A Tree Grows In Brooklyn
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- This article is about the 1943 novel. For the film, see A Tree Grows In Brooklyn (film).
A Tree Grows In Brooklyn is an American novel by Betty Smith first published in 1943. It relates the coming-of-age story of its main character, Francie Nolan, against a backdrop of tenement life in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, New York in the first and second decades of the 20th century.
In pre-World War I Brooklyn, young Francie struggles to keep her idealism alive in the face of grinding poverty and the comedies and tragedies of ordinary life. The Nolans manage to enjoy life on pennies despite great poverty and the alcoholism of Francie's father. We come to know these people well through big and little troubles: Aunt Sissy's scandalous succession of "husbands"; the removal of the one tree visible from their tenement; and young Francie's desire to transfer to a better school, if her irresponsible Papa can get his act together.
The book was adapted into a 1945 film directed by Elia Kazan, starring James Dunn, Dorothy McGuire, Joan Blondell, and Peggy Ann Garner, who won a Special Academy Award for Oustanding Child Actress of 1945. James Dunn also won an Academy Award for the film, for Best Supporting Actor.
In 1951, George Abbott produced and directed the story as a Broadway musical, collaborating with the author on the book, and with music by Arthur Schwartz and choreography by Herbert Ross. The show starred Shirley Booth, Marcia van Dyke, and twelve year old Nomi Mitty played Francie. It ran for 267 performances.
There was also a short-lived 1974 television series, starring Cliff Robertson and Pamelyn Ferdin and based on the film's screenplay.
Much of the book can be thought of as thinly disguised autobiography. Many of the characters derive from actual inhabitants of Williamsburg with whom the author grew up.
[edit] The tree
Paradoxically, the Tree of Heaven referred to in the book's title has been classified as a weed by many government agencies due to its aggressive behavior: the plant emits toxins that kill off other species and it is especially hardy in situations where other plants do poorly.
As described in the novel, part of the tree sprouts up elsewhere when a portion is cut. Actually, this plant is capable of being truly enormous, all sections connected by an extensive root system. Cutting down a section generally encourages the plant to "fight back," even resprouting from the stump.
Its scientific name is Ailanthus altissima, sometimes known as "stinking sumac". The root structures are capable of destroying building foundations, sewers, concrete, and roadways. There are apparently no natural enemies of the plant. Herbicides are difficult to apply and could be dangerous to deploy, given the quantity needed to effectively even limit the growth of this "menace."
Due to widespread ignorance, and certainly in pre-World War I Brooklyn, local inhabitants could compare the tree's apparent persistence to people's aspirations to a better life. Little did they know that this plant is actually capable of widespread destruction of urban centers; some are found as the only living thing in long-abandoned ruins, literally the reverse of the metaphor expressed in the book.
[edit] Popular culture
In the Bugs Bunny short A Hare Grows In Manhattan, the story itself has almost nothing in common with the book, except for the title and the ending. Bugs, trapped by a gang of dogs, grabs a book from a bookshelf, determined to fight the dogs off. The dogs are about to pounce, when they notice the title and happily run barking to Brooklyn over the Brooklyn Bridge. Bugs sees the title of the book he grabbed, "A Tree Grows In Brooklyn", and says to the camera, "Hey, you know? Maybe I oughta read dis t'ing." Bugs then walks down the street, reading the book.
