A Tree Grows in Brooklyn

Francie’s diary entries reveal a lot of what goes on when she is 13, including the arrival of World War I. She discusses Johnny increasingly losing himself to alcoholism, losing his job, and telling Francie to give up her job washing dishes as he plans to find a new job of his own. Francie feels bad for him and tries to help him as much as she can. She also writes about her success in school and her dream of being a playwright. She records that Neeley has a girlfriend, much to Katie’s indignation, and Francie wonders if she shouldn’t be pursuing a sexual relationship as well. 

Sex is in the air all around Francie, or at least talk of it is. All her peers are interested, if confused, given that information about sex is kept quiet in Francie’s neighborhood. Katie, however, is frank about sex when Francie asks, giving Francie an advantage over many of her ignorant peers. The year Francie turns 14, a child molester does on the prowl in her neighborhood, leaving one little girl dead. Johnny borrows a gun, and the police search for the culprit. Months go by and there are no more attacks, so a lack of security resumes—just in time for the child molester to attack again, and this time he attacks Francie.

Waiting for her in the dark hallway leading up to her flat after she gets home from school, the man comes at her with his genitals exposed, quickly pinning her to the wall. Francie is practically paralyzed with fear: The only thing moving is one leg that is crushed up against his bare penis. Katie comes upon this scene from the top of the stairs. Without thinking, she runs back to their flat and digs out Johnny’s gun. She returns to the stairs, where Francie and the child molester catch sight of her. As the child molester momentarily breaks away from Francie to register the oncoming threat, Katie shoots him directly in the penis, causing him to drop immediately. Even though the man is now incapacitated, Francie, who is in shock, remains with her fingers bound to the staircase as if by glue. Katie pries her fingers off using the butt of the gun and then rushes them upstairs.

Upstairs, Francie explains that his penis touched her leg and she now wants her leg removed. Katie paces back and forth, listening to their neighbors shriek in fear and kick the body of the child molester. Neeley catches wind of what just happened and makes his way through the confusion to the flat, where Katie turns him right back around to search for Johnny. Neeley finds Johnny at the bar, and they both head home to take care of Francie. Johnny holds Francie and wipes her leg with carbolic acid where the man touched her, relieving some of Francie’s disgust. The cops and ambulance then arrive and force Francie to be examined for signs of sexual assault. The man taking care of her criticizes Katie for smashing Francie’s fingers with the gun and criticizes Johnny for pouring acid on her leg. He then puts Francie to sleep after determining she has not been raped. He advises Katie and Johnny to tell Francie this was a “bad dream” and nothing more (260).

The cops then ask Johnny where he got the gun, and Johnny lies in order to protect the friend who lent it to him, saying that he found it “in the gutter” (261). The cops don’t believe him, but they also don’t care enough to pursue it and advise him to be consistent in his story. Katie then finds out that the child molester is injured but still alive. She is upset about it, but the cop says they were able to get multiple confessions out of him at the crime scene.

When Francie wakes up the next day, Johnny tells her that the incident was a dream; while it doesn’t feel like a dream to Francie, the mix of shock and drugs allows Francie to view the situation with quite a bit of distance. The family goes to court, and Katie is profusely thanked for her duty, while Johnny is charged for not having a gun permit. Shortly after the incident, Sergeant McShane pays a visit to Katie to give her an envelope full of cash he collected from the other cops to thank her for her service. Katie refuses the money but stares wishfully after the man as he leaves. Sergeant Michael McShane plots their future marriage as he walks away, happy to wait if that’s what it takes.

Sissy’s determination to have a baby persists, and she decides to take a teen mother’s illegitimate baby off her hands. The teen’s father was starving her, hoping to kill her and the baby in the process. When Sissy found out, she made arrangements to secretly care for the pregnant teen and her fetus in exchange for the baby. When the teen finally has the baby, Sissy waits 10 days and brings it home, telling her husband she had given birth to a preemie in his absence. Her previously incredulous husband can’t deny the physical presence of the child and accepts Sissy’s tale. Neighbors and relatives then follow suit, as they are unable to come up with any other explanation for the new addition to her family. Sissy names the child Sarah, but the baby is called Little Sissy.

Johnny, Katie, and Francie all know Sissy’s secret. While Francie and Katie vow to protect Sissy, Johnny gets mad when Katie tells him, vowing to tell Sissy’s husband that the child isn’t his. Katie explains that the child will make Sissy a better person, so he had better let it be. Johnny agrees to stay quiet but then becomes suspicious that Katie did something similar. Katie makes Francie and Neeley get out of bed so Johnny can compare himself to them, and right away Johnny realizes his wife has not tricked him. He then tells Katie he is going out. Katie asks him not to come home afterwards, and he agrees. Later that night, he comes home singing, and Francie runs to greet him. Katie isn’t up waiting for him like she usually does. He tells Francie he is sober, and she can tell he is telling the truth.

The Christmas Francie turns 14, Johnny has not spoken to them in weeks. He has been both sober and frequently absent. His unemployment has left the family with little money with which to celebrate Christmas. The house must remain cold when Katie’s not home, and Katie is working more jobs than ever. Neeley is also working, but despite their combined incomes, they have to eat oatmeal almost every night. One evening, after Francie has finished confessing to Neeley that she doesn’t believe in God anymore, they get Katie to play the piano while they eat so the setting feels like a “restaurant.” This brings Katie and the children a lot of happiness despite their being poor and cold.

Neeley and Francie start commiserating about past happy Christmases and good times they have had with each other. Their laughter is pierced by a loud banging at their door. They can hear Johnny screaming at them. Katie lets him in, and he staggers inside, screaming repeatedly “I hate it” (279). He then begins to cry and confesses that he had just been kicked out of the Union for being “a bum and a drunk” (280). Katie assures him it’s okay and pours him hot coffee. She shoos the children away, telling them that “(n)othing’s the matter” (280). Other than a wayward attempt by Neeley to lighten the mood, they both sit in silence.