A Tree Grows in Brooklyn Paper

“Oh, magic hour, when a child first knows she can read printed words.”~ A Tree Grows In Brooklyn.

Imagine coming home to a house that has no warmth or food. Constantly feeling like you are in a place you can’t get out of. This is how poverty may feel to others. The expeirences from the author Jo Goodwin Parker in the story “What Is Poverty” and the McBride family from the novel “The Color Of Water: A Black Man’s Tribute To His White Mother” show that there are various effects of living in poverty that include emotional problems, adolescent rebellion, and

As a child, Jeannette’s sense of wonder and curiosity in the world undermine the need for money. During her young adult years, a new wave of insecurity associated with her poor past infects her. Finally, as an experienced and aged woman, Jeannette finds joy and nostalgia in cherishing her poverty- stricken past. It must be noted that no story goes without a couple twists and turns, especiallydefinitely not Jeannette Walls’. The fact of the matter is that growing up in poverty effectively craftsed, and transformsed her into the person she becomeshas become. While statistics and research show that living in poverty can be detrimental to a child’s self-esteem, Jeannette Walls encourages children living in poverty to have ownership over their temporary situation, and never to feel inferior because of past or present socio-economic

The setting of both stories reinforces the notion of women's dependence on men. The late 1800's were a turbulent time for women's roles. The turn of the century

As hardworking women living of the prairie, Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters can relate to Mrs. Wright’s situation. They know personally that long days of doing laundry, cooking, and cleaning can become very tiresome (Hedges 91). They realize that living on the prairie can force a woman to be confined to her own house for weeks at a time, and because Mrs. Wright never had children, the grueling loneliness that she suffered must have been excruciating. Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters both experience the constant patronization and sexual discrimination that most women in the early twentieth century lived with. They empathize with the difficulties of Mrs. Wright’s life and almost immediately a bond is formed with a woman they do not even know.

Beginning her paper with a brief overview of her life growing up in poverty; Beegle shows the reader a firsthand account of how heartbreaking these circumstances are. Revealing that “no one was educated beyond the eighth grade” and “subsisted on menial-wage employment and migrant work”, her family was stuck in the seemingly endless cycle of generational poverty (11). This approach is used to evoke emotion and capture the attention of the readers, allowing the author to more easily begin educating them on the adversity faced by children in poverty. When Beegle did attend college, she describes feeling “fear, humiliation, and insecurity” brought on by the negative interactions with her professors (11). It’s not until she

The novel "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" by Betty Smith has five books. Book one starts of by introducing the year 1912 and the characters Francie Nolan, Cornelius (Neeley) Nolan, and thier parents Katie and Johnny. Francie and Neeley collect junk to exchange for pennies. Book two goes back to the year 1900 where Katie and Johnny meet as janiors of a public school. After a while Katie gets pregnant with Francie and then Neeley, then Johnny starts to drink. In book three Johnny, Katie, Francie, and Neeley settle in their new home. When Katie gets pregnant again Johnny falls into depression and which leads Johnny to dead. Johnny dieds of pneumonia. In book four there is no money to send Francie and her brother to high school so they statrt to work.

All three of whom are presented as posing a collection of traits and behaviors that cause Jim a great amount of frustration. Which after being analyzed in regards to the issue’s historical context reveals several instances in which the established gender roles were to some extent largely being ignored, or in the case of Jim’s mother and father are largely reversed. A creative decision that presents a family dynamic in almost direct opposition with the ideals of the era, such as those that describe the proper livelihood for a women being one of a supportive wife and loving mother. Or as it came to be known as the notion of the “eternal female”. In regards to Judy’s position on the spectrum of conventional deviance in gender her character is portrayed as exhibiting more behaviors socially specified, all of which draw a notable amount of influence from the concept of “normal femininity”. However, in the same vein as Jim and the other students Judy does conversely demonstrate a degree of rebellious disregard in her behavior. Leading such a phenomenon of recklessness to be attributed to an entire generation by their

Betty Smith writes so much about the topics of money, education, gender, perseverance, and family, but for my theme the main things she mentions mostly has to do with family, education, and perseverance. Over Francie’s life she deals with so many hardships. She has to drop out of school and not go to highschool to support her family and get a job to help financially. Eventually Francie goes to college and gets the life she deserves. Then, within chapter 55 Ben, who is Francie’s lover gives Francie a promise ring and she thinks back to her first romance with Lee but is happy with Ben.

An American classic is a novel that has beautiful language, complex characters that change throughout the novel and is timeless. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn does just that. Betty Smith, author of A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, wrote this novel about a young girl’s coming of age during the early 1900’s. Smith wanted to publish a novel that showed the American Dream and the struggles of being poor in America. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn is considered an American classic because of its connection to the American Dream, how the hardships of being poor prevented attaining that dream and the impact of Francie being a woman with the injustices she faced.

     At the same time, the readings of the women's masculinity and androgyny must be similarly reconsidered. While Irving reads Lena as one who "conforms more readily than Ántonia" and assimilates in a manner "too complete" in that "she, like Jim, is lethargic" (100), I would argue that Lena's refusal to marry and her achievement of the independent, successful life she sought belie any ready categorization of reinforced hegemony, undermining standard patriarchal demands; and her success can be contrasted with Jim's loveless marriage and the vague reference to the "disappointments" that have failed to quell his "naturally romantic and ardent disposition" (4). Similarly, as Gilbert and Gubar highlight, the happiness of the "masculine" hired girls stands in stark contrast with the emotional restriction to which town wives are subjected: "Energetic and jolly, Mrs. Harling must stop all the activities of her household so as to devote herself entirely to her husband" (197). While it may be true that "their disturbing androgynous qualities, and their unwillingness to accept traditional female roles" position the hired girls as "outsiders" (Wussow 52) and that these facts can be read as critical of the feminine, it seems more

The male characters add to these social rules and expectations with a more personalized form of oppression: by belittling individual women for their weaknesses and their interests. Mr. Peters mocks his own wife’s fear of traveling to the home that is the scene of a murder. The men repeatedly say that the items in the kitchen, or the items Mrs. Wright has requested in prison, are below their notice. In this way, the men devalue the women by devaluing the only things that have been left to the control of women. In many ways, Mrs. Peters and Martha Hale accept the treatment they receive from the male characters. In fact, they contribute to the gender roles by believing certain things are only the men’s responsibility, such as finding serious evidence. Over the course of the story, though, the women are able to acknowledge their situation to themselves and to each other. They are united by Minnie’s predicament because they see that they each have experienced the loneliness, isolation, and mistreatment that led her to kill her husband. In recognizing their shared experience through Minnie’s tragic dilemma, the women begin to see themselves as part of a group of all women, and they are unwilling to judge another women who experienced the same subjugation. In concealing the evidence of Minnie’s motive, the dead bird, the women stand up against the oppression they’ve experienced by creating a

Mason felt a distinct difference from the way she and her family were living compared to the ones living in town. Her family lived off of their land and made use of all available resources, while others bought what they needed. Although having everything they needed to survive, she still felt they lived in “psychological poverty”. However, she also realized they were poor because they owned their land and was able to support themselves from what they had.

Vivian described living in “tiny unheated house made of stone in a small village,” (354) also similar to the house my parents were raised in but the house was built of bricks in a small village with no working indoor plumbing and electricity. Vivian describes traveling to U.S., “on a warm spring day we boarded the Agnes Pauline” (Kline 363). However, my parents describe travelling on a scorching day paying the coyote to assist them getting to the U.S, but not in a boat or in a train, often on top of a train, walking, and swimming. Whether the time period was 1900s or 1980 undocumented immigrants traveled to the U.S. escaping from poverty and wishing for a better life. Other causes of the migration for children and parents contribute although the risks are gang violence and recruitment, societal, or abandonment or neglect of caregivers. However, immigrant parents come to America to earn money and make a living send later for the children that they left behind.

People have always shown weakness and have surrendered to selfishness or impatience not matter which era. In Betty Smith’s novel, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, the author states, “Katie had the same hardships as Johnny and she was nineteen, two years younger. It might be said that she, too, was doomed. Her life, too, was over before it began. But there the similarity ended. Johnny knew he was doomed and accepted it.” (10.49-51). This shows Johnny, very much like most people in times of darkness and obscurity, gives in and shows weakness rather than perseverance. This is significant because he then later became an alcoholic and he really displays how strong selfishness can be sometimes. Another example in the novel, Johnny explained to Francie, “”I am not a happy man. I got a wife and children and I don’t happen to be a hard-working man. I never wanted a family.” Again, that hurt around Francie’s heart. He didn’t want her or Neeley? […].” (3.40-44). Again, Johnny knows the situation his family is in, but instead of persevering through like his wife, Katie, he gets drunk again and even goes far as to