| A Tree Grows In Brooklyn |
Article Index for A Tree |
Articles about A Tree Grows In Brooklyn |
Website Links For Tree Grows |
Information AboutA Tree Grows In Brooklyn |
|
''A Tree Grows In Brooklyn'' is an American Novel by Betty Smith first published in 1943 . It relates the coming-of-age story of its main character, Francie Nolan, against a backdrop of Tenement life in Williamsburg , Brooklyn , New York in the second decade of the 20th Century . In pre- World War I Brooklyn, young Francie struggles to keep her idealism alive in the face of grinding poverty and the comedies and tragedies of ordinary life. The Nolans manage to enjoy life on pennies despite great poverty and the alcoholism of Francie's father. We come to know these people well through big and little troubles: Aunt Sissy's scandalous succession of "husbands"; the removal of the one tree visible from their tenement; and young Francie's desire to transfer to a better school, if her irresponsible Papa can get his act together. The book was adapted into a 1945 Film Directed by Elia Kazan , starring James Dunn , Dorothy McGuire , Joan Blondell, and Peggy Ann Garner. The book also appears briefly in the HBO series '' Band Of Brothers '', when Frank Perconte ( James Madio ) is given it after another soldier has finished it. Perconte asks, "Any sex in it?" to which the other soldier replies, "Ain't that kinda book." Much of the book can be thought of as thinly disguised autobiography. Many of the characters derive from actual inhabitants of Williamsburg the author grew up with. Paradoxically, the Tree Of Heaven referred to in the book's title has been classified as a Weed by many government agencies due to its aggressive behavior: the plant emits toxins that kill off other species and it is especially hardy in situations where other plants do poorly. As described in the novel, part of the tree sprouts up elsewhere when a portion is cut. Actually, this plant is capable of being truly enormous, all sections connected by an extensive root system. Cutting down a section generally encourages the plant to "fight back," even resprouting from the stump. Its scientific name is '' Ailanthus Altissima '', sometimes known as "stinking sumac". The root structures are capable of destroying building foundations, sewers, concrete, and roadways. There are apparently no natural enemies of the plant. Herbicides are difficult to apply and could be dangerous to deploy, given the quantity needed to effectively even limit the growth of this "menace." Due to widespread ignorance, and certainly in pre-World War I Brooklyn, local inhabitants could compare the tree's apparent persistence to people's aspiration to a better of life. Little did they know that this plant is actually capable of widespread destruction of urban centers; some are found as the only living thing in long-abandoned ruins, literally the reverse of the metaphor expressed in the book. EXTERNAL LINKS
|
|
|