The end of the book-pages 300-500

Technically, I was supposed to read 100 pages per week but the suspense was killing me so I read an extra hundred. In these pages a lot of things happen. Education was held high in the family. Education meant power. It was something that the Nolan family needed so they could rise and become wealthy. Throughout most of the story the Nolan family was poor, but when Neeley and Francie were properly educated all their money worries were handled. Francie was working as an editor in a newspaper company(I forgot the name) making 20 dollars per week, and Neeley was working various low paying jobs making 5 -10 dollars per week. Before the children got their working papers, Johnny Nolan (their father) died of pnemonia. Also their mother got pregnant with another baby before Johnny died, but they didn't have to worry about making ends meet with Francie's income. Also Sissy, who is Francie's aunt got married and "had a baby". This baby wasn't obviously her's because she had a steak of having miscarriages - 11 to be exact. She sort of adopted the baby and proclaimed that it was her own baby even though her belly was as flat as a pancake. Later on, Katie remarries to McShane, who is this police sergeant who makes 10,000 dollars per year. This meant that once the Nolans were very poor making a couple of dollars a day and in the futrue they were one of the riches families in Brooklyn.

Chapters 8-14...a brief description

The book "A Tree Grows In Brooklyn" is a book of survival. Every single chapter describes how the Nolan family sustains themselves with just 30 cents a day....oh yea this story takes place in the early 1900s, but still back then 30 cents was very little. Everything they eat is incorperated with bread and cheap spices. They mainly drink cofee which is dominantly mixed with water. Katie Nolan (the mom) has an ambition to save up 50 dollars by sparing 5 cents each day into a can placed into the darkest corner of their closet. The Nolan family are suffering because they really want to buy a home for themselves, so at least their children can inherit it and live a better life with less obligations. This was an ambition that Katie's mother Mary had. Unfortunatly, after saving 50 dollars each time, she was tricked because she couldn't read or write English. Every single generation of their family has been working or living in the house/land of another; they were never rich enough to rise to anything...that is why they came to America so they have a chance for their children's sake. Luckily Katie can speak English and write it. When Katie gave birth to a daughter (Francie), Katie's mom told her that she must be properly educated to live a successful live in America. So every single day, Katie read Francie a page from the Bible and a page from Shakespeare. And every single day, their father Johnny works less and drinks more.

Character Profile

Mary Frances Nolan or Francie Nolan is the protagonist of the novel. Francie is the daughter of second-generation Americans living in Brooklyn, New York in the early twentieth century. She is named after her father's dead brother's fiancée. Francie's family is very poor, but she is very smart, observant, and content by the wonders of the world. She is a combination of her hard-working, practical mother and her imaginative, dreaming father. She is happy with what she has and doesn't resent life, but takes into account of what she has. Since she didn't grow up with luxury, and sometimes without friends, she loves to read, and creates new worlds through her writing.

A Tree Grow In Brooklyn

After I read Catcher in the Rye, I decided to read A Tree Grows In Brooklyn, The story starts off by describing a neighborhood in Brooklyn, New York, called Williamsburg. They talk about a tree that grows throughout the neighborhood. The tree is called the Tree of Heaven because it grows wherever its seeds land. One also grows in the tenement districts, where the poor people like Francie Nolan live. It was Saturday, and as usual she went to take a trip to the junkie. The junkie pays the neighborhood kids pennies for scrapes of metal they give him. Afterwards, they go to Cheap Charlies , which is a penny candy store. They use the pennys to draw for prizes. A first when Iheard they were poor, I ddn't think they were this poor...but after eading it some more, I knew they were really poor. I feel sorry for the family because there doesn't seem to be any hope that they will get rich. They had to buy stale bread and couldn't buy expensive things at all, they could only buy the bare necessities. Also I could tell they were poor because the occupation of the mom wasn't the best payed (she made a living by scrubbing floors) and the father has a drinking problem.