Coming of Age in A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
Betty Smith's A Tree Grows in Brooklyn presents the problems of a child growing up, the coming of age when one meets challenges and overcomes obstacles. The protagonist, Francie Nolan, undergoes a self-discovery as she strives to mature living in the Brooklyn slum despite its poverty and privation. Thus, Smith's thematic treatment of the struggle of maturity has become for the reader an exploration of loneliness, family relationships, the loss of innocence, and death and disease.
One of the challenges of growing up is loneliness. As a small child living in Brooklyn Francie had no friends her age, the kids in her neighborhood that would have been candidates for friends either found her too quiet or shunned her for being different. Betty Smith describes on page 106 how most of Francie's childhood days were spent: "So in the warm summer days the lonesome child sat on her stoop and pretended disdain for the group of children playing on the sidewalk. Francie played with her imaginary companions and made believe they were better than real children. But all the while her heart beat in rhythm to the poignant sadness of the song the children sang while walking around in a ring with hands joined." As time went by and Francie got older she began to get to know a different kind of loneliness. Betty Smith narrates her feelings on page 403: "Spring came early that year and the sweet warm nights made her restless. She walked up and down the streets and through the park. And wherever she went, she saw a boy and a girl together; walking arm-in-arm, sitting on a park bench with their arms around each other, standing closely and in silence in a vestibule. Everyone in the world but Francie had a sweetheart or a friend she seemed to be the only lonely one in Brooklyn without a friend." Loneliness is one of the challenges we must all conquer as part of maturing and it helps us learn to be independent and overcome hardship.
Family relationships are a second problem faced by all in their coming of age. Francie loves her Johnny Nolan, her father, more than anything, she adores the way he talks and the way that he sings.
Founded in 1982, Dave and Busters in America’s leading upscale restaurant/entertainment concept and currently operates 17 locations across the United States. Dave and Busters aggressive domestic expansion plans continue with 6 additional 1999 openings slated for San Antonio, a second site in Atlanta, St Louis, Austin, Jacksonville, Florida, and Providence, Rhode Island. At least seven more Dave and Busters locations are scheduled to open across the United States in the year 2000. There are currently two Dave and Busters operating in the United Kingdom under licensing agreements with Bass Pic. The company also holds international licensing agreements for the Pacific rim as well as Western Europe.
Franny held many strong beliefs that caused her to view her surroundings pessimistically. After spending three years contently in college, Franny changed her view of the college experience. She decided that college was “one more dopey inane place in the world.'; (Salinger, 146) She failed to see college as a place that allows one to increase his or her knowledge and independence. Similarly, she thought “that just because [she] wanted enlightenment or peace instead of prestige or fame-doesn’t mean that [she was] not as egotistical and self seeking as everybody else.';(Salinger, 149) Instead of looking for the positive qualities in others, she made a generalization that all people are egotistical and self-seeking. Additionally, she “raved and bitched about the stupidity of [her] audiences [and their] unskilled laughter.';(Salinger, 199) Despite the fact that the audiences were supporting Franny by watching her perform, she insists all audiences are stupid. Franny’s religious quest caused her to view her surroundings pessimistically.
The novel challenges the contradicting sides of the expectation and reality of family and how each one contains a symbiotic relationship. The ideal relationship within families differ throughout The Bean Trees. Kingsolver focuses on the relationship between different characters and how they rely on each other to fill the missing gaps in their lives. When Taylor and Lou Ann meet, they form a symbiotic relationship and fill the missing gaps in each others lives. Once the two women move in with each other, Lou Ann fills Taylor’s missing gap of motherly experience and opens her eyes to a life full of responsibilities.
In the novel, The Bean Trees, by Barbara Kingsolver, we watch as Taylor grows a great deal. This young woman takes on a huge commitment of caring for a child that doesn't even belong to her. The friends that she acquired along the way help teach her about love and responsibility, and those friends become family to her and Turtle. Having no experience in motherhood, she muddles through the best she can, as all mothers do.
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.
Baldwin gives a vivid sketch of the depressing conditions he grew up on in Fifth Avenue, Uptown by using strong descriptive words. He makes use of such word choices in his beginning sentences when he reflects back to his house which is now replaced by housing projects and “one of those stunted city trees is snarling where our [his] doorway used to be” (Baldwin...
No one would talk to her, recess was spent in anguish, and she would find garbage and spoiled food in her book bag. As she progressed into 5th grade, some of the social atmosphere began to shift in subtle but profound ways. Being accepted into a clique is all that matters. Instead of being admired for class participation, as in earlier years she was laughed at and labeled as “teacher’s pet.” She said the rules were simple “shun or be shunned—if you weren’t willing to go along with the crowd, you would become the reject.”
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.
After conducting a basic 10 year financial analysis of the company, it has become evident that even with a highly competitive market structure they are able to improve on their performance. Ranging from 2004 to 2013 financial information, the company has shown a significant increase in their sales revenue roughly $3865 million sales in 2004 to almost four time that valuing $12970 million in 2013, which was an “increase of 10.4% over the 53 week prior year” The company’s growth strategy has been to diversify its product market and make them...
“The Pain Tree” written by Olive Senior tells the story of a woman who comes back home after many years and begins to think about her childhood in a new light, which changes much of what she thought she knew of her family and childhood. The story shows the main character, Lorraine, revisiting the memories of her family and the woman who had taken care of her as a child, Larissa. Children mainly focus on the happy memories which may be tied to more important topics that they do not understand until they are older. Most children do not pick up on many of the complicated things happening around them. Lorraine can now see the bigger picture of her relationship with Larissa and how large the divides were between Lorraine’s family and Larissa’s
Innocence is something always expected to be lost sooner or later in life, an inevitable event that comes of growing up and realizing the world for what it truly is. Alice Walker’s “The Flowers” portrays an event in which a ten year old girl’s loss of innocence after unveiling a relatively shocking towards the end of the story. Set in post-Civil War America, the literary piece holds very particular fragments of imagery and symbolism that describe the ultimate maturing of Myop, the young female protagonist of the story. In “The Flowers” by Alice Walker, the literary elements of imagery, symbolism, and setting “The Flowers” help to set up a reasonably surprising unveiling of the gruesome ending, as well as to convey the theme of how innocence disappears as a result of facing the harsh reality of this world.
At the age of ten, most children are dependent on their parents for everything in their lives, needing a great deal of attention and care. However, Ellen, the main character and protagonist of the novel Ellen Foster, exemplifies a substantial amount of independence and mature, rational thought as a ten-year-old girl. The recent death of her mother sends her on a quest for the ideal family, or anywhere her father, who had shown apathy to both she and her fragile mother, was not. Kaye Gibbons’ use of simple diction, unmarked dialogue, and a unique story structure in her first novel, Ellen Foster, allows the reader to explore the emotions and thoughts of this heroic, ten-year-old girl modeled after Gibbons’ own experiences as a young girl. Kaye Gibbons’ experiences as a child are the foundations for this.
“As with other stories by Irwin Shaw, this one touches on the theme of lost or disappearing youth” (Archer 2). Frances is afraid that she will lose all relationships in life if she loses Michael, even with her friends that live in the country. Frances chooses to spend the whole day with Michael instead of visiting her friends, because she thinks the time alone will give them a chance to save their relationship. With Frances being so insecure, it confirms that everyone needs a relationship to feel belonging in their life.
In 1971 the first Starbucks coffee shop was built in Seattle. The owner picked the name from the book Moby Dick by Herman Melville. “The seafaring name seems appropriate for a store that imports the world’s finest coffees to the cold, thirsty people of Seattle”. (A Brief) There are over 20,000 Starbucks locations around the United States and in 40 countries; compared to only 10,000 Dunkin' Donuts. (Carroll) Just the fact that there are more locations clearly shows that more people drink Starbucks than Dunkin' Donuts. Dunkin' Donuts was created twenty years before Starbuck, so you would think that Dunkin' would have more locations.
Since going public in 2000, Krispy Kreme Doughnuts has posted strong growth in same-store sales each quarter, with a consistency that would make most competitors envious. According to the Krispy Kreme’s most recent quarter, which ended August 3, 2003, it posted an 11.3 percents rise in system wide same-store sales, including 15.6 percents growth at company operated units (Peters, 2003). From the financial report of second quarter in 2003, it could foretell there would be more earnings growth in the future as long as Krispy Kreme finds more new markets in which to launch doughnut shops. Its average weekly sales are in large determined by newly opened stores. This also demonstrates that the doughnuts specialist’s soaring results and rise to the top echelon of industry performers can be attributed to successful expansion.