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A Tree Grows In Brooklyn By Betty Smith

463 Words2 Pages

In the novel A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, Betty Smith teaches the readers about the importance of virtues through Francie Nolan who demonstrates the virtues of hope, love, and conscience. Francie demonstrates the virtue of hope on various occasions such as in chapter two when she visits the library where she ponders about her future and discusses her hopes and dreams of owning lots of books, as well as having her own library and adding to the two books she and Neeley shared; the “Bible” and the “Complete Works of Shakespeare”. She hoped to one day own a home with a parlor and her own freshly-sharpened pencils and bowl full of fresh nasturtiums opposed to rubber plants. She has high ambitions for her future. She also exhibited the virtue of …show more content…

Despite the fact that the tree was ten feet tall and she and Neeley were so small and frail she still had hope and believed that they had a chance at catching it without falling down once it was chucked at them. Having hope makes Francie more confident in herself and allows her to maintain a positive attitude which motivates her. It distracts her from the unhappiness around her and hope combined with faith and thankfulness allows her to find happiness within small things which come her way in her poverty-stricken life. Moreover, Francie demonstrates the virtue of love on various occasions through out the book. This is evident when Francie notices the favouritism Katie has towards Neeley. On Christmas when her mother throws a big fuss over Neeley’s gift than hers. She wanted her mother to love her like she loved Neeley but Francie herself loved her father Johnny more than she loved Katie. When they moved to the house with the piano Francie watched him sing and play the piano she started crying happy tears because she loved her dad and the piano. When Francie’s story got published in the magazine the first person she wanted to show was Johnny because she knew he’d be proud of her. When Francie wanted to switch schools she asked Johnny for help because she knew he cared about her happiness more

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