A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
Novel: A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
Author: Betty Smith
Grandma: Mary Rommely
Salient Grandma Trait: Optimism
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn is a novel that has absolutely nothing to do with horticulture, so try not to be disappointed. Sure, there is a tree but unless we are dissecting the book’s metaphors, it’s not a big deal. The novel is a coming-of-age tale of a young girl in Brooklyn 100 years ago. For those of you who think you won’t be able to relate to the story or its characters because you are not a young girl, from Brooklyn, and/or born before the breakout of WWI, you are wrong.
The story follows Francie Nolan, a sickly dreamer in an impoverished family, through her formidable years. Strong-willed but forced out of childhood at a young age, much of who Francie is and who she has the potential to be is due to her optimistic maternal Grandmother, Mary Rommely.
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Shortly after Francie’s birth, her mother, Katie, confesses her fears to the new Grandma Rommely. Katie is afraid that baby Francie already has her path laid out and that path is not brightly lit. Katie, her difficult present becoming Francie’s unfortunate future. A life full of hard work that is undertaken for survival, not satisfaction. Katie is afraid, like most new parents, that she will fail the life she created.
Grandma Rommely calms her daughter and gives the advice that will mold Francie into the woman neither she nor Katie had the opportunity to be. Grandma Rommely sees her children as better than her and believes that their own children, in turn, will be the best parts of them.
Katie claims not to see how Francie’s future can be any brighter than her own, but Grandma Rommely has unshakable optimism. She reminds Katie that progress is already being made and the fact that Francie was born to parents who could read fills her with “great wonder.” She reminds Katie that her fears are exactly why she herself came to America. That yes, in the “old country, a man can be no more than his father,” but not here. “In the old country, a man is given to the past. Here he belongs to the future.”
Grandma Rommely is a poor immigrant whose optimism is a natural product of having bought into the American Dream. Ah, the American Dream. Many today are quick to pronounce it dead but that is both an insult to the generations that came before them and an ignorance of diminishing returns. Multi-generational success doesn’t have a straight upward trajectory. Not everyone that works hard becomes wealthy. Not every generation is better educated and more successful than the previous. But is a rise from the bottom still possible? Can a poor and uneducated immigrant find opportunities to work, have their children go to school, and make a better life for future generations? Absolutely. It was happening then and it is still happening today.
Grandma Rommely provides Katie with the “secret” to a better life, the secret to the American Dream -Education. Grandma Rommely worked hard to ensure that Katie made it through six grade and now it is Katie’s job to see that Francie goes even further. To go further, Katie must instill in Francie a desire to learn and an imagination. And just as importantly, she must protect Francie from hardship so that she has an opportunity to achieve a poverty-escaping educational level.
And herein lies the “catch” with the American Dream.
It is all too easy to forget about cause and effect, especially when looking over a long period of time. Generational progress requires self-sacrifice. Working to provide your children with a better life means just that – working. A better life doesn’t just happen. Creating a better life for your children inherently means that yours is going to be harder. To give your child more opportunities means that you are going to have fewer. Mary Rommely, and later Katie, accepted that and didn’t begrudge their decision.
Grandma Rommely’s optimistic view of her adopted home inspired her daughter and altered the path of her granddaughter. Francie would grow up poor but not ignorant. She would take advantage of the opportunities she was provided thanks to those who came before her. Those opportunities still exist. We just need to have a little optimism.
