A Tree Grows in Brooklyn

“Old age isn’t such a tragedy. […] [W]e all have to get old someday. So get used to the idea as quickly as you can.” 

Katie says this to Francie when Francie tries to talk about her fear of old age. The quote touches on one of this novel’s major themes: what it means to get older. Though Katie is insisting old age has its benefits, the quote is ironic, since as Francie gets older, she finds that growing up makes life sadder rather than happier. 

“She’s my best girl now and there is nothing more to say about it.” 

Johnny says this to Hildy and Katie to establish his affection for Katie and the end of his relationship with Hildy. While the comment is meant to silence Hildy’s protestations, its ability to silence seems to have lasting implications for Katie as well. The quote demonstrates the matter-of-fact ground on which Johnny believes his relationship with Katie rests. Katie seems to have absorbed this matter-of-factness as well, as she refuses to fight with or give up on Johnny despite the obvious damage he causes her and her children. 

“[W]hen Sister Ursula stooped to kiss her, Francie saw that she had a fine fringe of hair on her upper lip and chin. This frightened Francie.” 

Francie feels this fear the one time she meets her aunt, Sister Ursula, at Francie’s grandfather’s funeral. This quote reveals three of Francie’s greatest fears—being old, being abnormal, and being unaesthetically appealing. Through Francie’s reaction to her aunt’s natural facial features, one can also see how deeply shame is embedded in Francie’s mindset.

“Ruthie was sure Johnny had been tricked into marriage.”

Ruthie, Johnny’s mother, makes this conjecture after Johnny marries Katie despite Ruthie’s plan to keep him home with her. Ruthie’s perception lays the foundation for Johnny’s own impression of the marriage. He spends his whole life acting as if someone had tricked him and as such often pities himself. Johnny later accuses Katie of tricking him into marriage. The quote also touches on the possessiveness of mothers, a theme in this novel. 

“As the years go by and Johnny and I get older, nothing will get better. All we have now is that we are young and strong enough to work.” 

Katie says this to her mother the day Francie is born. This quote is important because it touches on the cyclical nature of life, which is one of the main themes of this novel. Just as Francie is afraid of old age, her mother once felt the same fear. The quote also reveals the limits placed on the Nolans by their class; instead of equating youth with fun, energetic activity, youth is equated with the ability to work. 

“‘[W]hy did you come to America?’ ‘For the sake of my children whom I wished to be born in a free land.’”

This exchange is between Katie and her mother on the day Francie is born. Katie is inquiring about her mother’s reasons for becoming an immigrant. This exchange touches on the notion of a free America, a concept that has been mentioned several times in the novel up to this point. It shows that the concept of freedom is central to the lives of the characters, and it touches on the ambiguity of the term. 

“[S]he must read every day, I know this is the secret.” 

Katie’s mother gives Katie this advice the day Francie is born. The quote is an example of the novel’s emphasis on reading, and it touches on the idea of access to education, which is seen as the dividing line between hope and destitution in this novel. 

“She must start out believing in things not of this world. Then when the world becomes too ugly for living in, the child can reach back and live in her imagination.” 

Katie’s mother makes this suggestion to Katie the day Francie is born, foreshadowing the many occasions in this novel when Francie relies on her imagination for escape. The quote also pinpoints the beginning of Francie’s struggle against the ugliness of life. 

“But I’m married and that’s the hell of the Catholic religion.”  

One of Sissy’s many lovers says this to her while they are lying post-coitally in a hotel room and he is regretting that he can’t marry Sissy. This quote expresses the idea that marriage is a trap, a notion that many of the characters struggle with throughout this book. 

“Katie had a flash of contempt for the weak child.” 

Katie has this “flash of contempt” for Francie right after Neeley is born. This is the first moment in the book in which it is clear that Katie prefers Neeley to Francie, a preference Francie struggles with constantly. The quote also reveals how highly Katie regards strength and how she will often aim to be strong over any other possible attribute, including kindness. 

“She poured the holy water out into her lap expecting a rainbow to come slithering from the bottle.” 

When Francie is two years old, she sees her grandmother holding a bottle of holy water in the light in order to create prisms on the wall. Francie tries to create the prisms herself but ends up spilling the holy water. The quote reflects how religion is viewed in Francie’s community as a pat solution to every problem, and not as a problem itself. The “slithering” holy water recalls the snake that supposedly caused the fall of humanity, instead of the happy rainbow Francie expects to find (106). 

“Little girl, you will be a story writer when you grow up.”

Miss Tynmore, the piano teacher, says this to Francie in response to Francie’s thoughtfulness and claim that she writes stories in her head. Miss Tynmore’s comment plants the seed for Francie’s writing career. The quote also has a double meaning. In one sense, it is saying that Francie will become an author, a career she very much wants to take on. In another sense, it suggests she will be a liar as she gets older, and Francie does becomes quite adept at telling white lies. 

“I had no idea she would understand what I was saying.” 

The doctor who gives Francie a shot at the health clinic makes this confession after realizing Francie understood the insulting implication of his words. His comment shows how deep the class divide was in the early 20th century. The doctor assumes they are so different that they don’t even speak the same language. It also shows how the rich dehumanized the poor, thinking them uncapable of even basic understanding. 

“[H]is stomach turned over at the sight of the swollen festering arm. But he never let her know. He never let her know.” 

The incident referred to in the quote takes place when Francie’s vaccination site gets infected and her father takes a look at it. The quote touches on one of the major themes in the novel: the idea that a certain level of ignorance is ideal. In this case, Francie not knowing her father was worried allowed her to relax and receive the medical care she needed. It is also important in that it indicates a contrast between Johnny and Katie, who did not conceal her fear and thus exacerbated the situation instead of helping it. 

“There are very few bad people. There are just a lot of people who are unlucky.” 

Johnny says this to Francie after a prostitute approaches him on the street and Francie asks if she is “a bad lady” (171). Johnny’s statement goes against the judgmental mindset of the community Francie grew up in. Rather than consider that someone may have fallen on hard times, the people Francie grows up around are vicious to each other if they don’t meet a long list of specific standards. Her father’s statement allows Francie to see the world differently and helps her not to jump to conclusions in the future.

“[L]et her take the bad along with this good.” 

Katie says this to Johnny in defense of her decision to make Francie walk home during lunch time instead of sending her with her lunch to eat at school. Katie’s frank nature and her insistence on teaching her children the bad and the good are evident here. Unlike Francie’s schoolteacher, who wants Francie to scrape away the bad and only leave the good, Katie is dedicated to offering her children a more accurate portrayal of their future lives.  

“I work so hard, sometimes I forget that I’m a woman.” 

Katie says this after she receives a compliment from Sergeant Michael McShane at a political picnic she is attending with the family. This moment is pivotal because it marks the first time that Katie outwardly reveals that she may not be completely satisfied with Johnny. It also touches on the dehumanizing nature of much of the work available during this time period. 

“I’ll not punish you for having an imagination.” 

Francie’s teacher says this to Francie after Francie makes up a long-winded, detailed, but altogether false story about a poor family she helps. Her teacher helps Francie to see her imagination as a healthy, natural part of her life, and pushes her to look at her imagination as a reservoir from which she can draw her talent. 

“There must be something bigger than money.” 

Katie has this thought after watching her family struggle up the stairs with a Christmas tree Francie and Neeley have just won. For most of the novel, lack of money has dictated all of the Nolans’ activities, so to search outside of money for an answer is a significant shift in thinking. Katie’s thought also pushes on the notion that money is tied to happiness, an association that up until now the Nolans have most certainly made. 

“She’ll be my wife, someday, God and she willin’.” 

Sergeant Michael McShane says this after he tries to offer Katie an envelope of money collected by the local precinct in appreciation of her stopping the child molester. Juxtaposed with a similar statement made by Johnny years earlier, this quote reveals the major differences between McShane and Johnny. Instead of Johnny’s definitive “there is nothing more to say about it” (60), McShane allows for Katie’s opinion, showing he has more respect for her.

“[P]overty, starvation, and drunkenness […] We all admit these things exist. But one doesn’t write about them.” 

Francie’s teacher says this to Francie when Francie stops writing about her sensory impressions and starts focusing her writing on her deceased father. While the teacher thinks she is describing Francie’s writing, she is actually describing Francie’s life and telling Francie that her life is so shameful it should not even be mentioned.

“I got A’s because I was a good liar.” 

Francie has this thought after realizing her teacher only liked her work if it focused on surface-level beauty. Francie has learned that lying is a mode of survival. Francie gets into almost every school and job by lying, not because she doesn’t deserve to be there, but because she would otherwise not get these opportunities. In Francie’s life, the white lie is a tool of great effectiveness.

“The difference between the rich and the poor […] is that the poor do everything with their hands and the rich hire hands to do things.” 

Francie says this to Neeley and Katie when Katie suggests they go get horse manure to feed their tree, but Francie and Neeley want to hire someone else to do it. Hands are important throughout the book. Johnny’s hands always trembled, and Katie’s hands were always clotted with cleaning scars, thus their hands bespoke their class. In this quote, Francie is simply extending that idea by pointing out that hands are often a litmus test for class.