Association of Katie and Francie in Betty Smith's "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn"

It is natural for people to like or love one person more than another, but it may not feel as natural to the one who is not loved more. In Betty Smith’s A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, Francie and her mother, Katie, fight and argue often; meanwhile, Katie is giving all her attention and love to her son, Neeley. The root of Katie and Francie’s contentious relationship is that Katie often only focuses on the wellbeing of Neely, while leaving Francie to manage herself; however, Francie does not realize that Katie, in doing this, has good intentions overall for both of her children.

Katie has a bias toward her son, Neeley, and Francie is aware of this, causing Katie and Francie to quarrel often. Katie has preferred her son, Neeley, from the day he was born. Katie knew she favored Neely, and that “it is wrong to love one child more than the other” (Smith 95), but she tries to reason and convince herself that “it is something [she] cannot help” (95). Katie loses her warmth and compassion toward Francie, and “the boy [becomes] Katie’s whole world” (96). As the children grow older, Katie becomes more and more determined to ensure that her son gets education and succeeds in life, and less concerned with helping Francie, reasoning that Francie is capable on her own. Although Katie tells herself that “[she] mustn’t ever let [Francie] know” (95) that she is loved less than her brother, Katie doesn’t do a good job of upholding this promise. As Francie grows older “she [grows] an answering hardness against her mother” (96) because she realizes her mother’s bias towards her brother. This coldness is inevitably something Francie and her mother both share, but this ultimately separates them. Francie and her mother, Katie, are very similar in their opinions and views of the world, but this likeness causes them to oppose each other quite often. Francie, sharing the same harness as her mother, says that it “[brings] them closer together because it [makes] them more alike” (Smith 96), but she does not realize that it actually tears them apart. She still young when she says this so the simplistic idea that finding common traits in people is always a good thing is likely all she understands. She cannot yet comprehend that similarities between people can drive them apart. “Researchers note that [people] who are too physically and mentally similar to one another are less likely to have a [good] relationship than those with relatively some distance between them.” (Chrissy). Katie and Francie are very similar and live in a small place in very close proximity, so by the standard of the previously mentioned researchers, they would naturally not have the greatest relationship. When Katie and Francie are discussing friendship, Francie asks “Have you any women friends, Mama?” (331) Katie replies “No, I hate women.” Francie then makes the interesting comment “See? You’re just like me.” (331). This conversation represents that Katie and Francie both prefer living an independent life, which also drives them apart. When Katie says she hates women, she means that she doesn’t want friends and can manage on her own. When Francie agrees and says that they are just like each other, she is putting her thoughts to words and stating to her mother her feelings and opinions about friendship. To summarize, when they say they hate “women”, they are using the word woman as a symbol for people and friends in general. This shared dislike for company is another factor that drives Katie and Francie apart.

In conclusion, Katie and Francie have a contentious relationship because Katie often focuses her time and attention on Neeley, and because Katie and Francie are very similar characters which drives them apart. In A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, Betty smith uses her writing to focus the readers on the complexity of human relationships and interactions. Through her writing, smith portrays the complicated feelings she felt towards her mother. These relationships portrayed in Smith’s novel represent the complicated dynamics experienced in life and how a young woman chose to handle them.