The Analysis of The Novel "The Tree of Heaven"

The Tree of Heaven

It is a fact of life that people encounter hardships, setbacks, and disappointments constantly. However, in the end, people learn to rise above the challenges and grow their strength and character further than before. In the novel A Tree Grows In Brooklyn by Betty Smith, the protagonist, Francie Nolan, lives in the early 1900s in Williamsburg, a part of Brooklyn, New York. She is an extremely creative and talented individual who suffers through poverty, loneliness, and more. In the small lot of dirt and rocks behind her apartment, a tree grows despite lack of space and water, so it is called the Tree of Heaven. In the same way, Francie, although she lacks the necessary resources, grows and overcomes the challenges of poverty and loneliness.

The Tree of Heaven is a recurring theme throughout the novel and it is conveyed through the metaphorical relationship between the trees struggle and Francie’s struggles.The Tree of Heaven represents growth for the main character, Francie. The novel follows her from the time her parents meet to the time she becomes a young adult. Through her life, Francie comes to understand the ugly parts of life such as poverty and alcoholism.

Her father, Johnny, was an alcoholic who had the wildest, most impractical ideas to get rich quick and cared for his family very much, but could never spend time with his family after he started to depend on alcohol. As he was trapped in his alcoholism, he was ironically talking more about how wonderful his family was rather than spending time with them. As Sissy says to Katie once, “‘all of us are what we have to be and everyone lives the kind of life it’s in him to live’” Katie, the mother, was the total opposite. She was a pragmatic lady who always did was best for the family and never strayed from working as hard as she could. When Johnny was away drinking, she was cleaning other apartments, while the children, Francie and Neely, was out collecting junk to sell to a scrap collector. When they all came back, they would distribute the money for various necessities. Johnny was never able to keep a stable job. He usually ended up fired a few months in for drinking problems.

Despite the hardships of the family, Katie managed to work enough to provide for the family and educate the children too. To keep Francie and Neely from going into poverty also, she decided to teach them the value of education. She read a few pages of Shakespeare and the Bible every day from a young age, so by the time they were ready to begin school, Francie and Neely were prepared. The Tree of Heaven also represents the poverty of the Nolan family. Within the introduction of the setting, the author describes the single tree living within the Nolan’s area: “It had pointed leaves which grew along green switches which radiated from the bough and made a tree which looked like a lot of opened green umbrellas. Some people called it the Tree of Heaven.

No matter where its seed fell, it made a tree which struggled to reach the sky. It grew in boarded-up lots and out of neglected rubbish heaps and it was the only tree that grew out of cement. It grew lushly, but only in the tenement districts (Smith 6).” By setting the tone of the novel through the description of the Tree of Heaven, the importance of the setting is emphasized the theme of poverty is introduced. The tree is seen as an item that no rich person can attain and other items or characteristics with the same quality are highly valued in areas with people who cannot afford luxuries.