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

Key Points of the Chapter

• Children’s Playground: Every afternoon, children played in the Giant’s beautiful garden, which had soft green grass, beautiful flowers, twelve peach trees, and sweetly singing birds.
• Giant’s Return: The Giant returned after seven years from visiting his friend, the Cornish ogre, and was angry to find children playing in his garden.
• Selfish Decision: Declaring the garden his own, the Giant built a high wall and put up a notice board warning trespassers would be prosecuted.
• Children’s Sadness: The children had nowhere to play except the dusty and stony road, and they often talked about how happy they were in the garden.
• Eternal Winter: Spring came everywhere except the Giant’s garden, which remained in perpetual winter because the children were not there.
• Giant’s Realization: One morning, the Giant heard beautiful music and saw children had crept into his garden through a hole in the wall, bringing spring with them.
• Heart Melted: The Giant saw a small boy unable to climb a tree, realized his selfishness, and decided to change. He gently placed the boy in the tree, which blossomed immediately.
• Garden for Children: The Giant knocked down the wall and declared the garden would be the children’s playground forever.
• Mysterious Boy: The children played with the Giant every day, but the little boy he helped never returned, which saddened the Giant.
• Aging Giant: The Giant grew old, watching the children play, and considered them the most beautiful flowers.
• Miraculous Sight: One winter morning, the Giant saw the tree in the farthest corner covered with blossoms and the little boy underneath.
• Wounds of Love: The Giant saw the boy had nail prints on his hands and feet. The boy revealed they were the wounds of love and invited the Giant to paradise.
• Giant’s Death: The Giant died under the tree, covered in white blossoms, as 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, puzzled by the prolonged winter, hoped for a change in the weather. However, neither Spring nor Summer came to his garden. Autumn brought golden fruit to other gardens but none to the Giant’s, considering him too selfish. Thus, the garden remained in eternal winter, with the North Wind, Hail, Frost, and Snow dancing among the trees.

One morning, the Giant awoke to the sound of lovely music, which he thought was the King’s musicians passing by. It was actually a little linnet singing outside his window, but it sounded like the most beautiful music in the world to the Giant, who had not heard a bird sing in his garden for so long. The Hail stopped dancing, the North Wind ceased roaring, and a delicious perfume wafted through the open window. The Giant realized Spring had finally come and eagerly looked out.

He saw a wonderful sight: children had crept into the garden through a hole in the wall and were sitting in the tree branches. Every tree he saw had a child in it, and the trees, overjoyed to have the children back, had covered themselves with blossoms, waving their arms gently above the children’s heads. Birds flew about, twittering with delight, and flowers looked up through the green grass, laughing. It was a lovely scene, except for one corner of the garden, still in winter. There stood a little boy too small to reach the tree branches, wandering around it and crying bitterly. The poor tree was still covered in frost and snow, with the North Wind roaring above it. The Tree bent its branches down, encouraging the boy to climb up, but he was too tiny.

The Giant’s heart melted at this sight. He realized how selfish he had been and decided to help the boy. He would put the boy on top of the tree and knock down the wall, making his garden the children’s playground forever. Feeling genuine remorse, he crept downstairs and softly opened the front door. However, the children, frightened by his previous behavior, ran away, and the garden reverted to winter. The little boy, whose eyes were full of tears, did not see the Giant coming. The Giant gently lifted him and placed him in the tree, which immediately broke into blossom. Birds sang, and the little boy hugged and kissed the Giant.

The other children saw the Giant was no longer wicked and returned, bringing Spring with them. The Giant declared the garden was now the children’s, and he knocked down the wall. The townspeople, passing by, saw the Giant playing with the children in the most beautiful garden they had ever seen.

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.

List of Difficult Words with Meanings

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.