I. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn is a bildungsroman novel written by Betty Smith. The novel is considered bildungsroman because it is about Francie's coming of age and becoming more mature.
II. The setting of A Tree Grows in Brooklyn is Williamsburg, Brooklyn in 1912. During “Book 2,” there are flashbacks, and the novel's setting is 1900. “On Sunday, most people crowded into the eleven o'clock mass... She and her brother, Neely, like other Brooklyn kids, collected rags, paper, metal, rubber, and other junk and hoarded it...” (Smith 6). These quotes allow readers to distinguish the social background of the Nolan family. They are Catholic and poor, like many others in Brooklyn at that time.
III. Francie Nolan is the protagonist of A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. When first introduced in “Book 1,” she is eleven years old. She has brown hair and brown eyes. Even though she is so young, she knows that if she saves her money, she can get better things. Francie is a dynamic character, so she changes. Throughout the plot, readers can see her loss of innocence. During the exposition and rising …show more content…
I believe that the theme of A Tree Grows in Brooklyn is loss of innocence. Throughout the entire novel, Francie is losing her innocence. Once instance is when Francie was molested by the attacker. After he touches her leg, she wants it cut off. Instead, her father scrubbed her leg with carbolic acid. “Francie welcomed the burning pain of the acid. She felt the evil of the man's touch being seared away” (Smith 259). This is a huge loss of innocence for Francie, one that she will never forget. While reading, I felt very sympathetic towards Francie's family. It must have been very hard living like that every day. I was extremely upset when Francie's father died, even with all the hints that it was going to happen. I was able to learn how poor families lived during that time era. I think that Betty Smith wrote this book to show others how poor families in Brooklyn
II. The setting of A Tree Grows in Brooklyn is Williamsburg, Brooklyn in 1912. During “Book 2,” there are flashbacks, and the novel's setting is 1900. “On Sunday, most people crowded into the eleven o'clock mass... She and her brother, Neely, like other Brooklyn kids, collected rags, paper, metal, rubber, and other junk and hoarded it...” (Smith 6). These quotes allow readers to distinguish the social background of the Nolan family. They are Catholic and poor, like many others in Brooklyn at that time.
III. Francie Nolan is the protagonist of A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. When first introduced in “Book 1,” she is eleven years old. She has brown hair and brown eyes. Even though she is so young, she knows that if she saves her money, she can get better things. Francie is a dynamic character, so she changes. Throughout the plot, readers can see her loss of innocence. During the exposition and rising …show more content…
I believe that the theme of A Tree Grows in Brooklyn is loss of innocence. Throughout the entire novel, Francie is losing her innocence. Once instance is when Francie was molested by the attacker. After he touches her leg, she wants it cut off. Instead, her father scrubbed her leg with carbolic acid. “Francie welcomed the burning pain of the acid. She felt the evil of the man's touch being seared away” (Smith 259). This is a huge loss of innocence for Francie, one that she will never forget. While reading, I felt very sympathetic towards Francie's family. It must have been very hard living like that every day. I was extremely upset when Francie's father died, even with all the hints that it was going to happen. I was able to learn how poor families lived during that time era. I think that Betty Smith wrote this book to show others how poor families in Brooklyn