A Tree Grows In Brooklyn, by Betty Smith, is often considered to be one of the
best novels of our time. But what makes this, or any, great novel, great? Is a book great
because it makes you think? Maybe its because you can relate to the book. Is it because
the characters are so familiar? Or maybe the way the author writes is what makes it good?
Well, perhaps it is not what the book is about or whether or not you can relate to the
characters, but maybe its about the feelings and elements in the book. The emotions that
the book carries. It was once said that the best literature is about the old universal truths.
Love. Pride. Sacrifice. Truly words that carry special meaning to all of us. There is no
better example of these truths than in Betty Smiths novel, A Tree Grows In Brooklyn.
Many find it hard to express love. I find it harder to define love. There are so many
types of love. Truly we have all experienced some form of it but its always hard to label.
So many levels of love, types of love, and ways to love, who can decide? Well one doesn't
need to understand love to know love. The point is clearly defined in A Tree Grows In
Brooklyn. When Johnny sweeps Katie off her feet to Dance to "Sweet Rosie O'Grady",
she decides that "she wants nothing more than to look at him and listen to him for the rest
of her life. Then and there, she decided that those privileges were worth slaving for all her
life." Perhaps it was a mistake that she made, the there it was, plain and simple, love.
Katie's mother, Mary Rommely, also had a strong love, but it wasn't for her man,
but for her children with whom she protected. Mary hid the children's father from them,
thus protecting them from what she assumed was the greatest evil known. Mary's eldest
child, Sissy, also had a love for children. In this case though, her love for children was
...