Social Issues In A Tree Grows In Brooklyn

Social issues in Betty Smiths A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, written by Betty Smith, is a novel that not only tells a compelling story of adolescence but goes further and delves into various social issues prevalent during the early 20th century. Smith expertly uses literary devices to navigate the overarching problems in the story. The story revolves around the Nolan family and their struggles living in poverty in Brooklyn. For example, the Nolan’s struggle with discrimination living in an Italian majority community. Also, the children face struggles with education and the socio economics of the area. Lastly the protagonist Francie takes on the harsh gender roles of early 1910’s culture whilst living in a Brooklyn slum.

She takes many smaller locations and adds meaning to them ultimately connecting them into a map of the social environment of 1910’s Brooklyn. This map is navigated by the character and in different parts she experiences difference pieces of the overarching issues that plague the immigrant families. Most notably is the school she attends her teachers treat them as follows "I hate the foreign children in my class,' she said. 'I hate them because they're different from the rest. I hate them because they're stupid and dirty. - They take the bread out of our mouths” (Smith 5). The author is clearly displaying the social injustice and overall attitude of people towards the immigrants. As Francie goes through this torment at her school she learns and grows from the environment and ultimately prevails. Smith also uses the Nolan’s place of residence as a tool to display social issues. For example, in her home she faces challenges of food scarcity and safety from the outside world. This is overlayed on her conscious and the Author uses her shifts from school or the neighborhood to the more sentimental moments inside the family’s home to display the overarching themes of poverty and desperation. Many of the novels main scenes take place in the family apartment and it truly develops into a place of expression and a stage for the truth to unfold. Betty Smith’s detailed and masterfully crafted

She does this through her many locations and through her vivid descriptions of scenes, characters, and ideas. This wholly contributes the overall feeling of the novel and allows the reader to subconsciously follow her destined parallels between the life of Francie at home and the life of Francie unsheltered and in the world. This idea of parallelism become particularly important when Francie begins school in a new world. For example, once she switched schools from a slum school to a nicer school, she starts to change her perspectives, and almost regains her faith in humanity. At this new school the students are treated with respect and immigrants are no discriminated against. However, at her old school the teachers would mock the students, tell them they are worthless, and favor the non-immigrant children more. This parallel is not just in the setting but also in the time span in which Francie grows. She starts at this school and eventually starts progressing through life as a young woman showing the parallel between the child Francie and the womanly Francie who is taking on the world and trying to persevere. Furthermore, the author parallels the mindset of her father Johnny to that of Francie’s mother Katie, whereas Katie is resilient and will never give up on her future, Johnny ultimately ends up dead from his lack of motivation and reflection. This is summarized perfectly by this