A Tree Grows In Broklyn Essay, Research Paper

Betty Wehner Smith s alone ability to capture the world of American society in the early 19 100s is seen in the novel A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. The scene of the fresh stems really much from the writer s ain childhood. Society can truly associate to this narrative, as it has a topographic point in every American household s roots. The time-defying novel evokes sympathy by stating the narrative of a immature impoverished household, comparing their unsmooth lives to a relentless tree indigen to Brooklyn, New York.

Betty Smith was born on December 15, 1904 in Brooklyn, New York and was raised in the Williamsburg subdivision of Brooklyn. Her name was originally Elisabeth Keogh. Smith attended public schools until the age of 14 when, holding completed 8th class, she began working at a series of mill and clerical occupations. An devouring reader as a immature miss, she besides wrote verse forms and acted in recreational productions at the Williamsburg YMCA. Traveling to the Midwest, she met and married George Smith, a jurisprudence pupil at the University of Michigan. There her two girls were born. She audited literature and authorship categories at the university and, although non a regular pupil, had two dramas published in a aggregation of undergraduate work and won an Avery Hopwood award ( Collins 23-25 ) .

From 1930 to 1934 Smith studied with George Pierce Baker and others at the Yale Drama School. Smith s foremost two matrimonies ended in divorce. After the first divorce, Smith accepted a Rockefeller family in playwriting at the University of North Carolina. She remained in Chapel Hill, composing and on occasion talking at the university, besides playing little functions in local productions. Her 3rd hubby, Robert

Finch, a author with whom she had collaborated on several dramas, died about a twelvemonth and a

half after their matrimony ( Collins 25-28 ) .

A playwright by disposition, Smith wrote over 70 dramas and edited several aggregations and texts for play categories. Most of her dramas were non published and none received critical acclamation or even major professional public presentations. Typical of her dramas meant for young person groups or schools are The Boy, Abe and First Sorrows, both about the immature Abe Lincoln and the decease of his female parent. Other one-act dramas range in tone from burlesque to mawkishness and in puting from a mid-nineteenth-century rural political mass meeting to the pavement in forepart of an illegal abortionist s office on a late depression epoch Christmas Eve ( Martin 3 ) .

Though she preferred play, Smith won her celebrity through fiction. Pulling upon her ain memories and those of her female parent, she expanded an earlier work, Francie Nolan, into A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, her most successful novel. It sold 1000000s of transcripts and was made into a film and a Broadway musical. Whereas the secret plan and much of the authorship can be criticized for inordinate mawkishness, the strength of this extremely autobiographical novel lies in the profusion of item with which Smith recreates a immature miss s childhood and adolescence in the slums of early-twentieth-century Brooklyn, including both the strivings of a destitute childhood and the good times. The characters are graphic and 3-dimensional and even the minor characters come alive as recognizable types. Smith evidently drew to a great extent upon her ain experiences for the stuff of her novels. Her accurate ear for duologue is the strength in all of them ( Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith: curriculum unit 15-16 ) .

The anchor of A Tree Grows in Brooklyn is Francie s life. We follow her, twenty-four hours by twenty-four hours throughout her dreams, adversities, letdowns and triumphs. It is a fantastic narrative of a immature miss who ne’er loses religion in the result of her life. Her female parent, Katie Rommely Nolan, is portrayed as a singular adult female whose methods of endurance are beyond admirable. Her male parent, Johnny Nolan, is a rummy faced with the day-to-day pick between duty and freedom, finally trying to do a via media between the two. Many thoughts and imposts are presented in the novel, such as alcohol addiction, Irish-Americans, and the Roman Catholic Church and serve to qualify the Nolan household. The full narrative, stating the life of a immature household, is symbolized by a tree looked upon as dirty and bothersome by most of the universe, but is beautiful to Francie and her female parent, Katie ( Mac 1 ) .

The novel opens with Francie at age eleven and explains the manner things are soon. Francie and her younger brother, Neeley collect old metal and rubbish for the local debris aggregator in exchange for a few pennies. Half the pennies are spent at the confect shop and half are saved in the Sn can bank nailed to the corner of the Nolan s cupboard, which will be used to purchase land when 50 dollars are collected. Francie spends the remainder of her clip running errands for her female parent, seeking to cut trades with the local sellers on old nutrient, and besides reading every book in the library ( Smith 7-75 ) .

The novel returns back in clip when Katie is 17 and she is introduced to Johnny Nolan, who is dating her best friend. She and Johnny are married six months subsequently and less than a twelvemonth after that, Francie is born. Neeley comes less than two old ages afterwards. The novel is than focused on a immature household fighting to do terminals run into

on Johnny s tips as a vocalizing server, the 1s non spent on spirits, and on Katie s rewards as a janitor. The secret plan continues from here, with several calamities along the manner. Johnny finally drinks himself to decease, deceasing of Pneumonia in a street trough. A consecutive slayer efforts to ravish and kill Francie when she is 14 old ages old, but Katie shoots him before he can do physical injury ( Smith 80-350 ) .

Much is besides learned about Katie and Johnny s households. Katie has three sisters, one reasonably normal, one in a convent as a nun, and one with behaviour resembling a cocotte s named Sissy. Johnny has two brothers, both dead before the age of 35 in tragic accidents ( Koller 3-4 ) .

Each of the members of the Nolan household has an interior struggle, which governs their lives. For Katie, it is the battle between giving up her hopes and aspirations to carry through her duties to her playboy hubby and immature kids. Katie is forced to populate with the effects of her picks early in life. She meets Johnny at the age of 17 and returns to steal him from her best friend because he can dance and is really fine-looking ( Smith 82 ) . They rush into matrimony and she is pregnant within a few months. The first grounds of his man-about-town behaviour is when Katie is in labour giving birth, he goes out and gets drunk. This becomes a modus operandi, non being able to keep a occupation and imbibing with what small money the household has. He and Katie both feel obligated to carry through their nuptials vows ( Smith 80-150 ) .

When Katie gives birth to Francie, and Neeley less than a twelvemonth subsequently, she feels hopeless and scared holding two oral cavities to feed and a hubby seeking to get away. Francie

is born weak, and Neeley is born beautiful and strong. Katie provinces, I must ne’er allow Francie cognize I love the male child more ( 153 ) . Katie instills the values of salvaging money and reading Shakespeare and the Bible in them at an early age. She wants her kids to be better equipped to manage the universe than she was ( Smith 150-200 ) .

As a immature adult female, Katie s dreams are to hold a better life Thursday

an her parents had. Mistakenly, she marries a rummy for a hubby, holding to look after him, every bit good as the kids. Daily, she experiences hopelessness and desperation, making all she can for her kids, trusting to fit them for better lives in the hereafter. She struggles with go forthing because she knows she can hold something better, but does non in trueness to her hubby and kids, and besides the Roman Catholic Church ( Smith 80-400 ) .

The symbol of the tree is seen here once more. This tree is a symbol to all people like Katie, trying to last in any manner possible. Many talk of cutting down the tree, but it will merely turn back. Katie Nolan is a hero because she has non chosen the best way for her life, but strives to do the best of it. Many obstructions have attempted to cut her down, but she continues to turn back ( Smith 100-430 ) .

Johnny faces a similar battle, but for more selfish grounds. Johnny s ideas are non so obvious as Katie s ideas, but are really clear when speaking about pigeons on the roof of their new place with Francie. Francie provinces, That boy stole a pigeon. And tomorrow person will steal on of his, answers Johnny. But the hapless pigeon, taken away from his dealingss. Possibly he s got kids. Cryings came into her eyes. I wouldn t call, said Johnny. Possibly the pigeon wanted to acquire away from his relations. If

he doesn T like his new henhouse, he ll wing back to the old 1 when he gets out once more. Francie was consoled ( Smith 110-111 ) .

Johnny seems to trust something beyond his control will take him from his household, along with all duties and duties. All he has of all time wanted is to party and drink. He stays because of guilt, and unhappily, he openly welcomes decease. His feelings and loss of romantic love toward Katie are shown in the state of affairs, Then he undressed and got into Katie s bed. She was sleepily cognizant of his presence and in one of her rare urges of fondness, she threw her arm across his thorax. He removed it gently and edged as far off from her as he could. He lay near to the wall. He folded his custodies under his caput and ballad gazing into the darkness all the remainder of the dark ( 133 ) . He does nil to take attention of his organic structure and finally withers off in the center on the dark in a alone street trough ( Smith 100-300 ) .

It is heartbreaking Johnny does non care really much about his household, because he is a unflawed graven image to Francie. In a manner, she feels the same manner as Katie, loving her female parent more than her male parent, as Katie loves Neeley more than Francie, doing her to experience guilty. While Francie and Johnny are staring at the Brooklyn Bridge, Francie contemplates the thought that Johnny really travels over that brilliant span, He went over that charming span and still talked and looked like ever? She couldn t get over it. She put out her manus and toughed his arm. Surely the fantastic experience of traveling over that span would do him experience different. She was defeated because his arm felt as it had ever felt ( 110 ) . Johnny besides has particular monikers for her, such as Prima Donna. Once he bandaged Francie s arm with his singlet. Francie feels healed. He

bandaged the arm. The fabric smelled warm and cigarish. But it was a cheering thing to the kid. It smelled of protection and love ( 132. )

Neeley, the in-between kid of the household, is besides more of a minor character in the household. His struggle is between trueness to his household and their life of poorness, and the desire to interrupt through and be a member of the more elect, money doing category of society. It is first apparent in his reaction to having his first new brace of long bloomerss for his male parent s funeral. She ( Katie ) bought Neeley a new black bloomerss suit with long bloomerss. It was his first long-pants suit, and pride, pleasance, and heartache fought in Neeley s bosom ( 251 ) . It is besides apparent in his feelings of having his ain sleeping room. Neeley s eyes jumped to his ain female parent s. A room of his ain! A dream semen true ; two dreams come true, long bloomerss and a room & # 8230 ; His eyes saddened so, as he thought of how these good things had come to him ( Smith 262 ) .

One other member of the Nolan household is Annie Laurie Nolan, whom Katie became impregnated shortly before Johnny died and was born a few months subsequently. She truly does non hold a strong function in the novel, and is described as a good babe and immature kid ( Smith 275-430 ) .

The novel, in regard to poorness and battle, is resolved when Katie decides to get married a stable, comfortable adult male named Mr. McShane. He is non similar Johnny, the manner Katie was swept off her pess by him, but instead a male parent figure who will supply the household stableness because Katie can non populate without a adult male. It was true. Katie had made up her head to get married him & # 8211 ; if he asked her & # 8211 ; merely because life was uncomplete without a adult male to love her. It had nil to make with her love for Johnny. She d ever love him. Her

feelings for McShane were quieter. She admired and respected him and she knew she d be a good married woman to him ( 412 ) . Francie and Neeley are largely satisfied with the matrimony, and know life will be really different from now on. Neeley provinces, It s certain a good interruption for mamma. Of class he isn t dad & # 8230 ; No. No 1 will of all time be & # 8230 ; dad. But aside from that, he s a nice adult male, though. Replies Francie. Laurie s traveling to hold a mighty easy life all right. Annie Laurie McShane! She ll ne’er have the difficult times we had, will she? No. And she ll ne’er have the merriment we had, either. Gosh! We did hold merriment, didn T we, Neeley? Yeah! Poor Laurie, said Francie compassionately ( Smith 413-414 ) .

Betty Smith is considered a minor writer by many, who has experienced the bulk of her celebrity while she is populating. She made many efforts at playwriting every bit good as novel authorship, and has non received the recognition she deserves. Smith provinces, One dark, & # 8230 ; I, an vague author populating softly and on modest agencies in a little Southern town, went to bed as usual. I woke up the following forenoon to be informed that I had become a famous person. My first novel, A Tree Grown in Brooklyn, had been published. With the innovation of the fictional Nolan household, the chief character, Francie Nolan, became about a national figure. To this twenty-four hours, continued Smith, people write or phone me inquiring where Francie Nolan & # 8230 ; is populating now ; has she married, how many kids she has, is she happy? & # 8230 ; One fifth of my letters start out, Dear Francie ( Collins 75-80 ) .

In footings of net income for Smith, over 4,000,000 transcripts have been sold of A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. It has been translated into 16 linguistic communications and has been made into a gesture image. Before publication of the book, she had offered to sell it to Hollywood for five thousand dollars and was refused. Because of its success, the film offer went

up to fifty thousand dollars, but Smith held out for 55 1000 because she still wanted that five thousand dollars ( Literary Encyclopedia of Authors 350 ) .

Through the superb novel, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, Betty Smith has related her ain childhood experiences to an audience of over 4,000,000. The relentless tree, which endures all adversities in the novel, is a chief symbol of the Nolans and all other households fighting to last over clip, faced with money jobs, immorality, and responsibility versus freedom. Finally the Nolans move beyond the tree, but the roots for good remain embedded within each one of them.

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