A Tree Grows in Brooklyn

張海寧

Serene was a word you could put to Brooklyn， New York. Especially in the summer of 1912. Somber， as a word， was better. But it did not apply to Williamsburg， Brooklyn. Prairie was lovely and Shenandoah had a beautiful sound， but you couldnt fit those words into Brooklyn. Serene was the only word for it； especially on a Saturday afternoon in summer.

The words above are extracted from the beginning of the movie， which may seems a little negative at first glance. However when you taste it seriously， you can feel the positive favors included in it.

This movie is adapted from the book of the same name“A Tree Grows in Brooklyn”， which is also the reason why I watched this movie. To be honest， this is truly an old movie made in 1974. However， nothing can cover the light of a classical masterpiece.

The original book is a 1943 novel written by Betty Smith. The story focuses on an impoverished but aspirational third-generation-American adolescent girl and her ethnically-blended family in Brooklyn， New York city during the first two decades of the 20th century. In the movie and the book，the hardy tree of heaven is the main metaphor. it is a symbol of persistence and tenacity in difficulty.

This movie reveals many dark issues， such as poverty， alcoholism， lying and etc. Nevertheless， its main theme is the need for tenacity： the determination and solid dream towards better situation above miserable circumstances. Though the title focuses on the “tree”， it is actually a metaphor of the Nolans. Even though the Nolans are financially restricted by poverty， they still find ways to enjoy life and satisfy their needs and wants. For example， a plot which impresses me deeply is that Francis， the main character in the movie， can become intoxicated just looking the flower. Just like the Tree of Heaven， Brooklyns inhabitants fight for the sun and air necessary to their survival.

A reporter of the International Writers Magazine once said：“The novel is a total masterpiece. At almost 500 hundred pages there is not a thing Id cut- not a chapter， paragraph， sentence， nor word. It is a work of fiction the equal of Herman Melvilles Moby-Dick， Mark Twains Huckleberry Finn， and some other great works like John Steinbecks The Grapes Of Wrath， Richard Mathesons I Am Legend， Charles Johnsons Oxherding Tale， and the best of Kurt Vonnegut and William Kennedy. In fact， it might be the best of the bunch.

Brooklyn is paramount， and not just any Brooklyn， but the remembered Brooklyn. Francie just its most notable resident at that time. The priority is carving a niche in the readers mind of a time and place， and Francie and her clan are the best tools to illuminate that niche.

The movie ends with Katie Nolan accepting a marriage proposal from a retired police sergeant. He offers to adopt Francies youngest sister Annie Laurie and to send Neeley and Francie to college. The book ends with Francie readying to move to Ann Arbor， Michigan to attend the University of Michigan. As she stops past her old apartment building she sees the cut down but still growing Tree Of Heaven resprouting in the tenement yard. She sees a small girl named Florrie Wendy， for whom the tree will also come to represent something， just as it must have represented something to her older neighbor girl Flossie Gaddis before her. That all three girls havenames that start with F is not coincidental. That the tree that is chosen as the titular tree is a nondescript tree is all the more apt. It is， along with Melvilles white whale， one of the greatest metaphors in fiction.

“A Tree Grows in Brooklyn” is really a good novel as well as a good movie. You should never miss the opportunity to read such a classical masterpiece.