A Tree Grows in Broklyn

Betty Wehner Smith’s unique ability to capture the reality of American society in the early nineteen hundreds is seen in the novel A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. The setting of the novel stems very much from the author’s own childhood. Society can truly relate to this story, as it has a place in every American family’s roots. The time-defying novel evokes sympathy by telling the story of a young impoverished family, comparing …

…Through the brilliant novel, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, Betty Smith has related her own childhood experiences to an audience of over 4,000,000. The relentless tree, which endures all hardships in the novel, is a main symbol of the Nolans and all other families struggling to survive over time, faced with money problems, immorality, and duty versus freedom. Eventually the Nolans move beyond the tree, but the roots permanently remain embedded within each one of them.