Symbolism In A Tree Grows In Brooklyn

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith, introduces the main symbol in the title. Growing up in poverty, main character Francie Nolan doesn’t have a whole lot of anything. Her and her family live in a poor tenement in Brooklyn, and outside their third apartment, the one where Francie lives for most her life, there’s a tree, referred to as the tree of Heaven. Throughout the years the tree continues to grow with very little sunlight, water, or nutrients, and grows out of concrete. It grows in the poorest neighborhoods, and continues to grow no matter how poor the circumstances. The tree represents all the poor inhabitants of the tenements and how strong they are, and how they manage to survive with almost nothing. However, the tree of Heaven more specifically

This represents even though there may be obstacles, it is still possible to grow as a person, just harder. Education has a big part in the novel. Johnny and Katie, Francie’s parents, were very uneducated and worked at very low paying jobs if they even worked at all. Throughout the novel Katie is persistent about keeping her children in school. She knows she can’t provide for them, and she wants them to grow up and have a better life than she has. Katie thinks that even if they aren’t rich, if they can get an education they can achieve more in life. There are lots of obstacles in Francie’s education. First, she goes to a school where she is discriminated against for being poor. When she switches school she writes about the hardships she encounters living in poverty, and her teacher tells her that no one will want to read what she writes if it is sad. Finally, she has to drop out of school to provide for her family after her father dies and never goes to high school. Despite all this she still manages to attend college. Francie, like the tree of Heaven, managed to grow even when no one expected them