Thursday, October 23, 2008

4: A Tree Grows in Brooklyn 1 - 50

"Francie overheard two men outside the group talking about her father. The short man said.
"I want you to hear this fellow talk about his wife and his kids. It's rich. He's a funny duck. He brings his wages home to his wife but keeps his tips for booze. He's got a funny arrangement at McGarrity's. He turns all his tips over to him and McGarrity supplies him with drinks. He don't know whether McGarrity ows him money or whether he owes McGarrity. The system must work out pretty good for him, though. He's always carrying a load." The men walked away.
There was a pain around Francie's heart but when she saw how the men standing around her father liked him, how they smiled and laughed at what he said and how eagerly they listened to him, the pain lessened. Those two men were exceptions. She knew that everyone loved her father.
Yes, everyone loved Johnny Nolan. He was a sweet singer of sweet songs. Since the beginning of time, everyone, especially the Irish, had loved and cared for the singer in their midst. His brother waiters really loved him. The men he worked for loved him. His wife and children loved him. He was still gay and young and handsome. His wife had not turned bitter against him and his children did not know that they were supposed to be ashamed of him."
(32, Smith)

Though the book is not told from Francie's perspective and told in third person, Francie's thoughts shape the story. I consider Francie to be a narrator, even though technically she is not. In this passage, Smith uses the method of an unreliable narrator as well as dramatic irony to show Francie's naivity about her father. When Francie hears the two men talking about her father at the Union headquarters meeting, Francie's father's reputation is shaken slightly in her mind; but she still believes what she has always believed. Francies always believed her father to be her hero, to be the best man there is. "There was a pain around Francie's heart but when she saw how the men standing around her father liked him, how they smiled and laughed at what he said and how eagerly they listened to him, the pain lessened. Those two men were exceptions. She knew that everyone loved her father."

I believe in this passage, Smith is trying to show Francie's devotion as foreshadowing to her father letting her down and disappointing her. Dramatic irony is used when Smith tells the audience about Johnny Nolan being a shame to his family. "His wife had not turned bitter against him and his children did not know that they were supposed to be ashamed of him." Not only is Johnny Nolan, Francie's father, going to let down Francie, I predict that he will also let down all the other men that love him. I feel that Smith is going to show Francie getting let down by her father as Francie's transition into young adulthood. I also predict that Smith will begin to deepen Johnny Nolan as a character and show the darkness beneath his shiny, happy exterior.

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