. The spring brought blossoming flowers through those children and finally, the Giant found love and affection.
Analysis
Symbolism
The Giant symbolizes the arrogance of human beings who feel that they control fate. The snow and winter represents emotions of anger and hatred that Giant felt toward other. The spring represents happiness and forgiveness. TH small child symbolizes divine intervention and help for those who show compassion and love. The small children represent innocence and purity of human thought and emotion when it not corrupted by greed and envy.
Setting
Conflict
Annoyed by the children running around his garden, the Giant builds a wall around his garden and makes it inaccessible. The kids cannot play anymore and the Giant just waits for the spring to come to his garden.
However, even though the winter ends, there is no spring in the garden. The world outside the garden sees blossoms and warmth of spring but the garden remains a frozen graveyard.
Climax
The giant sees the children laughing and playing in his garden and sees the spring had accompanied the children into his garden. He also locates a small boy struggling to climb up a tree and helps him.
He realizes that the spring celebrates the smiles and laughs of young innocent children and decides to break the walls down.
Summary
Story of a Giant
The story shows how love and care can melt the hardest of hearts and cultivate emotions when there seems to be none.
In the story, an intimidating giant gets completely transformed when touched by the innocence and beautiful smiles of young children. The creature loved his luscious garden full of spring and colorful blossoms. The sunshine lit up the setting like a visage from paradise itself.
The Giant Returns
After ending his stay at his friend's place the giant reenters his premises to a strange commotion. He found the neighborhood kids making merriment in the place. He became disgruntled by their presence. He did not want anyone else to savor its beauty. He also built a restricting fence around his garden to discourage anyone trespassing into his garden.
Then, the Giant waited inside his castle to welcome the blossoms of the spring. However, the spring did not appear even after a long winter. Instead, there were chilly winds, hail, frost and blanketing snow.
Cold Garden
The garden became a cold, dry and ugly place. The Giant could not understand the situation as the rest of the places enjoyed enriching sunshine and plentiful fruits and blooming flowers. He became sad and morose.
One day, he heard some commotion. The children were back making fun in the sun. He was excited to see spring and sunshine again. But he saw a child was struggling to find his way to the top of a tree in one cold spot.
The Giant’s heart melted and he helped the kid. "As soon as the child smiled, the tree became resplendent with flowers and was touched by the spring instantly. The boy hugged the Giant. The rest of the children were emboldened by the sight. They all joined them."
One Boy Missing
The garden gates were flung open for the kids at all times. But there was one person missing from the action, the boy at the tree. The Giant enquired about him but to no avail. The Giant felt disappointed as he never came back, his first friend.
The garden became a sight to behold thereon in. The children loved the Giant. Gradually years passed and he could only sit and gander at the kids. In his heart, he longed to see the little child once more.
Then one day, a miracle happened as he the little boy covered in the shade of a flowering tree. The Giant leaped with delight. When he held him in his hands, he realized it was Jesus who had come to take him to the perennial garden in the sky.
When the kids returned, they saw the giant resting in the abode of blooms. He was finally at peace in the eternal gardens, where the spring never ends.
