“Auld Lang Syne” “Auld Lang Syne” is a song customarily sung on New Year’s Eve. The song is based on a poem by the late eighteenth-century Scottish poet Robert Burns. As happens in Chapter 46, most people know the melody well and just make up words as they sing it. […]
Read more Study Help Full Glossary for A Tree Grows in BrooklynCritical Essays Symbols in A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
Tree of Heaven In the courtyard of the third apartment building in Williamsburg where the Nolan family lives throughout most of Smith’s novel, a tree is growing out of the cement. The opening chapter of A Tree Grows in Brooklyn explains that the tree is a Tree of Heaven. It […]
Read more Critical Essays Symbols in A Tree Grows in BrooklynCritical Essays Themes in A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
Importance of Education When Francie is born in Chapter 9, Mary Rommely tells her daughter Katie that it is important that she read to her children every night. Mary sees education as one way to escape poverty. Katie is told to read a page from the Bible and a page […]
Read more Critical Essays Themes in A Tree Grows in BrooklynBetty Smith Biography
Elizabeth Lillian Wehner is born December 15, 1896, in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn, New York, and christened at Holy Trinity Church. She is the daughter of John and Catherine Wehner, German immigrants, who married February 16, 1896. Her parents call her Lizzie or Littie, and her friends refer to […]
Read more Betty Smith BiographyCharacter Analysis Other Characters
Uncle Willie Flittman Willie is Evy’s husband. Willie feels he is a failure, since even his horse does not respect him. He never understands that his abuse of the horse is why the horse urinates on Willie. Unlike Johnny, Willie does not drink, but he is also a dreamer who […]
Read more Character Analysis Other CharactersCharacter Analysis Mary Rommely
Mary Rommely is Katie’s, Sissy’s, and Evy’s mother and Francie’s maternal grandmother. She and her husband immigrated to the United States from Austria. She insists that her four daughters learn to speak only English so that they will not understand their father’s abuse. He speaks only German. Mary is a […]
Read more Character Analysis Mary RommelyCharacter Analysis Aunt Evy
Evy Rommely is Katie’s older sister. Like Katie and Sissy, Evy is a practical woman, who is willing to work hard for her family. She is married to Willie Flittman, who is a failure at life. When Willie is injured and cannot work, Evy takes over his job. When Willie […]
Read more Character Analysis Aunt EvyCharacter Analysis Aunt Sissy
Sissy Rommely is Katie’s oldest sister. Sissy is the only Rommely daughter to not attend school, and thus, she cannot read and write. Sissy is generous and loving. She longs for motherhood and gives birth to ten babies, all of whom die at birth. When she cannot be a mother, […]
Read more Character Analysis Aunt SissyCharacter Analysis Neeley Nolan
Neeley (Cornelius) is Francie’s brother. He is a year younger than his sister. The two children are close and share the poverty of their childhoods without seemingly being aware of how little they have in their lives. As he grows up, Neeley begins to resemble his father physically. He even […]
Read more Character Analysis Neeley NolanCharacter Analysis Johnny Nolan
Johnny is Francie’s father. Johnny is weak, unable to survive in the crushing poverty in which the family lives. He is a dreamer, an impractical romantic, who lacks the abilities or incentive to make his dreams come true. When faced with reality, such as the birth of his two children […]
Read more Character Analysis Johnny Nolan