The Missing Piece Is About Finding Peace

When I think of Shel Silverstein, poetry is the first thing that always comes to mind. But I know from The Giving Tree that Silverstein penned some terrific prose stories as well. The Missing Piece is such a story.

If you were to close your eyes and pick this book out of a stack of Silverstein books, you might well mistake it for a collection of poetry, since it's nearly as thick as such volumes as Where the Sidewalk Ends and A Light in the Attic. But open it up and you'll soon see this is something quite different.

It's a simple story set against a stark landscape. Many pages show only a long line indicative of a stretch of land and a downcast circle with a dot of an eye and a missing piece, which makes it look like a cross between Pacman and the Zoloft mascot. This circular fellow is defined by the fact that he is missing a piece. He spends most of the book looking for it, and Silverstein tells us that he is not happy, though after our initial introduction to him, he often seems to wear a smile rather than a frown as he rolls slowly along, adventure and longing in his heart.

Most of the two-page spreads in this book have only a sentence or two. In several cases, one sentence stretches across four pages, or even six, inviting careful contemplation of each phrase. Silverstein's very basic drawings are effective in illustrating this round fellow's journey. He meets squares and triangles who, like him, are basic geometric shapes aside from their single eyes. He encounters obstacles - stone walls, holes, swamps, snow, "adventures" (such as winding up with a massive arrow just where his missing piece should be). Through it all, he perseveres, undaunted by the elements and all of the potential companions rendered unsuitable because they are too big or too little, too brittle or too slippery. He ambles along, conversing with the flowers and the butterflies and singing a cheerful song.

If one reads this story as a poor lonely soul looking for romance, it seems that Silverstein ultimately makes the case that the single life is better. But I think The Missing Piece is more about the joy of the journey, about seeking desperately for one particular thing, only to find that, as Spock once said, having is not nearly so good a thing as wanting. In order to accept the fruits of his long search, the circle missing a wedge must give up most of the things that made his travels so enjoyable. At that point, a crucial decision must be made.

The Missing Piece seems to be geared more towards adults than children and is perhaps as much a self-help guide as a fanciful story. But it certainly works as a sort of fairy tale, which is impressive since the main character doesn't even have a name and has the most basic of features. Reading this book may make you more readily accept perceived flaws as gifts in disguise and think more carefully about why you want what you want. You may discover that you are missing a lot less than you think.