Foreword: "The Story of the Little Tree" is a Canadian film, written from "The Song of the Little Tree of The Young", although it has only 1574 reviews on Douban, it has a high score of 8.7. After the book "Song of the Little Tree of The Young" was published in the mainland, it became one of the hundred excellent books recommended by the General Administration of Press and Publication to young people.
The film tells the story of 8-year-old Indian boy Xiaoshu who, after losing his parents, is sent to Mount Smogee, Tennessee, to live with his grandparents. In the mountains, Xiaoshu and her grandparents began a new and happy life. However, happy times are always short-lived. Soon, Xiaoshu was forcibly sent to boarding school. The little tree is incompatible with the life of the boarding school.
Fortunately, shortly after the little tree was sent to the boarding school, my grandfather came to the boarding school and secretly brought the little tree back to the mountain. At the end of the film, my grandfather died after a fall on the mountain, and the next day, my grandmother died. Little Tree lives with her grandfather's good friend Willow John.
Today I will analyze from these three aspects - the trust and encouragement of grandparents: strengthen the courage of the little tree to overcome difficulties; the power of faith: the mysterious Sirius, let the little tree have hope in the face of difficulties; the correct view of life and death: in the face of death, the little tree can be strong and calm - why the little tree has experienced the death of his parents, prepared for discrimination, and can maintain a strong and brave character and live a happy life.
In the fourth part of the article, I will also combine the perspective of Xiaoshu's grandparents in this film to talk about how parents should teach their children to face difficulties with a positive attitude and develop a strong and courageous character.
The day after Xiaoshu arrived in the mountains, he went to work in the fields with his grandparents
Xiaoshu's grandfather was Scottish and his grandmother was Indian, and his grandfather fell in love with his grandmother when he was young, so he stayed in the mountains and lived a traditional Indian life. My grandfather brewed whiskey in the pure way that his family had passed down for more than 200 years, and sold the brewed wine to the bar down the hill. Although this was illegal and illegal, it was also a way of life for indians at that time. Each Indian in the mountains has its own secret base, where they carry out their own livelihood activities.
Once, xiaoshu found a liquor official on the way to find his secret base in the mountains, and he immediately ran to his grandfather's secret base to tell his grandfather about it, and when his grandfather heard this, he handed the wine to Xiaoshu and agreed to meet in the cabin. Grandfather asked Xiaoshu, "Can I do it?" Xiao Shu nodded firmly, "Yes." ”
On the way to the cabin, Xiaoshu collided with three bootleg officials. The three liquor officials obviously saw that Xiaoshu was carrying private liquor on his back, and coerced Xiaoshu to hand them the bag containing whiskey, Xiaoshu did not say a word and quickly ran to the mountain, with the help of the puppy, Xiaoshu finally got rid of the private liquor official.
Later, the little tree hid behind a large rock and covered the wine and itself in its entirety with leaves. It wasn't until the puppy came to him with his grandparents at night that he came out of the leaf pile, and he was still clutching the bag in his hand. Xiao Shu said proudly, "Not a single jar has been broken." Grandfather smiled and said, "You are better than Grandpa, and you will become the best winemaker in the mountains." ”
For an 8-year-old boy, carrying a heavy wine can is not an easy task. But Xiaoshu not only carried a heavy bag, but also had to face three tall bootlegger officials. If it was a child who lacked courage, he might hand over the bag under the coercion of the officials, but Xiaoshu did not.
I think it was my grandfather's trust in Xiaoshu that gave Xiaoshu the courage to overcome difficulties, get rid of private liquor officials, and protect the wine made by my grandfather, and Xiaoshu's inner sense of accomplishment suddenly emerged. This experience is also of great significance to his future growth, and he will have more courage in the face of difficulties.
Xiaoshu got rid of 3 bootlegging officers with the help of the puppy
Because the grandparents did not let Xiaoshu go to school, contrary to the state and federal laws at the time, the government considered the grandfather to be an incompetent guardian, so Xiaoshu was forced to be sent to boarding school and lived until the age of 18. In addition, because my grandfather had been imprisoned for selling bootleg liquor, even an appeal would not result. Although the family was reluctant to leave the tree, they had to accept such a result.
Before little trees set off for boarding school, grandmother asked little trees, "Sirius is the brightest star in the twilight, and no matter where you are at night, you can look up at Sirius, and your grandfather and I will see it, and John Willow will also look at it, and whatever you want to say to us, we will hear it." "Willow John was a good friend of his grandfather, and he was the mysterious Prophet of the Kiragi.
Loneliness is one of the most frightening things for a child. After experiencing the death of her parents and spending a short time with her grandparents, Xiaoshu had to face parting. The loneliness and uneasiness in his heart can be imagined, but fortunately, Sirius is still with him. Sirius in the film represents a kind of faith and companionship, and it is with sirius's company that Xiaoshu can face the lonely life in boarding school more strongly.
In American cultures, many native Americans of North America also associate Sirius with dogs, and some use Sirius as a guardian dog for the path of the soul. The pale and flickering Sirius with its blue light attracted countless lonely hearts.
Being an Indian made Little Tree discriminated against in school. As soon as he entered the school, the teacher told Xiaoshu that indian language could not be spoken in the school, only English. At the same time, the principal also changed the name of the little tree to joshua, because the principal believed that only Indians would use the name of things as a personal name, and since they entered a school run by Americans, they would change it to an American name. In boarding schools, whether it is eating habits or classroom teaching methods, Xiaoshu is not used to it. In class, Xiaoshu told the truth, but just because these truths were different from the teacher's views, Xiaoshu was locked up in the little black room to reflect.
In the little black room, the little tree felt lonely and afraid, and the little tree climbed to the cabinet of the little black room, looked at Sirius from the window, and talked to his grandfather and grandmother. He told his grandfather that he didn't want them to worry, but he couldn't cope with the school situation and wanted to go home. Maybe it was the grandparents who missed the little tree as well, maybe it was the magical power of Sirius, and one night, my grandfather came to the boarding school and secretly brought the little tree back to the mountain.
In my opinion, Xiaoshu's life in boarding school is uncomfortable and unhappy. In his days at boarding school, he missed his grandparents and life in the mountains all the time. He spoke to Sirius every night, and he told his grandparents that although the headmaster had given him a new name, he would always be a little tree.
But he did not "obediently give in" like other children, and he did not cry because he did not adapt, he just took these incomprehensions and grievances in his heart and told Sirius at night.
Little Tree looked at Sirius in the little black room and spoke to his grandparents
When grandfather was teaching the little tree to catch fish by the river, the little tree came across a rattlesnake, and just when he was afraid of helplessness, the grandfather came over and grabbed the rattlesnake and threw it away. Unfortunately, when my grandfather caught the rattlesnake, he accidentally bit the snake on his hand. Although my grandfather sucked out the poisonous blood for the first time, his hands were swollen and he collapsed to the ground weakly. The frightened little tree rushed home and told her grandmother that she had come to heal her grandfather.
When the grandmother hugged her grandfather, Xiaoshu asked the grandmother uneasily, "You have helped him heal, he should not die." The grandmother calmly told the little tree: "There are many ways to die, I have seen people walking around like us in the reclamation area, but they are like walking dead, because they have been greedy and despicable all their lives." The soul shrinks to a smaller size than a bean, and effort is the only way to elevate the soul. Even if your grandfather dies physically, he will remember us. ”
Perhaps, the 8-year-old Xiaoshu may not understand his grandmother's words, but his grandmother's open-minded attitude towards life and death has deeply affected Xiaoshu. The grandmother also made Xiaoshu understand that it is more important to try to improve the soul than to live in the body for a long time.
Under the healing of his grandmother, my grandfather recovered. However, my grandfather's health was not as good as before, and when he went to the bar down the hill to sell wine, his grandfather's pace became slower and slower, and the wine cans were carried by small trees. Once, my grandfather fell on a mountain and died soon after. The next day, my grandmother also passed away. Grandmother left a note for the little tree: If you need us whenever you need us, look up at Sirius, we will always be there.
Xiaoshu did not collapse and did not lose hope in life when he lost his dear grandparents, and I think this is not unrelated to what his grandmother said to him. Although he climbed to the top of the mountain the night his grandmother died and looked at Sirius to tell his grandparents that he was lonely and why he was always left alone. But he still followed his grandmother's words and thought about how he could get closer to the way of nature, and thus closer to his grandparents.
The little tree climbed to the top of the mountain after the death of his grandparents
Released in 1997, the film is set in a much older setting, but the way grandparents educate their children still has a lot to learn from.
(1) Mobilize children's own enthusiasm: Let children do it themselves is the way to learn
On Sunday, my grandparents took the little tree to church, and one of them sold the calf who was about to die of illness to the little tree for 5 cents. On the way home, Xiaoshu was holding the calf while telling his grandfather that the other party was a Christian and a kind person, so he did not take advantage of others. As a result, halfway down the road, the calf suddenly fell to the ground and died. The grandfather crouched down to check and told the little tree that the calf had a serious liver disease.
At dinner, Grandfather said to The Little Tree, "If I don't let you buy calves, you'll always keep it in your heart." If I told you to buy it, you would blame me. In my grandfather's view, letting children do it themselves is the way to learn, which is more useful than ten thousand sentences reminded by adults.
In real life, in order to let children take fewer detours and step on the pit, many parents constantly remind their children and warn their children, but the effect is not satisfactory. Many times, the child is still obstinate, and only when the child steps on the pit and falls, he knows that the family's reminder is right.
In fact, many things, only the child himself has really experienced, he can deeply understand the truth, can summarize the reliable experience, to prevent the next time to make mistakes. We blindly protect children and let them step on the pit less, in fact, not to help them grow, but to harm them to go slower. Because the next time they encounter the same thing, if the parents don't remind them, the child may still make mistakes.
Grandfather chatted with the little tree at dinner
(2) It is better to teach mermaids than to teach people to fish: let children have a skill
From the time Xiaoshu came to the mountains, his grandfather taught him to brew whisky in a pure way, so that Xiaoshu could have a skill to make a living, in case the economy was sluggish in the future. And, he asked Xiaoshu to find his "secret base"—just like the other Indians. Brewing good wine, grandfather let the little tree carry it to the bar down the hill to sell, and the little tree also got 5 cents for it.
In this way, the grandfather made Xiaoshu understand that only through his own labor could he get paid. In addition, my grandfather taught him farm work in the trunk field of small trees and taught him how to catch fish in the river. Grandfather taught Xiaoshu these skills so that Xiaoshu could take care of himself in the future.
On the other hand, many children are too well protected, and they can't even take care of themselves. Therefore, as parents, we must not only create a good living environment for our children, but also teach children how to live and how to tap what they are interested in and good at. This is more important to the growth of a child's life than academic performance.
Grandfather taught the little tree to make whiskey
(3) Face up to "death education": learning to say goodbye and respect life is a compulsory course for every child
Xiaoshu has faced three deaths: one is the death of his parents, the second is the death of the calf bought by Xiaoshu, and the third is the death of his grandparents. The causes and consequences of the death of the parents are not specifically shown in the film; the death of the grandparents and the psychological state of the little tree are already covered in the first part. Now, let's look at how the grandmother taught the little tree when the calf died.
When the calf died in front of the little tree, the little tree did not believe that this was true, and he touched the body of the calf and said, "It is not dead." At this time, the grandmother came over and calmly told the little tree: "It is dead, and what is dead cannot be resurrected." "Grandmother brought home the dead calf as dinner for the puppy, and sold the cowhide, giving the little tree the money in exchange for the sale of the cowhide.
In our daily lives, we always want to show our children the beautiful and positive side of the world, and we are very shy about the word "death". When someone around him dies, he will also tell the child in a euphemistic way that the relative has gone to heaven and gone to a far, far away place.
In fact, facing death squarely and learning to say goodbye is a compulsory course in the growth of every child. Only by facing death can we better respect life and cherish the present.
In short, in life, we will encounter all kinds of unhappiness: the death of relatives, the separation of friends, the ridicule and discrimination of others... But we must adjust our mentality, be strong and brave to meet the beauty and suffering in life, just like the small tree in the film, no matter how afraid and lonely, we must also keep the bravery and kindness in our hearts and live actively.