A Tree Grows in Brooklyn

After the holidays, the Nolans’ routine changes quite a lot. They don’t read from the Bible or Shakespeare anymore, and they don’t practice piano anymore. Neeley is an excellent piano player, however, so he continues to play in town, often making tips. Francie worries this lifestyle could lead him down the same path as Johnny, but when she confronts Katie about it, Katie defends Neeley, saying he would never be like Johnny. Francie sees this as “mother love” gone “too far” and says as much to Katie. Francie grows lonelier and lonelier, as she in unable to obtain the lover she desires, and as the family spends less and less time together.

All of Brooklyn is a stir over the impending war, but before the United States officially enters the fight, Sissy causes a stir of her own. Her first husband was killed in a fire and a picture of her, his widow, is circulating in the local papers. Her current husband feels betrayed knowing she has been legally married to someone else all along. He fumes in front of the family and suddenly demands they all call him by his given name instead of John, as Sissy has always called him. He demands Sissy obtain a divorce from her second husband and then remarry him. Sissy finds out that her second husband has already obtained a legal divorce from her, which fills her with joy as she is no longer a bigamist. She then remarries her current husband in a Methodist church; her husband believes that now that religion is involved instead of just the government, Sissy will not leave him like she did her previous husbands.  

Soon after, Sissy comes to the house and reveals she is pregnant again, at age 37. Katie worries that the pregnancy will be too much for Sissy, but Sissy insists she and the baby will be fine. She tells Katie that she confessed to her husband that she didn’t give birth to Little Sissy and that in the end he was okay with it. Katie comments on how things seem to have a way of working themselves out. Francie then accidentally contributes to the conversation, exposing the fact that she is eavesdropping, causing Katie and Sissy to speak in whispers for the rest of the evening.

On the day America joins World War I, Francie makes a time capsule to remember what she thinks is going to be an important day. She cries at her desk, attracting the attention of co-workers. All those co-workers are soon gone, however, as the business Francie works for is infiltrated by a spy, and many of them get jobs working directly for the war effort. Within a short period, Francie and the boss’s wife are the only two readers still on the payroll. Not too long after that, the business closes down, and Francie is left without a job or her final week’s pay. She finds another job as a teletypist that same day and then reports all of this to Katie. Francie goes directly to bed after telling her mother about her job change, but Katie stays up and worries, unsure how she will get Francie back into school with their reduced income and the inflated prices of goods due to the war.

Francie likes her new job, where she quickly gets a raise. Since it is a night job, Katie suggests that Francie will be able to attend high school during the day and work at night, but Francie insists it’s “too late” (427). She takes matters into her own hands and applies to take summer courses at a local college, claiming on her registration that her high school education was “private” (429). She is accepted, and to the delight of Katie and Francie, she immediately starts attending classes and enjoying the college atmosphere.

Francie leaves her first chemistry class feeling enlightened and elated. Her Restoration Drama class is equally a success, but French class is a struggle, since the other students have a basic understanding of the language and she has none. She studies in all her spare time, only stopping dream about a boy named Ben Blake whom she met on her first day on campus. Ben is a high school student who plays football, works for a law firm, and maintains excellent grades. He plans on being the governor one day, and everyone who knows him believes he will attain this dream. Ben helps her study and prepare for exams. When she admits she is about to fail French, he takes her to the backstage of an empty theater where he works on the weekends and quizzes her all day. Despite being distracted by her surroundings, Francie manages to learn enough to pass her French exam.

After they finish their summer courses, Ben takes her out to celebrate. He asks her how old she is, and although she is afraid it will cost her everything, she admits to being 15. He then gives her his card and tells her to call on him “if you ever need me” (436). Francie finds a free women’s college to attend in the fall. If she can pass the college’s examination, she won’t need to get a high school education to attend. She takes the exam and fails miserably, realizing she will need to study extra hard over the next year if she plans to go to college any time soon. Her job schedule then changes, and she starts working days instead of nights, a change that returns her to her previous state of “loneliness” (437). The neighborhood around Francie seems “sad” during this period, ravaged as it is by the call to war (437).

Sissy decides she is going to have her baby in a hospital instead of with a midwife. When Katie and Evy balk, she says they are “behind the times” (438). Sissy’s having her baby in the hospital turns out to be the reason he survives, since they are able to deliver oxygen to him. She names him Stephen Aaron. Meanwhile, Uncle Flittman has given up on life, refusing to go to work now that he knows the army won’t take him. Evy has her sisters come over to help, and Sissy convinces him that working in a “munitions factory” would make him feel more satisfied (441). He acquires a job in this field and uses his spending money to start a “one-man band” (441). He enjoys playing music but still feels like “a failure” (441).