ATGiBecq

Theme: The circumstances into which a person is born into do not define them.

Quote 1: "There had to be the dark and muddy waters so that the sun could have something to background its flashing glory" (Smith 165).

Throughout the beginning of the book Francie has been repressed by the constant reminder that she lives in poverty. She did not choose to live in poverty but instead was born into it by her mother, Katie and her father, Johnny. Francie is forced to watch over her brother Neeley, help out around the house, and sometimes take care of Johnny. She loves her family dearly but she wishes for a better life outside of her broken down neighborhood. This quote comes from Francie when she is reminiscing over the two only sympathetic and caring teachers in school. Francie was so excited to begin school, but once she arrived there she soon realized the reality of the situation. The poor and dirty children were treated like dirt while the clean and pretty children were treated like royalty. However, whenever Miss Bernstone and Mr. Morton came to the school they made every child, poor and rich, feel like they were special and equal. They did this because they believed every child had talent and they saw the individuality in every child despite how they looked. In this quote Francie is referring to school and teachers as ‘the dark and muddy waters.’ While the ‘sun’ and ‘its flashing glory’ are Mr. Morton and Miss Bernstone. Mr. Morton and Miss Bernstone make the dreary and rigid hours at school seem worth it just to have an hour of feeling equal and as respected as the other students. Despite Francie’s circumstances she looks at the positives in life. Her circumstance of being born into a poor family and home does not make her the person she is. Francie is caring, strong-willed, and a positive person by nature. Her teachers may group all the poor children together but each child has their own unique traits and attitudes, especially Francie.

Quote 2: "There is here, what is not in the old country. In spite of hard unfamiliar things, there is here -- hope. In the old country, a man can be no more than his father, providing he works hard. If his father was a carpenter, he may be a carpenter. He may not be a teacher or a priest. He may rise -- but only to his father's state. In the old country, a man is given to the past. Here he belongs to the future. In this land, he may be what he will, if he has the good heart and the way of working honestly at the right things" (Smith 82).

This quote comes from Mary Rommely's explanation to Katie of how her kids can make an actual difference in their family if they grow up the right way. She is wise because of her age but a bit ignorant in all the possibilities that the "new country" or America has to offer to them. She makes it clear that there is a significant difference in the limitations that her old country and America hold within their culture but she makes it seem as if there were restrictions on how a person can grow up and acheive their own success. Mary repeats "here" so she can emphasize her opinion that it is much easier to accomplish goals in America than it is in her old country but she doesn't realize that no matter where a person lives there is no reason why they should not have the motivation of the confidence to be the best person that they can be. Branching off from the example given in the quote, "a man can be no more than his father, providing he works hard. If his father was a carpenter, he may be a carpenter. He may not be a teacher or a priest. He may rise -- but only to his father's state". If a man can be nothing but what his father works as than at most he can strive to be the best carpenter that is known as long as he has the will and motivation to do so. If there are limits set on a person's dreams than they should realize that doing something at the best of thier ability is a way to exert thier skill and show that there is a reason for restrictions to be changed. The potential that a person has does not depend on what job or environement they live with but rather how they handle thier circumstance to where they have managed to succeed beyond thier expectations and even the expectations of others.

Quote 3: "Each time Joanna passed, her cheeks got pinker, her head went higher, and her skirt flipped behind her more defiantly. She seemed to grow prettier and prouder as she walked. She stopped oftener than needed to adjust the baby's coverlet. She maddened the women by touching the baby's cheek and smiling tenderly at it. How dare she! How dare she, they thought, act as though she had a right to all that" (Smith 232).

This quote comes from Francie watching Joanna walk down the street with her baby. Because Joanna is only seventeen, the whole lot of neighborhood women look down on her. They are not friendly to her, and think that it is wrong that she "act as though she had a right to all that", just because she is a teen mother. However, Joanna puts up a front and does not seem to be fazed. Francie sees her as a somewhat strong woman, saying she "seemed to grow prettier and prouder as she walked". Additionally, Joanna doesn't let the angry women stop her, and acts somewhat defiant when she "stopped oftener than needed to to adjust the baby's coverlet", just to get a rouse out of the women. It does not matter to Joanna that she is a teenager mother without a husband. She loves her baby very much, despite all the hate that the women are radiating around her. Although her situation may seem bleak, Joanna holds her head high and takes care of her baby. She is proud to have a beautiful baby, despite her circumstances. Many women in the neighborhood would be ashamed to bring an illegitimate child out in the open, but Joanna holds herself with pride, and is not defined by her surroundings.

Quote 4:Francie’s eyes smarted with hot tears. “Why can’t they,” she thought bitterly, “just give the doll away without saying I am poor and she is rich? Why couldn’t they just give it away without all the talking about it?” (Smith 213).

This quote demonstrates how Francie perceives the world. Throughout the novel, there are numerous instances of people’s character being overlooked due to their current situation. In this scene, Francie is at a Christmas party and acquires a doll, because she is “poor.” The word, “poor” has a negative connotation to it, with it being characterized with despair, hunger, confusion, and other things. Therefore, many people try to distance themselves from it, by not associating themselves with it. In Francie’s world, people judge others based on the objects and influences that surround them. In this quote, “doll” stands for Francie’s innocence and fragility. Her “doll,” is repeatedly tested throughout the novel, and Francie seems to keep on losing some happiness with each event. The children call her a beggar for receiving the doll, even though they do not know anything about her. They do not know that she always wanted a doll, but she could never afford it. In ways, the children are jealous of Francie, for she is brave enough to acknowledge herself as "poor". “They” refers to people who tend to be judgmental. Therefore, Francie believes that the world is based on class, due to their “talking”. “Talking” states that there are people determining the statuses of others and spreading it around the community. If “they” never had these viewpoints, people would be more accepting of each other. Then, people would not be ashamed of their past, like Francie and all of the other little girls who were too proud to accept the doll.

Quote 5: "[Francie] began to understand that her life might seem revolting to some educated people. She wondered, when she got educated, whether she'd be ashamed of her background. Would she be ashamed of her people; ashamed of handsome Papa who had been so lighthearted, kind, and understanding; ashamed of brave and truthful Mama who was so proud of her own mother, even though Grandma couldn't read or write; ashamed of Neeley who was such a good, honest boy? No! No! If being educated would make her ashamed of what she was, then she wanted none of it" (Smith 325).

Francie is at odds with herself in the matter of deciding to get a decent education or not and she takes into consideration her way of life very significantly. The opportunity of obtaining an education that is higher than what her parents had gotten before her has been presented and seems to be the only way to start building a life that is better for her and her families pride. What is holding Francie back from moving forward with the education is the separation she has created between those who are educated and those who are not. When she describes "educated people" as she seems to be showing a sense of outlandish behavior between those who are educated and those who are not. in the unfamiliar type of people that are considered to be rare among the neighborhood that she comes from. The word "ashamed" is repeated in Francie's thought in order to emphasize the idea that educated people are superior because they understand more and suggests that those who are not educated are someone to look down upon. Francie has grown up watching her family work for every cent that they earned and quickly spent in order to keep food on the table each day and she puts herself in a position of guilt for being able to go to school and learn more and come back home to food and a bed for which she didn't raise a hand for. The unfamiliarity of what education brings is what scares Francie into thinking that there will be that same separation between her who has an education and her family who does not. What is lacking in Francie's evaluation of whether or not to get an education is the fact that no matter where she is she is being educated and is learning. She learned how to be the best person she can be with all the values that her family in their neighborhood has shown her and could only learn how to be truthful, lighthearted, and kind by her family and not in the environment where she has been born into. If she were to go to school than she would be educated in how to read and write and work with numbers. Both types of education are important in any person's life but the place where the education takes place is not the main component of being educated. If Francie was placed in any type of environment she would be able to learn as much as she can in her current situation so the separation is only in her mind and can easily be replaced with the knowledge that learning is a positive experience and anyone, anywhere has been through and needed in order to understand things around them. Just because Francie does not have a home where education is part of the family's background does not mean that she can not be the first to bring it in as part of the person she can mold herself to be.

Quote 6: "'Dear God,' [Francie] prayed, 'let me be //something// every minute of every hour of my life. Let me be gay; let me be sad. Let me be cold; let me be warm. Let me be hungry . . . have too much to eat. Let me be ragged or well dressed. Let me be sincere -- be deceitful. Let me be truthful; let me be a liar. Let me be honorable and let me sin. Only let me be //something// every blessed minute. And when I sleep, let me dream all the time so that not one little piece of living is ever lost" (Smith 421).

In this quote, Francie is stripping down humanity and determining every condition as no better than any other in worth. She implies that any man's identity is only his as a member of the human race; class, poverty level, or wealth are merely temporary garments to wear in her mind. She requests that she may at least be sporting one at any given moment, asking God, "Let me be cold; let me be warm," "be hungry...have something to eat," "be ragged or well dressed," just so long as she is "//something// every blessed minute." Francie has learned that her constantly changing condition is an inseparable part of her own identity, and she embraces it. These circumstances serve as a connection for her, and they allow her a perspective through which to feel the world. Still, she realizes that these labels do not define her, nor do they define any other human being. Francie knows better than anyone that life is extremely delicate: she has seen her father pass away, her aunt produce stillborns ten times, and a world war be declared. It is these experiences that have taught Francie that life is much too important to be wasted on creating concrete barriers out of something as paper-thin as money. She pleads with God "that not one little piece of living is ever lost." No matter where a person is born -- the Brooklyn tenements or in the greandeur of New York City -- their value is the same. Francie makes it very clear that //who// she is is what truly matters, and that she may experience what she is and what other people are is a gift.

Quote 7: "It's come at last..the time when you go can no longer stand between you children and heartache...You'd kill anyone who tried to harm them...Then one sunny day, they walk out in all innocence and they walk right into the grief that you'd give your life to spare them...and yet has remained curiously untouched by the world" (Smith 463).

Katie loves all of her children and worries about letting them go on their own. Katie does not want her children to live the life that she has. She protected her children with love, and realized that she could not do it anymore with Francie. Her “heartache” over Lee symbolizes that her love was conquering her mind. “They walk out in all innocence” refers to Katie and Francie before they loved someone. Yet, love is known to produce a broken heart, so "they walk into the grief.” This means that love does have consequences. The main problem Katie received was Johnny’s alcoholic ways. Katie thought that Johnny was the perfect man for her until he became an alcoholic. His alcoholism led to him becoming emotionally unstable, and it killed him in the end. Even though Francie was an exceptional child, Katie always feared that she would follow after them. Both of her parents put love above thinking, which led to their unhappiness. Yet, Francie is “untouched.” No matter the problems Francie faced throughout her life, she was never corrupted by it. In this book, dreams represent "time;" and like dreams, time does move on. This aspect allows Francie to persevere through the rough times that molded her childhood. Another thing that helped her accomplish this was Brooklyn. To Katie, Brooklyn is the “world.” This is the only place she has ever known, and she does not want her children to become a part of its problems. Brooklyn has created Francie into the person she is, with its people experiencing the hardships caused by poverty and brutality. The city ultimately made her a stronger person, and eventually gave her the strength to break away from the life she once knew.

Quote 8: "The tree whose leaf umbrellas had curled around, under and over her fire escape had been cut down because the housewives complained that wash on the lines got entangled in its branches. The landlord had sent two men and they had chopped it down. But the tree hadn't died... it hadn't died. 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 to grow towards the sky again" (Smith 493).

Smith uses the main metaphor of a tree in her book to represent Francie, with all of her strengths, weaknesses, retreats, and triumphs. Francie is different from many people and is rather sensitive. Especially in her early school days, she was shunned and bullied by teachers and students. Similarly to Francie, the tree was not appreciated: "The housewives complained that wash on the lines got entangled in its branches." Another factor that was discouraging Francie was her poverty. This was the "wash lines" above her that prevented her from reaching her maximum potential. However, once she had been "chopped down," by an unfriendly world and the death of her father, she rebounded. She established her "trunk" to make a firm foundation. She set a path that would "reach a place there were no wash lines above it." Just like the tree, Francie was able to escape her obstacles. She was not discouraged when challenge after challenge was put in her way. Just as "the tree hadn't died... it hadn't died," Francie did not die. She "had started to grow towards the sky again." She overcame her poverty and made a better future for herself.