The Selfish Giant Summary Class 8 English It So Happened Chapter 3

Key Points of the Chapter

• Children played in the Giant’s beautiful garden every afternoon.
• The Giant returned after seven years and built a wall to keep the children out.
• The children had nowhere to play and missed the garden. Without the children, the garden remained in perpetual winter.
• The children snuck in through a hole in the wall, bringing spring with them.
• The Giant realized his selfishness and helped a small boy climb a tree, causing it to blossom.
• He knocked down the wall, making the garden a playground for the children.
• The children played with the Giant, but the boy he helped never returned.
• The Giant grew old, watching the children, and considered them the most beautiful flowers.
• The Giant saw the boy again, with nail prints on his hands and feet, and was invited to paradise. He died under the tree, covered in blossoms, and the children found him.

Detailed Summary 

The story begins with a picturesque description of the Giant’s garden, a place where children played every afternoon after school. The garden was vast and lovely, with soft green grass, beautiful flowers that resembled stars, and twelve peach trees that bloomed with delicate blossoms of pink and pearl in the spring and bore rich fruit in the autumn. Birds sang sweetly in the trees, and the children would stop their games to listen to them. They often exclaimed to each other how happy they were in the garden.

One day, the Giant returned home after visiting his friend, the Cornish ogre, for seven years. He was furious to find children playing in his garden and chased them away with a gruff voice. The Giant declared that his garden was his own, and no one else could play there. To enforce this, he built a high wall around it and put up a notice board stating, “TRESPASSERS WILL BE PROSECUTED.” This act revealed the Giant’s selfish nature.

The children were left with nowhere to play but the dusty, hard-stone-covered road, which they did not like. They often wandered around the high wall, reminiscing about the beautiful garden inside and how happy they were there.

When Spring arrived, it brought little blossoms and birds all over the country except in the Giant’s garden, which remained in winter. The absence of children meant no birds sang there, and the trees did not blossom. A single flower that attempted to bloom saw the notice board and, feeling sorry for the children, slipped back into the ground to sleep. Only the Snow and the Frost were pleased, declaring that since Spring had forgotten the garden, they would live there year-round. The Snow covered the grass with a white cloak, the Frost painted the trees silver, and they invited the North Wind to join them. The North Wind roared all day, blowing down chimney-pots, and declared the garden a delightful spot, inviting the Hail to visit. The Hail rattled on the roof for hours daily, breaking slates and running around the garden dressed in grey with breath-like ice.

The Giant’s garden remained in eternal winter, with no Spring or Summer. One morning, he heard a bird singing and realized Spring had come. The children had sneaked in through a hole in the wall, bringing the garden to life. Every tree had a child in it, but one boy, too small to reach the branches, stood in a frosty corner, crying. The Giant, feeling remorseful, helped the boy into the tree, and it immediately bloomed.

The other children returned, and the Giant knocked down the wall, making the garden a playground for them. The townspeople saw the Giant happily playing with the children in the most beautiful garden.

Every afternoon, the children came to play with the Giant, who was saddened that the little boy he loved never returned. Despite being kind to all the children, he longed for his little friend and often spoke of him.

As years passed, the Giant grew old and feeble. Unable to play, he watched the children from a huge armchair and admired his garden, considering the children the most beautiful flowers of all.

One winter morning, while dressing, the Giant looked out and saw a marvelous sight. In the farthest corner of the garden stood a tree covered in white blossoms, with golden branches and silver fruit. Underneath the tree stood the little boy he had loved. Overjoyed, the Giant ran downstairs and hastened across the grass to the child. Upon approaching, his face reddened with anger as he saw the boy’s hands and feet bore nail prints. The Giant asked who had dared to wound the boy, but the child explained they were the wounds of Love.

The Giant, filled with awe, knelt before the child, who smiled and invited the Giant to his garden, which was paradise. When the children arrived that afternoon, they found the Giant dead under the tree, covered in white blossoms.

Theme/Message

The primary theme of the story is the transformative power of love and kindness. Initially, the Giant’s selfishness brings eternal winter to his garden, symbolizing how selfish actions can lead to isolation and unhappiness. However, when the Giant opens his heart and shows kindness to the children, particularly the little boy, his garden flourishes, bringing beauty and joy. The story also conveys the message of redemption and the idea that it’s never too late to change and make amends for past wrongs. The spiritual aspect is highlighted by the boy’s wounds, symbolizing the wounds of love and sacrifice, ultimately leading the Giant to paradise.

Difficult Words

• Gruff: Rough or stern in manner, speech, or aspect.
• Trespassers: People who enter someone’s land or property without permission.
• Prosecuted: Legal action taken against someone.
• Blossoms: Flowers, especially those of a tree or bush.
• Perpetual: Never-ending or changing; eternal.
• Linnet: A small bird with a pleasant song.
• Casement: A window that opens on hinges like a door.
• Delicious: Highly pleasant to the taste or smell.
• Marvellous: Causing great wonder; extraordinary.
• Paradise: A place or state of perfect happiness; often depicted as a garden or heaven.