The Selfish Giant
by Oscar Wilde
Category: Fiction

"The Selfish Giant" is a short fantasy story for children by the Irish author Oscar Wilde. The story's plot revolves around a giant who builds a wall to keep children out of his garden, but learns compassion from the innocence of the children. The short story contains significant religious imagery. The Selfish Giant owns a beautiful garden which has 12 peach trees and lovely fragrant flowers, in which children love to play after returning from the school. The Giant put a notice board "TRESPASSERS WILL BE PROSECUTED". The garden falls into perpetual winter. One day, the giant is awakened by a linnet, and discovers that spring has returned to the garden, as the children have found a way in through a gap in the wall… It was first published in 1888 in the anthology The Happy Prince and Other Tales, which, in addition to its title story, also includes "The Nightingale and the Rose", “The Happy Prince”, "The Devoted Friend" and "The Remarkable Rocket".