Previous
The Little Boy
Spring, Summer, and Autumn are the seasons personified. At the beginning of the story, they bless the Giant’s garden with good weather—until he ousts the children from his garden, at which point they leave, repulsed by the Giant’s selfishness. The seasons’ disfavor shows that the Giant’s selfish ways go against the natural order and thus deserve punishment from above.
Spring, Summer, and Autumn Quotes in The Selfish Giant
The The Selfish Giant quotes below are all either spoken by Spring, Summer, and Autumn or refer to Spring, Summer, and Autumn. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
The Selfish Giant Quotes
“I cannot understand why the Spring is so late in coming,” said the Selfish Giant, as he sat at the window and looked out at his cold white garden; “I hope there will be a change in the weather.”
Related Characters:
Related Symbols:
Related Themes:
Related Literary Devices:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
The Autumn gave golden fruit to every garden, but to the Giant’s garden she gave none. “He is too selfish,” she said. So it was always Winter there, and the North Wind, and the Hail, and the Frost, and the Snow danced about through the trees.
Related Characters:
Related Symbols:
Related Themes:
Related Literary Devices:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
One morning the Giant was lying awake in bed when he heard some lovely music. It sounded so sweet to his ears that he thought it must be the King's musicians passing by. It was really only a little linnet singing outside his window, but it was so long since he had heard a bird sing in his garden that it seemed to him to be the most beautiful music in the world.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
“How selfish I have been!” he said; “now I know why the Spring would not come here. I will put that poor little boy on the top of the tree, and then I will knock down the wall, and my garden shall be the children’s playground for ever and ever.” He was really very sorry for what he had done.
Related Characters:
Related Symbols:
Related Themes:
Related Literary Devices:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire The Selfish Giant LitChart as a printable PDF.
"My students can't get enough of your charts and their results have gone through the roof." -Graham S.
Spring, Summer, and Autumn Character Timeline in The Selfish Giant
The timeline below shows where the character Spring, Summer, and Autumn appears in The Selfish Giant. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
The Selfish Giant
When Spring arrives, the Giant’s garden remains trapped in Winter, as all the trappings of springtime—the birds,...
(full context)
Meanwhile, Spring, Summer, and Autumn all refuse to appear, on account of the Giant’s selfishness, and the...
(full context)
Upon looking outside, the Giant sees “a most wonderful sight.” Spring has indeed returned to his garden—because the children have also returned. They crept inside through...
(full context)
...“the Giant’s heart melt[s],” and he understands at once that his selfishness is what kept Spring away. Immediately he vows to make amends: “I will put that poor little boy on...
(full context)
...the children realize that the Giant now means well. They return to the garden, bringing Spring with them. The Giant declares, “It is your garden now, little children,” and he knocks...
(full context)
...morning in Winter—which he no longer hates, “for he knew that it was merely the Spring asleep”—the Giant awakes to a miraculous sight. The tree in the farthest corner of the...
(full context)
