The Hollow Tree Symbol Analysis

Zachary Hand spends most of his time carving depictions of Biblical stories into a hollow tree on Apple Island, and this hollow tree symbolizes the importance of both art and religion to the islanders. In many ways, This Other Eden is itself a retelling of religious stories, taking the strongest inspiration from Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden and Noah’s Ark (which also contains a great flood). Although Zachary is diligent about his work, he keeps returning to it to add more details, because he is never satisfied that he has depicted everything. This reflects how both art and religion are less about achieving specific goals and more about lifelong processes that require constant diligence.

Additionally, trees have special significance on Apple Island. Apple trees are what initially allowed settlers to live on the island, and a large tree was the lifeline that allowed many members of the Honey family to survive the great flood. Zachary Hand makes this connection between trees and survival even more literal by using the hollow tree as a house. Because the tree is full of artistic depictions of religious stories, it also represents how art and religion connect to survival. At the end of the novel, Zachary Hand decides to burn his hollow tree himself rather than let government employees burn it, symbolically offering his life’s work up to God rather than leaving it behind for white men who wouldn’t understand it. Ultimately, the hollow tree symbolizes how art, religion, and nature all intersect on Apple Island, sustaining the islanders.