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Birds
For Janey, Tim, and Annie, a large bush they call the “crying tree” represents the healing power of nature. The crying tree gives the children a place to feel and express the pain and trauma they suffer as residents at the school without being observed (or, worse, punished) by harsh authority figures like Teacher. It promises comfort but not necessarily ease—in the past, Tim broke his leg by falling from it. This made other children think of the tree as unlucky. But for Janey, the incident instead pointed to the tree as a symbol of resilience and hope. After all, as she explains to Annie, Tim recovered—and it was actually lucky that he wasn’t hurt more seriously than he was. Perhaps most importantly for Annie, in the end the tree physically represents the sense of kinship she shares with Tim and Janey. By offering to share their special place of solace with her, the siblings invite her to join their improvised family. And the tree becomes a continuing place of connection even after Janey’s death, because it is where Tim and Annie both come—sometimes individually, sometimes together—to mourn Janey’s death and to remember what she meant to them.
Crying Tree Quotes in Sister Heart
The Sister Heart quotes below all refer to the symbol of Crying Tree. 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:
).
Chapter 2
Quotes
Crying tree is a big old tree
with branches stretching high
and a snug hollow
in the trunk
Janey says
Kids here got special place
to cry
This is me and Tim’s special place
but you can share it with us
At home I share
with my cousin brothers
and cousin sisters
and they share with me
Mum would like Janey sharing
Related Characters:
Related Symbols:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire Sister Heart LitChart as a printable PDF.
Crying Tree Symbol Timeline in Sister Heart
The timeline below shows where the symbol Crying Tree appears in Sister Heart. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 2
Janey offers to show Annie her and Tim’s “ crying tree .” On the way, they see more birds—magpies and a kookaburra. Janey draws a snake...
(full context)
The crying tree is large and old with a child-sized hollow in the trunk. Janey offers to share...
(full context)
...back of her legs. Annie shoves Teacher off and runs from the classroom to the crying tree .
(full context)
Later, after class and chores, Janey and Tim find Annie at the crying tree . As Janey inspects Annie’s injuries, Tim tells Annie how much he hates Teacher for...
(full context)
Chapter 3
...catch four, Nancy starts to cook them while Annie fetches Janey and Tim from the crying tree . Janey says Nurse gave her medicine and told her she just has a bad...
(full context)
...on finding a welcome back gift for Janey. Instead, she finds Tim curled into the crying tree , weeping. She climbs in beside him and asks him what’s wrong. He opens his...
(full context)
Nurse finds Tim and Annie weeping in the crying tree . She is apologetic. Now that it’s too late, she wishes she had let them...
(full context)
Chapter 4
Weeks later, Annie sits in the crying tree watching the wildlife in the bush. The blooms have all faded and she feels lonely...
(full context)
