Trees are essential for life – they give us materials for shelter, food, paper and shade, not to mention help us breathe. No wonder then that the trees have made a miraculous appearance in both narrative and literary history. Here are some of the most beautiful trees of literature:
The Giving Tree
This story symbolises the extreme generosity of trees. One of the most famous trees is the literary creation of Shel Silverstein’s charitable invention of the tree who provides endlessly for man in the story ‘Boy’. Boy wants to play, such as children do and innocently climbs the tree, swinging from the branches but as he gets older, his needs grow greater and he becomes difficult, leaving the trees sacrificing itself to meet his demands. He wants an apple to sell, he needs the trunk to make a boat and its branches to build a house. The end of this story is sad but inevitable and gives us a lesson we all should take note of.
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
This novel gives us an incredibly inspiring tree. It tells the story of a poor family that lived in the tenements of Brooklyn in the early 20th century. A tree grew in the yard and despite numerous attempts at extermination, it thrived. The tree represents resistance and strength parallel to the main character’s own life struggle and the courage not to give up raising her family in difficult circumstances. Keep your trees strong with help from a Tree Surgeon Essex at https://www.benchmarklandscapeltd.co.uk/tree-surgeon-essex/
Lord of the Rings
A very important character in this trilogy is the famous ‘Ent’, a tree-like creature that can talk. They are the guardians of the forest, led by Treebeard who is believed to be the oldest creature in all of Middle Earth. Ent serves to remind us of the ancient power and wisdom of nature, including forests of large trees.