The Tree, a short story by H. P. Lovecraft, was written by him in 1920. This story is set in ancient Greece. It’s about two sculptors who are best friends, who live together in a house, and who support each other in everything they do. They’re not alike – one loves to party, while the other enjoys quiet meditations in the olive groves. Still, they are very close.
Then a tyrant from Syracuse creates a competition, setting the two men against each other.
At first it seems like the two sculptors are doing all right with the challenge. They work in the same studio, watching each other work, and living their lives. Then the olive grove sculptor starts to get sick. Over time he gets sicker and sicker. The party-friend is very upset by this and tends to the grove guy hand and foot. Doctors can’t seem to figure out what’s wrong.
Olive grove guy asks to be buried with olive twigs near his body. And then he dies in his olive grove.
Shattered, his friend indeed buries the friend with olive twigs, creates a gorgeous marble resting place, and then goes back to work. He creates a beautiful statue for the tyrant. The olive twigs grow into massive trees with thick branches. Finally the sculptor sends word that, after three years, his piece is complete. The tyrant sends messengers to pick up the sculpture.
That very night, a huge storm comes. A large branch which stretched over the studio smashes down. It completely destroys the home and the sculpture. Not even a trace of the sculpture remains. Also, the remaining living sculptor is now completely missing. They don’t even find his mangled body. And the tree whispers “I know, I know.”
I enjoy the lovely language Lovecraft uses to create his scenes, but the plot here is as dense as could be. Just after the story was published, Lovecraft wrote an essay “In Defense of Dagon”. The essay primarily deals with people who are complaining about his Dagon story, but it does mention a few other stories. To the critic who had complained that the ending of The Tree had an insufficient climax, Lovecraft retorts: “It is to proclaim what has hitherto been doubtful—to shew that the things of Nature see behind human hypocrisy and perceive the baseness at the heart of outward virtue. All the world deems Musides a model of fraternal piety and devotion although in truth he poisoned Kalos when he saw his laurels in peril.”
That may have been what Lovecraft intended, but as an author he failed, given how many readers seem to have completely missed that thought and came up with completely wild interpretations of what was going on.
Anyway, I’m grateful that the story avoids racism. So if its main issue is that it’s too vague on what the actual key plot twist is, well, I can live with that.
Here’s the story of The Tree, to read for yourself:
https://hplovecraft.com/writings/texts/fiction/tr.aspx
Here’s my video review: