A Tree Grows in Booklyn Discussion Questions

While reading this book, did you ever think of Anne Frank?
How do you feel about Smith’s descriptions of people? A passerby is a “stumble bum” Later Francie is called a dockle.
CH 2 - Francie reads a book a day, going from A to Z and she is only up to the B’s. How does she read a book a day with so much going on in her everyday life? And why is it that the librarian never got to know Francie when she is in there every single day?
Smith says that the difference between Flossie and Sissie is that Flossie is starved about men and Sissy was healthy for men. Is that difference clear?
CH 5 - There is a lot of mention of the Irish and the Jews. Mention horseradish lady.
In every home, there is a tree either outside or inside.
CH 8 – What did you think of the Nolan family?
CH 8, P 6 – There is here, what is not in the old country. No man can be above his father.
(Mary?) reads The Protestant Bible and Shakespeare to Francie everyday and Francie learns to love books. Francie will do better in life as a result?
Mary Rommely (Katie’s mother) and Francie -- Because a child must have imagination, a secret world in which live things that never were. Read Bible & Shakespeare, believe in heaven, believe in legends (Santa), learn the truth, and before you die you must earn a bit of land. Does Francie achieve all of this?
Katie says “Everything struggles to live”..even Francie. “Well, everybody’s something”…even a drunk.”
CH 13 – loved the description of the German Band that comes around and tips his hat for pennies. Those dropped by window and wrapped in newspaper. Organ Grinder with Monkey…who wouldn’t love that as a child?
What about the organ grinder and the dancer with the tamborine? For days after they left, Francie played organ grinder.
CH 14 – look up on google Lorimar St. (w/ a tree) then they move to Grand Street in Williamsburg (w/ a tree).
Johnny says this will be my last home. Francie didn’t notice that he said my last home instead of our last home…foreshadowing?
CH 15 - Bully eraser clapper girl…spit in Francies face…
Francie refers to the nurse who treats her: A person who pulls himself up from a low environment via the bootstrap route has 2 choices: he can forget it or he can rise above it and never forget it…
Talk about end of CH 30 -- Francie’s male vs female comparison
Francie’s diary dated June 22….has this ever happened to you? Oct 25 entry – “Nothing important ever happens.” And yet it does…throughout the entire book. Lots of irony and sarcasim in this book. Last entry, 11/2 on sex.
Exposed pervert appears before Francie…Katie kills him.
What do you think of Francie calling her mom and dad Katie and Johnny? Did they during those times?
CH 37 -- On God…Francie no longer believes in him.
CH 39 – After her teacher tells Francie her graduation play is “sordid”, ie, Filthy…If being educated would make her ashamed of what she was, then she wanted none of it. What lesson was Francie learning here? And then she starts her novel that day about ficticious Sherry Nola.
How about her father prearranging flowers for her graduation?
What about Lee the soldier asking Francie for the world when she is only 16….he breaks her heart!
What did you think of Sissy’s pregnancy?
Gramma Rommely said “To look at everything always as thouh you were seeing it either for the first or last time: thus is your time on earth filled with glory..

Although the book talks about many different issues--poverty, alcoholism, lying, etc.--one of the main themes is hope and the determination to rise above difficult circumstances. There are naturalistic elements in the book, but it is not naturalistic. The Nolans are restricted materialistically by poverty, but still find ways to enjoy life and follow their own desires. Francie talks about how she can get drunk simply by looking at flowers, and Katie tells Francie that she can go without an education for the moment because Francie will fight for it later. This theme claims at least part of the meaning of the title; a tree growing in Brooklyn can survive the tough life that might prevent it from growing, just like the people in Brooklyn can and must fight to obtain their sun and air.
Another major theme is the question of morality. Johnny helps Francie lie in order for her to attend a better school, but this enriches Francie's life and presents opportunities that might not have been available to her otherwise. Sissy helps Johnny recover from alcohol withdrawals with questionable methods including some elements of sexuality, but it helps Katie and Johnny stay together in their rocky relationship. Katie also explains to Francie about love and sexuality from two somewhat clashing points of view: as a mother and as a woman. This book examines the gray shades that exist around traditional notions of what is right, and asks the reader what he or she might consider "right" in a different situation.
Gender roles are also a prominent theme throughout the book. Some of these roles are dated as the book takes place before women's suffrage in the United States is achieved, but many of the gender conflicts examined are still pertinent today. While Katie is giving birth, she tells Francie her views on how much involvement men should have with such intense sorrows only women experience. Katie also works multiple jobs to help sustain her family, yet Johnny receives the luxuries of nicer clothing articles for his part-time work. As Francie grows up and begins to discover her desire for companionship, she begins to understand the complexities and injustices surrounding the difficult circumstances women were often forced when pregnant out-of-wedlock.
Though there are many themes, here is a list of some others:

The title of the 1947 Bugs Bunny cartoon A Hare Grows in Manhattan is based on the title of the book A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. At the end of the cartoon Bugs Bunny shows the book to a pack of menacing dogs and they turn away from him and run to Brooklyn.
The third episode in season 4 of Daria is named A Tree Grows In Lawndale.
Season 1 episode 22 of Ugly Betty is named A Tree Grows in Guadalajara
The book also makes an appearance in the HBO series Band of Brothers, in episode 9.
A Super Grover segment in Sesame Street #4224 takes place "where two trees grow in Brooklyn."
This is the favorite book of the character Katerina, in the short story Lermontov by Amanda Michalopoulou
The opening lines of "Interlude" on Jay-Z's "The Black Album" refer to "...a tree that grows in Brooklyn"
The Lifetime album "Jersey's Best Dancers" includes a song titled "Francie Nolan".
Rapper Talib Kweli refers to A Tree Grows in Brooklyn in Blackstar's track Respiration
In an episode of I Love Lucy, Lucy schemes to get her husband, Ricky, into a play she wrote called "A Tree Grows in Havana", in reference to his Cuban homeland.