Summary Selfish - Giant by Oscar Wilde

The Selfish – Giant

-         Oscar Wilde

The Selfish – Giant is a short story written by the Irish author Oscar Wilde in the year 1888. This story got published in the anthology “Happy Prince and Other Tales”. The story depicts how love and care can melt the hardest heart. It is a story of a little boy who was the messenger of God and a Selfish – Giant.

The Children played in the garden of Selfish – Giant. The Giant returns home from a seven year visit to his friend, a Cornish Orge. He becomes furious by seeing the Children playing in his garden. He chases them away and builds a wall around his garden. He hangs a sign board stating “ TRESPASSERS Will BE PROSECUTED”.

The poor Children were frustrated to see the garden. They played outside the garden around the wall. In the spring, flowers grew all over, but in the Giant’s garden there was no spring around. There was no summer and winter remained there. Neither birds nor flowers could be seen there. Only snow and frost covered the trees. The Giant wondered why the spring passed by his garden.

One morning he heard some lovely music of a linnet song bird outside his window. He jumped out of bed and looked out. He saw a wonderful sight. The children had crept in through a hole in the wall. They were sitting on the branches of trees which gladly welcomed them with flowers. Only in one corner it was still winter. A small boy was wandering all around the tree and crying. He was too small to climb up.

The Giant’s heart melted. He went out in the garden. The children ran away on seeing him. The garden became winter again. But when he put the small boy up into the tree, it broke into flowers. The boy threw his arms round his neck and kissed him. Other children noticed the change in the Giant’s behaviour. So they too came back. The Giant knocked down the wall and started playing with them. He wanted to see the small boy whom he had put up into the tree. But he had gone away.

When he gave up his selfishness and began to love the children dearly, he was relieved of his punishment. The winter weather was removed from his garden. The Giant was rewarded. “But these are the wounds of love” and “You let me play once in your garden, today you shall come.”

The boy was Jesus Christ in disguise. He came to the Giant once again to take him to his garden, Paradise, as a reward for letting him play once in his garden. The Giant was redeemed by Jesus. He was absolved of all his sins. His soul became pure and sacred. The ‘white blossoms’ symbolize the purity and sacredness that the Giant’s soul attained and the ever-lasting peace that he obtained after death. He was taken to Paradise for his unselfishness by Jesus Christ.