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A Tree Grows in the Brooklyn The novel, ‘A Tree Grows in the Brooklyn’ by Betty Smith explores the story of Francie’s fall from innocence and her coming of age. Francie eventually learns to value life more as she grew up. She experiences an assertion of life when the Americans initially enter the war that she must live each day the best she can. Francie aptly realizes that the minor issues in life that most people overlook constitute the much-needed happiness. The author underscores that Francie espouses desirable qualities from both her father and mother. Mary Frances Nolan is the daughter of second-generation Americans staying in Brooklyn and is the protagonist of the novel. Katie Nolan is Francie’s mom and hails from a family of strong women. Katie’s oldest sister, Aunty Sissy, is the only daughter of Mary Romney 's who has not learned to read and write. Aunty Sissy has the reputation of being perceived as an easy woman. Aunty Evy is Katie’s older sister and is portrayed as hard working and practical. Mary Rommely is Francie’s maternal grandmother who immigrated to America from Poland. Mary is a devout Catholic and believes in the supernatural. The paper lays a discussion about a heavenly tree, a tree of familial love that grows in Brooklyn, and that survives in any condition no matter how favorable or harsh it may be. The familial …show more content…
Sissy furnishes Katie that she is pregnant again when Katie’s milk dries up when Francie is three months old. The action by Sissy serves to illustrate the tough and straight nature of the Nolans in handling intricate matters. Katie refuses suggestion to abort. Katie stands up to nosy neighbors to protect Francie’s sickliness from their comments and instead likens Francie to the Tree of Heaven that keeps struggling to survive. Kate uses her sister Sissy to iron out her dislike for Johnny by inviting Sissy to Johnny’s
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, what a splendid name for this book. Most people that have not read this book might only think that this book is about a tree growing in Brooklyn. Not knowing that this book is really about Francie Nolan. Francie is the tree that is growing in Brooklyn. She is growing up so quickly, not because she wants to, but because she has too. Francie was basically forced to grow up in her mid-teens. She had to help support her family. The world that Francie lived in also contributed to her growth into womanhood.
Snow Falling on Cedars, a novel by David Guterson, is a post World War II drama set in 1954 on the island of San Piedro in Washington State. The story’s focal point is the murder trial of Kabuo Miyamoto, who is accused of killing a fellow islander, Carl Heine, Jr., supposedly because of an old family feud over land. Although the trial is the main focus of the story, Guterson takes the reader back in time through flashbacks to tell a story of forbidden love involving two young islanders, Ishmael Chambers and Hatsue Imada (Kabuo’s future wife). At the time of their romance, interracial relationships were considered strictly taboo because of racial bias. It is through both this love story and Guterson’s remarkable use of setting and imagery that the reader is informed as to why racial prejudice is so high on the island of San Piedro at the time of the trial and why Kabuo is not merely on trial for Carl’s murder, but also for the color of his skin.
The turning point of “Sea Oak” is Aunt Bernie’s resurrection in which the seemly contemporary story has turned into a horror fantasy. Rising from death, Aunt Bernie has not only gained her energy but also her dissatisfaction about her previous living condition. She angrily yells to her family members, ‘“Because I am getting me so many lovers. Maybe you kids don’t know this but I died at freaking virgin. No babies, no lovers. Nothing went in, nothing came out. Ha ha!”’ (9). Using the repetition of “No” and “Nothing”, Saunders depicts Bernie’s life with an absolute emptiness. The change of Bernie’s character from a generous, optimistic lady to a selfish, scary authoritative figure has placed a situational irony for readers. In Jennifer L. Hochschild’s book Facing Up to the American Dream: Race, Class, and the Soul of the Nation,” she argues that “Americans are exhorted to ‘go for it’” (Hochschild 21). Carrying the burden of a big family with more than half lazy hands, Bernie never follows this slogan to fight for her own rights, and her ambition to chase her dreams only rises after her death. Though she has worked hard her whole life, she doesn’t die in peace, The good-hearted Bernie who sacrifices her life to support her family but still dies regretfully. This ironic path of Bernie’s life is Saunders’ mockery to awaken diligent working class people as well as his
“The bond that links your true family is not one of blood, but of respect and joy of each other’s life” -Richard Bach. Far from the Tree by Robin Benway explores the meaning of family, and the impact that loved ones have on identity. The novel tells the story of three siblings who have three very different lives reunite after spending all of their lives separately. Grace, Maya and Joaquin grow dependant on one another, and unknowingly give and take values from each other that help them solve their own issues slowing being brought to light. With the help of his parents and siblings, Joaquin reveals a critical capacity for change as he leaves his old self behind and moves on to a better future with a loving family.
The Bean Trees is a novel which shows Taylor’s maturation; it is a bildungsroman story. Taylor is a developing or dynamic character. Her moral qualities and outlook undergo a permanent change. When the novel begins, Taylor is an independent-minded young woman embarking on an adventure to a new world. She has no cares or worries. She is confident in her abilities, and is determined to make it through life on her own. As she discovers new things and meets new people, Taylor is exposed to the realities of the world. She learns about the plight of abandoned children and of illegal immigrants. She learns how to give help and how to depend upon the help of others. As she interacts with others, those people are likewise affected by Taylor. The other developing characters are Lou Ann Ruiz, Turtle, and Esperanza. Together they learn the importance of interdependence and find their confidence.
The novel Brown Girl, Brownstones is a fiction story that is about an immigrant family from the Caribbean country of Barbados and their struggles in America. The story is set in New York during the time between The Great Depression and also World War II and is told in a third person point of view so that the reader, being us, understands different components of the story. The story’s main character is a girl named Selina Boyce and the story is told through the stages of her life from when she was around ten years old up to when she was around her early twenties. Immigration, specifically race, played a large factor in the story, with race hindering opportunity, and different characters coping with race in different ways. (Thesis statement)
Set during the Great Depression in America, The Parsley Garden by William Saroyan, is a thought-provoking short story about how an impulsive decision leads to humiliating and traumatic consequences for the protagonist, eleven-year-old Al Condraj, the stubborn and curious son of a poor Armenian immigrant woman. After attempting to steal a hammer from a store, Al’s strong desire to make things right and seek redemption leads to a transformation in his thinking and a realization of his place in society. This is a society which is quite different from the calm milieu of Al’s mother’s parsley garden. The garden is a sanctuary where Al is able to find peace in
Misery, trauma, and isolation all have connections to the war time settings in “The Thing in the Forest.” In the short story, A.S. Byatt depicts elements captured from both fairy tale and horror genres in war times. During World War II, the two young girls Penny and Primrose endure the 1940s Blitz together but in different psychological ways. In their childhood, they learn how to use gas masks and carry their belongings in oversized suitcases. Both Penny and Primrose suffer psychologically effects by being isolated from their families’ before and after the war. Byatt depicts haunting effects in her short story by placing graphic details on the girls’ childhood experiences. Maria Margaronis, an author of a critical essay entitled “Where the Wild Things Are,” states that “Byatt’s tales of the supernatural depend on an almost hallucinatory precision for their haunting effects.” The hallucinatory details Byatt displays in her story have an almost unbelievable psychological reality for the girls. Penny and Primrose endure the psychological consequences and horrifying times during the Blitz along with the magical ideas they encounter as children. As adults they must return to the forest of their childhood and as individuals and take separate paths to confront the Thing, acknowledge its significance in their childhoods, and release themselves from the grip of the psychological trauma of war.
The book I chose to read is called, Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder by: Richard Louv. I chose this book for a few different reasons. One reason I chose this book was because I’ m highly interested in the whole concept of the book and feel very passionate about its reasoning. I also thought it would be a great read to guide me towards a topic for my main project at the end of the Lemelson program. On the plus side, I “read” this book through audible, which enabled me to listed to the book on my drive to and from work everyday. I commonly do this because of my forty-five minute commute from Truckee to Spanish Springs.
A mother drives her three kids to soccer practice in a Ford minivan while her husband stays at the office, rushing to finish a report. Meanwhile, a young woman prays her son makes his way home from the local grocery without getting held up at knife point by the local gang. Nearby, an immigrant finishes another 14-hour shift at the auto parts factory, trying to provide for his wife and child, struggling to make way in a new land. Later, a city girl hails a cab to meet her girlfriends at their favorite club to celebrate her new promotion over cosmopolitans. These people – the suburban soccer mom, the tired immigrant, the worried mother from the hood, and the successful city girl – each represent the different realities or fantasies that exist in the American society. They are all living or working towards what they believe to be the coveted American dream. Some of these people are similar to the Chinese immigrant, Ralph, in Gish Jen’s novel Typical American. However, all are confused as to what the American dream really is and whether or not the dream is real.
Lorraine Hansberry’s Raisin in the sun displays the struggles faced by an African American family living in Southside Chicago during the onset of the Civil Rights Movement. In the opening scene, Walter Lee Younger reads from the front page of the newspaper “Set off another bomb yesterday” (6). This news bulletin presents the major issues of the time period surrounding the war on Civil Rights and gives insight into the Younger family’s future intentions to move into a white neighborhood. The conflict-taking place in Southside Chicago over housing causes tension for the surrounding community, especially when they read news articles publicizing the brutal murders of those who try to improve their situations by moving into a white neighborhood. The family’s own efforts have failed to provide the income necessary to move into a bigger home in a better neighborhood. It is not until Walter Younger Sr. passes away and augments the family’s financial situation, through a life insurance policy for $10,000, that the Younger’s are able to pursue better living conditions. Unfortunately, this newfound fortune causes friction between the family members, especially between Walter Lee and Mama Younger. In pursuit of her own happiness, Mama Younger puts a down payment on a house in Clybourne Park, a white neighborhood. It is her right to pursue happiness in the manner she chooses. The right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness is the American way. Her happiness is in a home for her and her family. The conflict over whose happiness will be
The Sacred Willow (2013) describes the modern Vietnamese history from the 19th to the end of 20th century through Mai Elliott’s personal experience, as well as stories from four generations of her family. Starting with her great grandfather's struggle to become an imperial government official, the book follows the author’s family’s cycle of fleeing violence and building wealth, almost re-starting from zero everytime. It goes further than many books on the French Colonisation of Vietnam and the Vietnam war, taking a closer look at into people of Vietnam, rather than from a geopolitical or military aspect. Since the author and her father works for the French and then the government of the Republic of Vietnam, her sister was with the Viet Minh
Betty Smith’s novel A Tree Grows In Brooklyn is a tale of poignant family relationships and childhood and also of grim privation. The story revolves around the protagonist of the story, young Francie Nolan. She is an imaginative, endearing 11-year-old girl growing up in 1912, in Brooklyn, New York. The entire story revolves around Francie and the Nolan family, including her brother Neelie, her mother Katie and her father Johnny. An ensemble of high relief characters aids and abets them in their journey through this story of sometimes bleak survival and everlasting hope. As we find out, the struggle for survival is primarily focused against the antagonist of this story, the hard-grinding poverty afflicting Francie, the Nolan’s and Brooklyn itself. The hope in the novel is shown symbolically in the “The “Tree of Heaven””. A symbol used throughout the novel to show hope, perseverance and to highlight other key points.
In the story, the mother’s belief in this sentiment gave her hope for her daughter to become a prodigy. Therefore, the weight of the dream is left on the first-generation. The belief of endless possibilities is set upon first-generation Americans and Americans alike. From the beginning of the story, the daughter states that “America was where all my mother’s hopes lay” (491). The mother has the be...
When people think of the American Dream, they usually picture a wealthy family who lives in a big house with a white picket fence. They see the husband being the breadwinner for the wife and kids, by supporting and providing the best way that he can. They also picture the wife catering to her husband 's every need. The protagonist Janie Crawford lives this American Dream but soon comes to a realization that this life isn’t her destiny. Crawford learns that love does not involve money but rather being joyful. In Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston, Janie breaks the American Dream myth by living a non-traditional life through belief, happiness, and freedom.