The Giant's Garden: A Study in Selfishness and Winter

The Giant's Garden

• After school, children play in the Giant's lovely, large garden with soft green grass.
• The garden has beautiful, star-like flowers and 12 peach trees.
• The peach trees bloom with delicate pink and white flowers in spring and bear rich fruit in autumn.
• Birds sweetly sing in the trees, causing the children to pause and listen.

The Giant's Return and Selfishness

• The Giant returns from visiting his friend, the Cornish ogre, and is angered by the children playing in his garden.
• He shouts at them, declares the garden his, and forbids them from playing there.
• The Giant builds a high wall around the garden and puts up a noticeboard to keep the children out.
• With no place to play, the children try the road, disliking the dustiness and hard stones.
• The children walk around the wall talking about the beautiful garden.

The Garden's Endless Winter

• Spring arrives throughout the country, bringing flowers and birds.
• The Giant's garden remains in winter, preventing birds from singing and flowers from growing.
• The Snow covers the grass, and the Frost paints the trees silver, rejoicing in the garden.
• The North Wind is invited to stay, roaring and blowing down chimneys and the Hail visits, rattling on the roof of the castle.
• The Giant wonders why spring is late, longing for a change.

A Change in the Giant

• Spring and summer do not come, and the Giant's garden remains barren with no fruit in autumn.
• Autumn declares the Giant too selfish, resulting in perpetual winter with the North Wind, Hail, Frost, and Snow.
• The Giant hears lovely music which he attributes to the King's musicians, but realizes it is a little bird singing outside the window, which he finds very beautiful.
• The Hail and North Wind stop, and due to a sweet perfume, the Giant realizes spring has arrived.
• The Giant jumps out of bed and sees children entering the garden through a hole in the wall and sitting in the trees.
• The trees are full of flowers thanks to the children's return; birds sing and flowers look up through the grass.

The Little Boy and the Giant's Transformation

• In one corner of the garden, it is still winter, where a little boy stands, unable to climb the tree due to frost and snow.
• When the Giant witnesses the boy, he feels remorseful for his selfishness and wants to help the boy and destroy the wall.
• Upon entering the garden, the Giant is faced with the children running away as winter returns.
• The little boy is crying and unable to see the Giant approach and the Giant gently places the boy in tree.
• The tree bursts to life with flowers, and the little boy embraces and kisses the Giant.
• Seeing that the Giant is no longer wicked, the other children return.
• The Giant proclaims the garden is now for the children and knocks down the wall.

The Garden Reclaimed

• The children play in the garden daily, bidding the Giant goodbye each evening.
• The Giant inquires about his little friend; the other children do not know him.
• Every afternoon, the children play with the Giant, but the little boy never returns, making the Giant sad.
• Years pass, and the Giant grows old and tired, watching the children from his armchair.
• The Giant proclaims the children are more beautiful than all the flowers.

The Marks of Love

• One winter morning while the Giant watches the flowers resting, he witnesses a tree covered in white flowers with gold branches and silver fruit.
• The Giant sees the little boy standing under the tree.
• The Giant runs to the child becoming angry and asking who hurt him, noticing marks on the child's hands and feet.
• The child responds that the marks are those of love and invites the Giant to accompany him to his garden of Heaven.
• When afternoon arrives and the children run into the garden, they find the Giant dead beneath the tree, covered in white flowers.