Innocence to Experience

Humanity strives for success depending on them and development of others, the hardships Francie is privileged to encounter may not guarantee experience, so she grows and adapts to her environment depending on herself, as does a tree growing in Brooklyn. “This is the forest primeval. The murmuring pines and the hemlocks, bearded with moss, and in garments green, indistinct in the twilight, stand like druids of eld.”This poem from the start of the book symbolizes a holy archetype developing a metaphor between the start of earth and Francie’s future. Francie is like a pines and hemlock indistinct in the twilight, as she harmoniously blends with those close to her. Her family stands the same no matter how significant, or no matter how meaningless, they stand together and grow. As does a tree growing in Brooklyn. Francie will face obstacles and she will understand sorrow, but she will perpetuate and she will gain experience.

Francie may face plenty of obstacles, such as these. “Jan 10. Papa’s sick today. April 2. Papa hasn’t worked for three weeks. There’s something wrong with his hands. They shake so much he can’t hold anything.” I picked a few statements out from Francie’s diary. Her relation with her father is like a nightmare, but she strives to hold onto her father, because the love and passion she feels for him are so strong. Francie’s heart is broken as Johnnie dies in bed during Christmas. A funeral was held for her father, the carriage ride home was shadowed with silence. Even I the reader was depressed, but at this point of the story I believed I understood Francie’s odyssey from innocence to experience, no matter how prepared or how well people anticipated climax’s such as this one, they are never able to accept unforgettable tragedies.

Tragedies and life changing events allowed my experiences and acknowledgments towards A Tree Grows in Brooklyn to be incredibly compassionate, as I found it a contradiction between sorrow and joy reading the flaws and rises to power Francie and Neeley were privileged to encounter. I also recognized how well Betty Smith mastered the control and aspect by which the reader viewed. The novel was fascinating.

"A new tree had grown from the stump and its trunk had grown along the ground until it reached a place where there were no wash lines above it. Then it had started growing towards the sky again." We all, as humanity have a place upon this earth, one we must cherish yet share with our peers and neighbors, but eventually we must all move on and explore, for when we discover we learn, for experience is a truly wondrous element. So let us all embark on our journey we desire as we pass from innocence to experience and finally grow towards the sky again.