A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
Francie Nolan, A Questing Hero
In the fictional novel, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, Betty Smith tells the life experiences of one girl growing up in Brooklyn, New York. The main character of the book, Francie, fulfills the pattern of a questing hero. Smith leads the reader through the high points of Francie's life as well as the low. One learns of all the obstacles Francie accomplished and while reading, begins to love and appreciate the girl.
The reader is first introduced to Francie when she is at the age of eleven. Francie is an average, normal girl growing up in Brooklyn in the year 1912. She doesn't have many friends and her family doesn't have much money, however she enjoys reading and is constantly finding ways to amuse herself. Being as young and innocent as she is, life seems nearly perfect for Francie. Eventually though, Francie realizes that this isn't the case and, in a sense, looses a bit of her innocence.
On her thirteenth birthday, Francie starts to write in a journal. She begins by writing, "Today I am a woman". In just too short years, Francie grew, learned, and changed immensely. She is a completely different person than the one who existed two years earlier, both physically and mentally. Francie learned the serious and nearly devastating news that her father is a drunk, and she begins writing entries in her journal such as 'Jan 10: Papa sick today'. In her journal, Francie also wrote about her curiosity with sex. By this point in the book, Francie is no longer the girl that the reader first met, but she is now a young woman.
Although under a fake identity, Francie begins attending school and finds that she truly enjoys it. However, on her way home from school one day, at age fourteen, Francie experiences a horrific moment, one that can never be forgotten. She was molested and nearly raped by a neighborhood sex fiend. As if not traumatizing enough, Francie also watched her mother shoot the man in her defense. Not long after this, an even greater event takes place in Francie's life. She is informed of her father's death, that she is told had been caused of pneumonia.
Coping with her father's death is a struggle, yet Francie begins to live life again with the love of her family and by keeping herself preoccupied with other tasks.
“Picking up the pieces of their shattered lives was very, very difficult, but most survivors found a way to begin again.” Once again, Helen was faced with the struggle of living life day-to-day, trying not to continue feeling the pain of her past.
Francie had always felt distant from her mother. This is demonstrated from the plots conflict in the story. Betty Smith wrote, “Johnny grew in weakness and went further and further downhill. Francie felt the way her mother thought about her. She grew an answering hardness, paradoxically enough, brought them a little closer together because it made them more alike” (Smith 96). Referring to Johnny, Francie had always liked him more. Mrs. Smith showed the conflict arising in Francie and her mother. Toward the middle of the book, Francie’s father dies; the author does
involved troubling situations. Look at how she grew up. The book starts off during a time of Jim
...d longs for her elder sister and mother. Frances is a good person – at heart – and is always looking out for her younger sister. Moreover, even though she has different views that her father and will always do the opposite of what is expected of her, it is seen that this insecurity is caused by James indeed. Frances feels that in order to gain security in her life, she must perform these actions. She feels compelled to live her life the way she does. Frances’s naughty and mischievous behaviour can be viewed as a weakness she possesses, and she longs to correct these weaknesses by her actions. She is not a role model by any means, but she is by no means the Devil’s advocate. A sincere heart – compelled by circumstances – does its best to make the situation turn out for the better than the worse, and Frances, through her love for her mother, inevitably does just that.
The novel, ‘A Tree Grows in the Brooklyn’ by Betty Smith explores the story of Francie’s fall from innocence and her coming of age. Francie eventually learns to value life more as she grew up. She experiences an assertion of life when the Americans initially enter the war that she must live each day the best she can. Francie aptly realizes that the minor issues in life that most people overlook constitute the much-needed happiness. The author underscores that Francie espouses desirable qualities from both her father and mother. Mary Frances Nolan is the daughter of second-generation Americans staying in Brooklyn and is the protagonist of the novel. Katie Nolan is Francie’s mom and hails from a family of strong women. Katie’s oldest sister, Aunty Sissy, is the only daughter of Mary Romney 's who has not learned to read and write. Aunty Sissy has the reputation of being perceived as an easy woman. Aunty Evy is Katie’s older sister and is portrayed as hard working and practical. Mary Rommely is Francie’s maternal grandmother who immigrated to America from Poland. Mary is a devout Catholic and believes in the supernatural. The paper lays a discussion about a heavenly tree, a tree of familial love that grows in Brooklyn, and that survives in any condition no matter how favorable or harsh it may be.
The novel “A Tree Grows in Brooklyn” by Betty Smith is a both significant and interesting novel for its fascinating story of Francie Nolan’s physical and emotional growth. To begin, young Francie lets the reader understand that even through poverty, it is important to enjoy the little things in life, to value life itself even when it is evidently polluted by greed. Secondly, as Francie grows up, her fall from innocence during her conflicts in life causes her not to be jaded with the world but to become stronger. Growing up is filled with both joy and acrimony, and Francie Nolan’s life is a great example of how a young woman should grow up to be.
In contrast to Lucy Temple, Charlotte’s mother, La Rue was cunning, selfish, and manipulative. As Charlotte spent time with La Rue going to meet Montraville and Belcour, she constantly questions whether she should be accompanying her friend or not. Initially, she will conclude that it is a bad idea, but eventually comes along anyway. Sometimes, La Rue played a hand in persuading Charlotte to come, but others Charlotte would plan that the visit would be her last, but continue anyway. A turning point in the beginning of the novel occurs when La Rue convinces Charlotte to read Montraville’s letter. At first, Charlotte is hesitant, stating that her mother told her to let her read through letters from men before reading it herself. La Rue quickly dismisses this by exaggerating the absurdity of Charlotte’s notion. Once she read the letter, “Charlotte had taken one step in the ways of imprudence; and when that is once done, there are always innumerable obstacles to prevent the erring person returning to the path of rectitude” (Rowson 29). In making this decision, Charlotte already knew that she should not read the letter. This event serves as the beginning to Charlotte’s
Looking back on the death of Larissa’s son, Zebedee Breeze, Lorraine examines Larissa’s response to the passing of her child. Lorraine says, “I never saw her cry that day or any other. She never mentioned her sons.” (Senior 311). This statement from Lorraine shows how even though Larissa was devastated by the news of her son’s passing, she had to keep going. Women in Larissa’s position did not have the luxury of stopping everything to grieve. While someone in Lorraine’s position could take time to grieve and recover from the loss of a loved one, Larissa was expected to keep working despite the grief she felt. One of the saddest things about Zebedee’s passing, was that Larissa had to leave him and was not able to stay with her family because she had to take care of other families. Not only did Larissa have the strength to move on and keep working after her son’s passing, Larissa and other women like her also had no choice but to leave their families in order to find a way to support them. As a child, Lorraine did not understand the strength Larissa must have had to leave her family to take care of someone else’s
Betty Smith’s books have had a large impact on American culture. Although Smith never surpassed a high school education, her novels still became world renowned. According to the article, “Biography of Betty Smith, Author of A Tree Grows in Brooklyn,” spawning from a rejected play, Smith’s book A Tree Grows in Brooklyn became a “social phenomena: it was widely publicized as one of the best novels of 1943, it was read by thousands, and it became the staple of religious and social club discussions.” By 1994 A Tree Grows in Brooklyn had sold over “six million copies worldwide” (Jones, 1994). People enjoyed the book because “Smith managed to give voice to the underclass, to give color and radiance to supposedly squalid environments” (Jones, 1994). A Tree Grows in Brooklyn was turned into a film when “Twentieth-Century Fox paid $50,000 for the movie rights” and it won three Academy awards (Glover, 1972). Later, the book would turn into a Broadway musical and run for over a year. It was also turned into a “radio serial, appeared later on TV as a ‘late show,’ and was the basis for a comic strip.” Joy in the Morning also received huge success and became a movie in 1965. Her books were translated into numerous foreign languages including
Her parents meet at a social gathering in town and where married shortly thereafter. Marie’s name was chosen by her grandmother and mother, “because they loved to read the list was quite long with much debate over each name.” If she was a boy her name would have been Francis, so she is very happy to have born a girl. Marie’s great uncle was a physician and delivered her in the local hospital. Her mother, was a housewife, as was the norm in those days and her father ran his own business. Her mother was very close with her parents, two brothers, and two sisters. When her grandmother was diagnosed with asthma the family had to move. In those days a warm and dry climate was recommended, Arizona was the chosen state. Because her grandma could never quite leave home, KY, the family made many trips between the states. These trips back and forth dominated Marie’s childhood with her uncles and aunts being her childhood playmates.
The childhood of Frances Piper consists of inadequate love, loss of innocence and lack of concern, ultimately leading to her disastrous life. As a six year old child, she encounters several traumatic events, explicitly the death of her loved ones and the loss of her innocence. Over the course of one week, there have been three deaths, two funerals and two burials in the Piper family. “Frances was crying so hard now that Mercedes got worried. ‘I want my Mumma to come ba-a-a-a-ack.’”( McDonald 174). As a young child, there is nothing more upsetting than losing a mother. A family is meant to comfort each other to fulfill the loss of a loved one; however, this is not the case in the Piper family. Mercedes, only a year older than Frances, tries to console her even though she herself is worried. The loss of motherly love and affection has a tremendous impact on her future since now her sole guardian, James, expresses no responsibility towards her. Instead, he molests Frances on the night of Kathleen’s funeral to lessen the grief of his lost daughter. As a result “These disturbing experiences plague Frances with overwhelming feelings of low self worth and guilt that haunt h...
Authors often use their characters to teach major lessons to the reader. The lessons the reader often learns are life lessons, which are learned through the hardships of the main character. Betty Smith is no different with the use of Francie Nolan, the main character of A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, to teach the reader many life lessons. In the novel A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, the protagonist, Francie Nolan faces the difficulty of poverty, which teaches the reader life lessons such as resilience, perseverance, and intelligence.
The Bean Trees is a novel which shows Taylor’s maturation; it is a bildungsroman story. Taylor is a developing or dynamic character. Her moral qualities and outlook undergo a permanent change. When the novel begins, Taylor is an independent-minded young woman embarking on an adventure to a new world. She has no cares or worries. She is confident in her abilities, and is determined to make it through life on her own. As she discovers new things and meets new people, Taylor is exposed to the realities of the world. She learns about the plight of abandoned children and of illegal immigrants. She learns how to give help and how to depend upon the help of others. As she interacts with others, those people are likewise affected by Taylor. The other developing characters are Lou Ann Ruiz, Turtle, and Esperanza. Together they learn the importance of interdependence and find their confidence.
The main character in A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith, is certainly the brilliant and resourceful Francie Nolan, however, three other characters in the novel deserve credit for guiding Francie through her troublesome childhood. Francie Nolan grows up in the slums of Williamsburg, Brooklyn in the early 1900s. Despite Francie’s lifestyle of poverty and distress, she manages to work several respectable jobs, attend college and, fall in love. Although Francie works hard, she would not have been able to survive without the encouragement and support of Johnny Nolan, Sissy Rommely and Katie Nolan.
Betty Smith’s novel A Tree Grows In Brooklyn is a tale of poignant family relationships and childhood and also of grim privation. The story revolves around the protagonist of the story, young Francie Nolan. She is an imaginative, endearing 11-year-old girl growing up in 1912, in Brooklyn, New York. The entire story revolves around Francie and the Nolan family, including her brother Neelie, her mother Katie and her father Johnny. An ensemble of high relief characters aids and abets them in their journey through this story of sometimes bleak survival and everlasting hope. As we find out, the struggle for survival is primarily focused against the antagonist of this story, the hard-grinding poverty afflicting Francie, the Nolan’s and Brooklyn itself. The hope in the novel is shown symbolically in the “The “Tree of Heaven””. A symbol used throughout the novel to show hope, perseverance and to highlight other key points.