A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith

The Nolan’s are a young family, living in Brooklyn, New York. The members of the Nolan family are the main characters in the novel A Tree Grows In Brooklyn, beautifully written by Betty Smith. Johnny, Katie, and their two children Francie and Neely portray how life was in Brooklyn during the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. This family is forced to make many important decisions, as all families must do. However, unfortunately often times the best outcome was not the end result.

Before the birth of Katie and Johnny’s first child (Francie) the couple lived a stress free life. Johnny and Katie lived and worked together, happily married at the age sixteen. They worked the night shift together at a school, where they put items away as well as cleaned classrooms. They enjoyed this job since they laughed, relaxed, danced, and romanced, while working, not to mention they had the entire day before them where they could do whatever they pleased. Upon the expectancy of their first child, everything drastically changed. Katie’s pregnancy rendered her unable to perform certain janitorial tasks. The Nolan’s could no longer work the night shift, since Johnny could not do it alone. Johnny could not work their night shifts alone. They were forced to quit their once convenient occupation as janitors. Johnny decided he would have to find a new job. He chose to follow his past, working as a Singer/Waiter as he had previously done up until his marriage to Katie.

The decision which Johnny made that I felt could have been a wiser one, was his decision to work as a waiter at a restaurant which had a bar. The reason I feel this was not a good choice was because it placed Johnny in an environment which made him vulnerable to drink. Because of his immense liking of alcohol he had a tendency to over-indulge. This was a problem because he woulkd not use his earnings wisely. Johnny would spend his tips on drinks, leaving only his non-steady nights pay to bring back to his family. Since he never knew how many nights he would be scheduled to work, his tips were a valuable source of income.

When the Nolan’s were now raising their two children on a single income and already poor, Johnny not bringing home his entire earnings was a definite misfortune for the children. Francie and Neely got very little food and wore raggy clothes.