Remembering the Good Rather Than Bad PDF

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Reflection on the children's book "Our Tree Named Steve"...

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Barclay 1 Nicolette Barclay 4/11/19 Remembering the Good Rather Than Bad Every night, as a child, I got to pick one book for my mom to read to me. If I got into bed earlier, I got to pick two. Our Tree Named Steve, written by Alan Zweibel, was a book I picked at least three out of seven nights. Reading it just never got old; I was fascinated by the childlike story of having nature be a continuous friend that grows up with you. I would play outside and pretend as if I had a tree of my own that I could talk to and play with. As a child, this book showed me that everyone has a “safe space” or someone to talk to. Steve, the tree, grew up alongside the children — he was with them through years of good and bad. Steve was the center of the family’s campouts, barbecues, dance parties; he was also a very good place to nap in a hammock. Steve was the children's safe space throughout the years of growing up, always adjusting “to [their] every need” (Zweibel). As a child, the message that comes out of this is as follows: one will always have a friend to talk to and/or a safe place to go to. However, when reading the same book now as an adult, I find a very different, and deeper meaning from the book in relation to mortality. As a child, death is something many kids do not think about. Why would they? Most (nearly all) children fill their mind with imagination and positive ideas as opposed to dreadful, dark ones. After reading the book at a much older age, it is evident that another alternative meaning is deciphered: death and its inevitability. Throughout Our Tree Named Steve, the reader progresses through the years of Steve and the family growing up together. This is until a snowstorm develops in which Steve dies. The father of the family explains to his children in a letter that “a storm hit [their] area and though [they] spared Steve’s life a long time ago, this time

Rubacky [they] couldn't save him” (Zweibel). A child, especially one that is enamored with the story, would likely be upset and confused as to why Steve has to depart. They could even fear disappearing themselves — as suddenly and as unexpectedly as Steve. However, someone very young in age would not see the real meaning to the ending of the story when the family celebrates Steve. After analysis, it is clear that the deeper meaning of the plot is that there exists a shining light to the negative idea of losing someone. It is correct to say that the family reacts positively to Steve’s death, teaching the importance of remembering the good in life rather than sulking in negativity. As expressed in the story, “Steve will always be with [them]. In [their] hearts, in [their] thoughts, and in a different tree at the other end of [their] yard” (Zweibel). The family used Steve to build a treehouse that they put into another tree across the yard. This speaks to the idea of converting loss into gain — they are ‘reinventing’ Steve with a sense of glory and honor. By doing this, the father helps express to a tot that although the overall experience of loss is upsetting, it is, as aforementioned, more important to remember the good memories in what was lost. The message at the story’s conclusion was not clear and needed to be interpreted due to the subtle way Zweibel wrote it. On the other hand, the more important aspect that made this message more clear included the illustrations. In the background, the reader can see the treehouse in another tree, as the family dog is standing on Steve’s trunk looking out. The picture reassures this message of positive persistence despite great and unfortunate change. Through the story, pictures support the idea of death because of the contrast in different scenes. Right after Steve’s death, the pictures were portrayed as very dark and gloomy — an example being one in which the family dog is slumped over and noticeably depressed. After this, the bright colors in the treehouse scene assist in constructing the idea that death is not just

Rubacky something to dread. Death is inevitable, but it is crucial to celebrate one's life and remember this person (or thing, in the case of Steve) for all that they accomplished or provided for others. Turn their life into something to be remembered. Inevitably, the cause of these various interpretations include the amount of knowledge the reader has when reading. As a child, typically the thought of death rarely comes up due to the best efforts of parents to hinder them from learning about it. The negative connotation is why many adults dodge it with their children or at least cover up the real meaning of what happens in demise. Death truly did not even pass my mind when I read this at a much younger age, however, now looking more into the end of the book, it is incredibly clear. From my years of being a child to now, I always had thought of this book as teaching kids to never feel alone and to know that they will always have a space to find peace and a friend. Not only did the words change the message portrayed from this book, but the pictures played an even bigger role. The pictures contrasted the good and bad components of death, especially at the end. If the treehouse was not pictured in the back with the dog looking out from Steve’s old stump, it would not be clear that the family turned Steve into a treehouse, let alone decided to memorialize him. In a sense, the recreation of Steve is his equivalent of a human burial. The treehouse acts as a reminder of him, as does a gravestone and casket in a graveyard. Undeniably, the kids in the book come to realize that mortality is an inevitable concept, though death should focus on the recollection of memories and remembrance of one through their life. Through inference and analysis, one is led to the message that although death is inevitable, it is crucial to commemorate the departed.

Rubacky

Work Cited Zweibel, Alan, and David Catrow. Our Tree Named Steve. Teaching Strategies, Inc., 2005....