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A Tree Grows In Brooklyn Essay

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Tenement districts in Brooklyn throughout the early 1900s provided challenges that entire families were forced to handle. A Tree Grows In Brooklyn, by Betty Smith, depicts the Nolan family facing difficulties that even children had to overcome while they lived in one of these districts. Francie Nolan, the main character of the novel, is faced with the greatest difficulty of them all: growing up. Poverty was one aspect of Francie’s life that caused her to lack certain fundamental features of a regular child’s life. This is shown through Francie consistently being without food due to poverty, and having to discover for herself in a very difficult way that hunger was a painfully real issue. Food is essential to a growing child and while she may have grown accustomed to hunger pains, Francie was deprived of important nutrients. When the family did have food, it was often only bread or inexpensive meat; vegetables were not by any means a staple in the Nolan’s diet, causing their immune systems to suffer. In addition to this, Francie had to work rather than continue her education, because her family desperately needed money after her father’s death. Much of Francie’s young life revolved around school and her writing, making school very meaningful to her. The fact …show more content…

Poverty deeply impacted Francie’s experiences as she matured, as it prevented her from having the nourishment that she needed. Her womanhood also brought difficulties that men were not faced with, resulting in Francie’s agonizing realization that her world was a man’s world. Her need for love as she grew was also influenced, because her parents, in truth, were not the guardians that she required. However, when faced with challenges, she persevered, and eventually achieved her dream of attending college. Francie’s story is one to be admired, for her determination to succeed, despite having the world turned against

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