Over the summer I read A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith. Set in the early 20th century, the story focuses on a young girl living in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. The girl, Francie, lives in extreme poverty. Her father worked as a singing waiter in bars and her mother as a janitress. The story follows Francie and her younger brother Neely through their adolescence. Over the course of the novel, Francie changes quite a bit.
As a child, Francie had a huge imagination. She dreamt of faraway places, with children just like her living there. Not only did she dream about places faraway, but she dreamt about Manhattan, just across the river. She dreamt about going across the bridge everyday for work, and being a part of this new and exciting world. But when Francie's father dies from alcohol induced pneumonia, she has to delay high school and start working. She works as a newspaper clipper, reading newspapers all day. Having to take the train into Manhattan every morning, she realizes it's not all that's cracked up to be. When she imagined riding the train over the bridge she imagined "crossing it would make her feel like a gossamer-winged fairy flying through the air." But in reality, it felt no different. Francie says, "New York was disappointing. The buildings were higher and the crowds thicker; otherwise it was little different from Brooklyn." Francie then decided she had seen it all; that every where had a piece of Brooklyn in it so where ever she went there would be nothing new and she would be disappointed.
When Francie was young, she loved to write. But all of her writing was for school, so she wrote what her teachers wanted to read. She wrote beautiful stories, funny stories, heroic stories, happy stories, and, of course, she received all A's. By the eight grade she began to write stories of the things around her. She wrote stories of poverty, alcoholism, death, and sexual assault. Her teacher tells Francie that her stories are horrible and she should burn them. Francie goes home and does just that, but instead she burns all of the pieces she got an A on. Francie decides she will write the truth, not some version of the truth her teachers want to hear. This symbolizes her breaking away from the structure of school and becoming more independent, her learning how to put her needs and wants first. Francie never does go to high school. But she takes summer school classes at a local college and steals her brother's geometry textbook to study it. She essentially teaches herself high school and she manages to pass the regents tests and go on to college.
Through the book Francie changes and matures. As she gets older, Francie becomes jaded about new experiences. But in spite of her jaded attitude, Francie still goes away for college. Francie also learns how to become more independent and do what she wants to do. Overall, Francie changes for the better.
When Francie was young, she loved to write. But all of her writing was for school, so she wrote what her teachers wanted to read. She wrote beautiful stories, funny stories, heroic stories, happy stories, and, of course, she received all A's. By the eight grade she began to write stories of the things around her. She wrote stories of poverty, alcoholism, death, and sexual assault. Her teacher tells Francie that her stories are horrible and she should burn them. Francie goes home and does just that, but instead she burns all of the pieces she got an A on. Francie decides she will write the truth, not some version of the truth her teachers want to hear. This symbolizes her breaking away from the structure of school and becoming more independent, her learning how to put her needs and wants first. Francie never does go to high school. But she takes summer school classes at a local college and steals her brother's geometry textbook to study it. She essentially teaches herself high school and she manages to pass the regents tests and go on to college.
Through the book Francie changes and matures. As she gets older, Francie becomes jaded about new experiences. But in spite of her jaded attitude, Francie still goes away for college. Francie also learns how to become more independent and do what she wants to do. Overall, Francie changes for the better.
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