A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith – Mar 23, 2026

 

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith – first edition of the 1943 novel

Published in 1943, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn follows Francie Nolan, a young girl growing up in the Williamsburg slums of Brooklyn during the first two decades of the 20th century. The novel traces her childhood, adolescence, and coming of age amid poverty, family struggles, and the resilience of her Irish-American family. Her father, Johnny, is a charming but alcoholic singing waiter; her mother, Katie, works as a janitor to keep the family together. Through Francie’s eyes, the story captures the daily hardships – hunger, sacrifice, and the relentless pursuit of education – as she finds solace in reading and determination to build a better life. The title refers to the Tree of Heaven, a hardy weed that grows in tenement courtyards, symbolising the stubborn will to thrive against all odds.

James Dunn and Peggy Ann Garner in A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (1945) film directed by Elia Kazan

Its Place in Young Adult Fiction in the USA

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn is often regarded as a forerunner of modern young adult literature. While it was published as a mainstream novel, its focus on a young protagonist’s internal world, her journey toward self‑awareness, and the realistic depiction of poverty and family, earned it a lasting place in the canon of American literature read by adolescents. It bridged the gap between adult fiction and the emerging genre of YA by:

Katie and Neeley chat about the tree that has been cut

– Centering a teenage girl’s perspective with honesty and depth, paving the way for later YA classics.

– Addressing complex themes—alcoholism, class, gender expectations, sexual awakening, and the value of education – without condescension.

– Being widely assigned in schools for generations, it became a staple of adolescent reading in America alongside The Catcher in the Rye and To Kill a Mockingbird.

Though the YA category did not formally exist in the 1940s, the novel’s enduring appeal to young readers and its place in school curricula have cemented its status as a foundational work of what would become young adult fiction.

Aunt Sissy with Francie and Neely on the stoop of their tenement

What It Brings Out About Immigrants’ Struggle in America

The novel vividly portrays the immigrant experience through the Nolans, who are second‑generation Irish Americans. Key themes include:

– Poverty and upward mobility: The family’s precarious economic existence – saving pennies, scavenging, and sacrificing – reflects the common immigrant reality of living on the margins while striving for stability.

– Education as the escape route: Francie’s determination to stay in school and her love of reading embody the belief that education is the primary means for immigrant families to rise.

– Cultural identity and shame: The Nolans have internalised some of the prejudices of the time; they distance themselves from more recent immigrants while still facing discrimination. The novel explores the tension between assimilation and preserving dignity.

– Resilience and the “American Dream”: The story neither romanticises nor dismisses the dream of a better life. Instead, it shows the slow, painful, and often compromised progress that many immigrant families experienced, holding onto hope through small victories, like owning a home or seeing a child graduate.

Francie goes to borrow books from the public library

In sum, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn remains a powerful depiction of how immigrants and their children navigated poverty, identity, and aspiration in early‑20th‑century America, and it helped shape the tradition of honest, youth‑centred storytelling in American literature.

Movie Poster for the 1945 film 'A Tree Grows in Brooklyn' from which many scenes have been illustrated 

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn - 75th anniversary edition

Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare will be the play our reading for April 27, 2026.

Full Account and Record of the Reading

Betty Smith author of A Tree Grows in Brooklyn in 1943

Geetha Introduction to the Author and Novel A Tree Grows in Brooklyn

The author Betty Smith was born Elizabeth Lillian Wehner in 1896 in Brooklyn, New York, and died age 75 in Connecticut in 1972. She was a daughter of German immigrants, and she grew up in a poorer immigrant neighbourhood of Brooklyn. Like many in that poor area, her family struggled with poverty, unstable work, and the challenges of adapting to life in America. Betty drew on that experience in writing her most famous novel, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn.

The book was published in 1943, and quickly became a beloved classic. About 300,000 copies were sold in the first six weeks after publication, and touched 3 million in two years. Over time, it sold more than 4 million copies worldwide, and the book has been translated into more than a dozen languages.

The novel follows the life of Francie Nolan, a young girl growing up in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, in the early 1900s. Through Francie's eyes, Smith portrays the daily struggles and quiet triumphs of an immigrant family trying to build a better life in America.

What makes Betty Smith's writing so powerful is her honesty and compassion. She writes about poverty without sentimentality, yet she also shows the resilience, dignity, and hope that can exist even in difficult circumstances.

The tree of the title refers to the hardy tree that grows in Brooklyn's tenement districts, symbolising the endurance of people who survive and grow despite hardship. Although Betty Smith wrote several other novels and plays, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn remains her most celebrated work. Its themes of family, education, perseverance, and the immigrant experience continue to resonate with readers around the world.

As we begin discussing this novel, it is worth remembering that while the story is fiction, it is rooted in the real experiences of Betty Smith's own childhood in Brooklyn. Her other novels are Tomorrow Will Be Better, published in 1947, Maggie Now, in 1948, and Joy in the Morning, 1963.

Thomo

The passage he read offers a tender yet quietly sorrowful glimpse into the life of Johnny Nolan, whose habit of singing Molly Malone as he returns home becomes more than a simple routine. It's an echo of memory, identity, and longing. For Johnny, an Irish-American struggling with poverty and personal weakness, the song is a bridge to a homeland he never fully knew, but deeply feels. It reflects the emotional inheritance of immigrants whose culture is preserved. not through grand gestures but through small repeated acts, songs, stories, and habits. Johnny's singing also reveals the bittersweet nature of immigrant life.

On the surface, it is cheerful and musical, yet beneath it lies a sense of displacement. Like many children of immigrants in early 20th century America, he inhabited two worlds, the physical reality of Brooklyn's hardship and the imagined, often romanticised Ireland carried in memory and traditions.

The song becomes a form of escape, a way to soften the harshness of daily life.

Thomo visited Dublin in 2008 and came across the bronze statue of Molly Malone and her wheelbarrow on Grafton Street and after checking, learned that it was Molly Malone. Later, he heard the song and it is now an unofficial anthem for Dublin. The statue affectionately called The Tart with the Cart is a beloved symbol of Dublin's cultural folklore. It was moved in 2014 to Suffolk Street because of the construction of a tram line. Notably, the statue’s breasts are polished bright from repeated touching by tourists.

Johnny Nolan is loved by the men he works with because of his personality rather than his reliability. Even though he struggles with alcoholism and isn’t a steady worker, Johnny has qualities that make people genuinely fond of him:

Charm and warmth: He’s friendly, easygoing, and kind, which makes others feel comfortable around him.

Storytelling and imagination: Johnny has a poetic, dreamy nature. He entertains his coworkers with stories, songs, and a sense of romance that lifts their spirits.

Musical talent: His singing voice is especially admired—it brings joy to the men and creates a sense of camaraderie.

Generosity of spirit: He isn’t bitter or harsh; instead, he’s gentle and good-hearted, even when life treats him badly.

In a harsh working-class environment, these qualities stand out. The men overlook his flaws because he gives them something rare in their daily grind: a bit of beauty, humour, and escape.That last bit explains why there were so many flowers at his funeral. It's apparent in the reading that he is an endearing person, but not very responsible. He always tried but he had an alcohol problem. He tries, but struggles with alcoholism and a deep sense of inadequacy, particularly regarding his failure to provide for his family.

Readers applauded Thomo for singing beautifully. He followed the original tune. Here is another professional singer with a guitar singing Molly Malone.

Thomo has heard a beautiful version sung by Sinéad O'Connor, without any accompaniment. The name is pronounced Sh’nade O’Connor.

Thomo thanked Joe for suggesting this passage with a song embedded. Readers wanted Thomo to sing the whole song at the end of the session. Thomo was ready to sing the whole song and if the readers would join in the chorus:

Alive, alive, oh

Alive, alive, oh

Crying "cockles and mussels, alive, alive, oh.”

Joe and KumKum visited Dublin in 2015 and took a picture in front of the famous statue:

Joe by thestatue of Molly Malone in Dublin - he later wrote a poem about her

A few days later when he flew out of Dublin Joe could not forget Molly Malone and wrote this poem about her:

Oh Molly Malone with your serious face

And mussels and fish in your basket,

You wander the streets in a winding maze

And can’t find a person to buy it.

…

It goes on for another 21 lines and tells how a vulgar tourist made a pass at her which she rejected contemptuously.

KumKum

KumKum chose to focus on the incident from Chapter 6 of buying meat for the weekend, with a budget of just fifteen cents. What makes this episode so striking is its simplicity, and yet the deep and lasting influence it has on the lives of the Nolan family.

The family lives in poverty, and fifteen cents is all they can spare for their weekend meat. While that amount may have held more value in those days in the United States, it still feels painfully small when one considers that it must provide for the entire family.

Mama, the true breadwinner, works tirelessly to ensure that her children have food and shelter. More importantly, she teaches them how to live wisely within their means. Her lesson goes beyond buying meat – she shows them how to stretch every penny, how to remain alert, and how not to be taken advantage of by vendors.

Francie takes this responsibility seriously. She follows her mother’s instructions with care and determination, while her brother Neeley goes along, offering quiet moral support. At the butcher’s shop, Francie faces the challenge of dealing with two very different men – one cunning and calculating, the other kinder and more understanding. With surprising maturity, she recognises the difference and negotiates accordingly.

In this simple act of buying meat, we see not just witnessing a household errand, but a lesson in dignity, awareness, and growing up. The deeper lesson Katie imparts is:

Maintain self-respect, even in hardship

Don’t let others see your desperation

Use confidence as a tool to navigate a harsh world

It’s one of many ways Katie prepares her children to survive with pride and resilience despite poverty.

Just look at this, 10 cents worth of meat, five cents worth of bone, that's food for the week perhaps; this is how poor people were in America in those days.

Instructed by her mother, Francie had the butcher cut a fresh piece of meat, and then got it ground. KumKum was really touched reading this piece and thought of her own children: would they have done this at a meat shop on her instruction?

Joe said you have to keep in mind that 10 cents of bone was quite a lot in those days; we are talking of 1915.  The cumulative inflation factor in the United States from 1915 to 2025 is approximately 32. So that’s $3.20 in today’s money. 

Geetha did something like this when she  went to the local Lulu mart, and bought mince meat; it was full of fat, so the next time she selected a piece of lean meat from the shelf and told the butcher to grind it right in front of her .

A woman's mind works in all the economising ways. The passage drove home how careful poor folk have to be to eke out their small budget. In the story, the mother loves the boy more, but Francie, the smarter one, likes her mother.

Pamela

Francie was, was a mixture of the maternal Rommelys and the paternal Nolans.

Pamela liked this passage, particularly the last paragraph. It's beautiful because with every challenge Francie brought out something unique in her. God creates each one with the stamp of uniqueness, different from all others. The example given is of fingerprints – there's no fingerprint that matches with another.

There are people who look back at the lineage and say it's because of the lineage ‘I am like this.’

Pamela loved the mother, Katie, making the children read one page of Bible and one page of Shakespeare every day. There are a lot of people also who boast about their lineage, who say their grandfather did this, and great grandfather did that and so on. Francie Nolan is shown as a blend of traits from both sides of her family—the Rommelys (her mother’s side) and the Nolans (her father’s side).

From the Rommely side, Katie’s family got:

Strength and resilience

Practicality and discipline

Ability to endure hardship without complaint

A clear, realistic view of life

These qualities helped Francie survive poverty and push herself toward a better future.

From the Nolan side, Johnny’s family got:

Imagination and love of beauty

Sensitivity and emotional depth

A fondness for stories, books, and dreams

A romantic, hopeful outlook

These traits shape Francie’s inner world and her love for reading and writing.

History matters. Being a history teacher, Geetha agreed. You are a sum total of all of your ancestors before you. 

Joe demurs from this. This is not quite the way genetics works; your genes have a random element too injected  at conception that produces variations. Some part of one’s characteristics may be derived, others are Introduced into your genetic mix by chance. That chance can ultimately outweigh your parent’s qualities; for example consider that Isaac Newton, perhaps the greatest genius thrown up by Western civilisation, was born of an illiterate farmer who signed his name with an X; his widowed mother abandoned him to be brought up by his grandmother. Not a promising start. 

We are far from being the mere the summation of our ancestors. Without the random elements mixed in at conception we would be a very boring reproduction from generation to generation. Thank God we are not.

When Francie was born, the mother asked the grandmother Rommely what should she do. The grandmother tells her she should live her life the way she wants. The grandmother  prescribes one page of Bible and one page of Shakespeare to be read daily, because education matters.

Joe took a slightly different opinion on the love of reading. Nobody is born with a love of reading. It has to be inculcated and there's a lot that goes into nurturing it. Reading a page of Shakespeare and a page of the Bible may not point one to the pleasure part of reading; reading may come to be be regarded as an enforced duty. Book reading is a pleasure and pleasure is not made obvious by forcing people to read one page of this and one page of that.

Geetha agrees with Joe, citing her son, Rahul, when he was very young. Geetha’s mother was a teacher and came and stayed with them for a month or so. She started helping him read, sitting by his side. And then without any other reinforcement, he took to books and became a voracious reader.

Geetha says Rahul’s reading was largely her mother's, work – she made a big difference because their daughter didn't get that benefit. But Miriam had the determination of this Francie girl, because she now reads extensively, but in her younger school days she hardly ever read any fiction. She only read the textbooks.

It was a great thing in those days for these children to be reading Shakespeare at their young age. There were no class notes, like Cliff Notes, etc.

They had no access to books except for free libraries in towns. Libraries are free in the U.S.  Public libraries are among the most wonderful institutions in the United States. You can visit the smallest town of population 10,000 – there will be a public library. Big cities have grand buildings housing huge libraries, such as the Boston Public Library building in Copley Square.

Boston Public Library building in Copley Square, Trinity Church tower in the background

Those were times when the parents wanted the best. They had the hope that the children would do better than them. The children in those days would have listened and obeyed their parents. KumKum noted that Francie and Neely were part-time rag pickers whose earnings contributed to their family’s savings.

Some children are more action-oriented by personality and less given to intellectual pursuits. Nowadays digital is the big thing. A lot of young parents are very strict about limiting access to digital devices. Devika noticed that a child sitting beside her in the plane with an iPad was reading a novella featuring The Secret Seven by Enid Blyton!

Priya

Priya chose a passage where Francie’s aunt, Sissy, goes to the school with her because she's having a problem with the teacher, who seems to discriminate against Francie, for coming from a poor background.

Sissy is an interesting character, and Priya loved how she helped Francie's father when he came back drunk – Katie, his wife didn't know how to handle him. These women have a lot of fight in them..

Priya wondered if some of the readers who were teachers had a similar kind of experience. They hadn't, it turned out. This incident highlights several important ideas about class, dignity, and protection in Francie’s life:

Standing up against unfair authority: The teacher represents rigid, uncaring authority. By confronting her, Sissy challenges the idea that children—especially poor ones—must silently endure discomfort or humiliation.

Right to basic dignity: Not allowing a child to go to the toilet is shown as unreasonable and degrading. Sissy’s reaction underlines that basic human needs should never be denied, no matter how strict the rules.

Family loyalty and protection: Sissy may be loud and unconventional, but she fiercely defends Francie. The scene shows that Francie is not alone—her family will stand up for her.

Different kinds of strength: Unlike Katie’s quiet endurance, Sissy represents a more direct, bold way of dealing with problems. Both approaches are valid in different situations.

Human Rights Day is celebrated annually on December 10th to commemorate the UN General Assembly's adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) in 1948

Sissy loved her niece and nephew, Francie and Neeley, even more because she didn't have kids of her own. Finally she adopts a kid from somewhere, or gives birth to a child, we don't know which.

Sissy shows the power of persuasiveness and bold confidence. The immigrants had to build their lives and resort to all kinds of stratagems, including finaigling. Sissy is one of those resilient characters, charming to boot.

Devika

Devika read the part where Francie as a young girl realises she can read on her own. She is excited that as her mother reads she can put the words together and keep pace with her.

It's a short passage but Devika liked it for the moment of revelation that came to the child that from now on the entire world of books belonged to her. It confirms our purpose as reading group perfectly. 

Francie’s realisation that she can read is a turning point in her inner life. Until then, books were something distant – present, but not fully hers. When she discovers she can actually read, it means:

A doorway opens to another world: Reading gives Francie access to stories, ideas, and places far beyond the poverty of her Brooklyn surroundings. It becomes her escape and her source of joy.

A sense of personal power: This is something she can do on her own. In a life where she has little control, reading becomes a skill that puts her in charge.

The beginning of self-education: Francie doesn’t just attend school – she starts actively learning. This moment marks the start of her intellectual growth and curiosity.

Formation of identity: Reading becomes central to who she is. It nurtures her imagination (a gift from Johnny’s side) while also supporting her determination to improve her life (an inheritance from Katie’s side).

The significance is that Francie gains more than a skill – she gains freedom, independence, and a path toward a different future.

Discovering the joy of reading

Francie was going alphabetically through the books in the library. Thomo said his brother used to buy a book a day. So, his mother told him. There was a bookshop down the road and he used to walk in the evening, and go and pick up a book from the shop. When he was a small boy, his parents would take him there every day to buy a book.

When Thomo was studying for the Company Secretary exams, they had a gap of two months between the exam and the results. For those two months, Thomo would go to a lending library and borrow two books at a time and then return them after two days. Thus Thomo read a book a day, literally, for two months! 

Joe

Joe read about Francie transferring to a new school. It's quite nice that this dream of the young girl comes true. 

Has school zoning has been the rule in the USA for a very long time, asked Thomo?

The rule of attending a “neighbourhood school” is as old as the American public school system itself, though the way it is enforced has changed significantly over the last 150 years. In early 1800s to 1900s you went to the school in your “district,” which was usually just the one-room building nearby. There was virtually no choice; if you lived in a rural area, there was only one school within walking distance. As cities grew, one school wasn't enough and school boards began drawing Attendance Zone Boundaries (AZBs) to manage overcrowding. By 1900, large urban schools began "grading" (separating kids by age).

To keep these larger schools manageable, boards mandated that you live within a specific geographic boundary to attend. This is when the “neighbourhood school“ became a formal policy tool to ensure every child had a seat without overwhelming any single building.

There was a Turning Point in 1954 when court-mandated Desegregation following the Brown v. Board of Education (1954) case. In many places, neighbourhood schools had been used to maintain racial segregation because neighbourhoods themselves were segregated (often through "redlining" districts). Redlining is a discriminatory 1930s federal housing policy where the Homeowners Loan Corporation (HOLC) marked minority neighborhoods—particularly Black communities—as "hazardous" (red-colored) on maps, denying them mortgages and investments. This systemically blocked Black Americans from homeownership, wealth accumulation, and financial security. 

In the 1970s, courts often overrode the neighbourhood rule, forcing "busing" to move students to schools outside their immediate area to achieve racial balance.

In the modern era (1990s – Present) there was a debate of Choice vs. Residency. The “neighbourhood school“ is still the default, but it is no longer the only rule. Most districts require “Proof of Residency“ (utility bills or leases) to ensure you are paying taxes to the district your child attends. Since the 1990s, the “neighbourhood rule“ has been weakened by the introduction of Charter schools, Magnet schools, and Open Enrolment policies, which allow some students to attend schools outside their immediate zone.

Francie was convinced that she had a gift for writing and it could only be developed in a better school than the one she was currently attending. This reflects the sad reality in America that all public schools are not equal, because the state does not spend equal amounts per pupil in different schools. That is because schools are primarily funded by local taxes on property, not completely by the state. Therefore, higher property taxes  in well-off neighbourhoods fund better schools which often spend twice as much per student as in a poorer neighbourhood.  This is a built-in inequality reinforcer in the USA.

For example in the state of Virginia the highest spending per pupil is in Arlington County, $19,495 in 2023, more than double the spending in the same state’s Radford city public schools, $8,647 in 2023.

The ruse in the novel to change schools is to fake a change of address to a fancier locality and then gain admission into the neighbourhood school of that locality. Papa is the enabler in committing this fraud which he justifies by the usual end-justifies-the-means argument. The plan is agreed between Francie and Papa Nolan and he drafts a letter that says Francie is going to live with relatives at such and such address (48 Nesbitt Street is given out in the film) and seeks a transfer to the corresponding neighbourhood school.

No doubt the transfer has a good effect on Francie. In time to come she is encouraged by a sympathetic English teacher who coaches her and makes her understand she should write about what she knows, but use her imagination to go beyond. 

At her old school, she felt:

Overlooked and unfairly treated

Discouraged rather than inspired

Stuck in an environment that limits her curiosity

By choosing to transfer, Francie shows something new:

Initiative and courage — she doesn’t passively accept her situation

Awareness of her own worth — she believes she deserves better education and treatment

Desire for growth — she actively seeks a place where she can learn and thrive

The new school represents:

Opportunity and recognition — teachers there appreciate her abilities

A healthier environment for her intellectual and emotional development

A step closer to her dreams of education and becoming an author and aspiring to a better life

The significance is that this moment shows Francie beginning to shape her own future, rather than simply enduring circumstances. It’s one of the first clear signs that she can rise beyond her environment through determination and self-belief.

The new school validates the idea that education was the path by which children could hope to gain upward mobility and enjoy a better life than their immigrant parents. This was the hope of generations of immigrants. In Kerala too we hear of many children of our maids making it to engineering college, and parents spending on education rather on dowries for girls – a much better investment for families in future where husband and wife both have to earn.

I just love you so much Papa

The passage also brings out the closer rapport between father and daughter, than between mother and daughter. Johnny Nolan is improvident and happy-go-lucky, a stark contrast with his dour, hardworking wife. But he is willing to do anything for his daughter, when he is sober.

Thomo asked Joe  what happens if the parents are discovered using a wrong address. Joe did not know but later found out the penalty, which is as follows:

Faking an address to attend a school outside of your district – often called residency fraud or enrolment fraud – is a serious legal matter in the U.S. 

1. Administrative Remedy

Immediate Disenrolment. This is the most common immediate consequence. 

2. Financial Remedy: 

Restitution and “Back Tuition.“ School districts view out-of-district students as “stealing“ tax dollars. Many districts now aggressively pursue the cost of education through civil court.

Per-Pupil Costs: You may be billed for the “tuition“ value of the school year. Depending on the area, this can range from $10,000 to $25,000 per year, per child.

Investigative Fees: Some districts, like those in California and Pennsylvania, hire private investigators to follow families. If caught, the parents may be forced to pay for the cost of that investigation (often $2,500–$5,000).

3. Criminal: Fraud, Forgery, and Perjury

In about 24 states, providing a false address for school enrolment is a crime. 

Misdemeanours: In states like Illinois or Virginia, it is often a misdemeanour punishable by fines (up to $1,000) or short-term jail time (up to 30 days).

Felonies: In high-stakes cases – especially if a lease or utility bill has been forged – the parent could be charged with Falsifying Government Records or Grand Larceny (theft of services). Example: In New Jersey, lying about residency can be treated as a third-degree crime, carrying up to five years in prison and a $7,500 fine.

Perjury: Because most enrolment forms require a “sworn statement“ or notarised affidavit, lying on the form can lead to perjury charges.

Joe has witnessed the inequity of the public education system in the great city of Boston. At one end (Roxbury, Dorchester) you'll find very poor people staying and the schools in the sixties when Joe was there were pitiful at giving the children a leg up in education. The same city had fine schools in elite neighbourhoods. Why don't they fix this problem, so many people ask.

Joe remembers Michael Moore. a well-known American documentary filmmaker known for his critiques of American society, once posted a YouTube video of schools in Finland. In his 2015 documentary Where to Invade Next, Moore visits several countries, including Finland, to highlight their educational systems and social policies, presenting them as superior alternatives to American systems. Here he is interviewing students and teachers in a Finnish school.

He asks which is the best school here? And he surprisingly gets the answer, all the schools are the best schools. All have teachers who are the best, with the same good facilities, the same extracurricular activities and so on. That's an example of a country which has made a central value out of Equality in Education, because that is what enables one generation to overcome whatever handicaps by way of a poorer social background or something else that might have held them back at home.

This is something you fail to see in the USA, which prides itself as the home of private enterprise and there are many who think of education as a business for profit; they are the first people who will say no, no, this is our right to fund our schools with whatever we can afford locally, just as they have now passed the law, which gives citizens and corporations the right to spend billions of dollars on electing whoever they like, because that's a fundamental right.

Delhi Union Territory also has this zone thing, because you have to go to a school within so many kilometres of your house. But that is not really like class division. Class division occurs by another circumstance – the well-off sending their children to private schools. 

During the Aam Aadmi Party's reign, they spent a lot of money doing up all Delhi corporation schools so that they would not look shabby with broken benches and window panes and blackboards not working. teachers going on holidays most of the time, etc. Under Atishi Malhotra (Marlena) as Education Minister they managed to tune up public education, doubling its annual budget (from Rs 5,000 crores to Rs 10,000 crores, and aiming for 25% of the budget to be spent on education. It was absolutely the right thing to do. Here she is giving a TED talk about Delhi’s Education Revolution.

That's one of the better things Joe likes about Kerala, that all the children who go to public schools get a meal in the afternoon, and get free text books and uniforms, plus whatever else that might equalise opportunities for people.

Government free Schools in Finland and India

Saras

Saras gave a brief introduction to Tammany Hall. Tammany Hall, according to Wikipedia, is also known as the Society of The Sons of St. Tammany or the Columbian Order. It was an American political organisation founded in 1786 and incorporated on May 12, 1789 as the Tammany Society. It became the main local political machine of the Democratic Party and played a major role in controlling New York City and New York State politics.

Though initially an independent social organisation, at its peak, Tammany Hall became synonymous with the New York County Democratic Party. It declined in importance during the 20th century and there were a lot of charges of corruption against it, which comes out in the passage Saras read.

In this passage  we are told how Tammany Hall got jobs for the union workers and the poor. Francie is listening to her parents talk about politics.

The women appear to be more street smart, or at least Katie is. Johnny is a staunch Democrat, and he's ready to do anything for the party. He gets really upset in the end when they throw him out of the union; he wore the union badge with pride.

Women got to vote in the USA only in 1920. In 1893 a new Electoral Act made New Zealand the first self-governing country in the world to enshrine in law the right for women to vote in parliamentary elections.

After WWI women become more independent. While women worked in factories during both world wars, the massive, widespread entry of American women into heavy industrial factory work (shipbuilding, aircraft, munitions) occurred during World War II (1941-1945). This era is iconic, when 5 million women entered the workforce, shifting from domestic roles into manufacturing. They didn't want to go back to being just housewives, confined to the the home, when WWII ended. That caused a big social change.

Why do the migrants love the Democratic Party in USA? The Democratic Party always was soft towards migrants. It helped migrants to get voting privileges. Tammany Hall was known as a place of corruption as time went by.

Arundhaty 

In this book, there are many little incidents which bring out the character of each person and describe various situations in which their way of reacting to events gives them an edge.

In this passage the author describes an episode showing the determination of Francie when she has set her mind on something. She manages to get a free Christmas tree, which she wanted so much for the family.

Francie and Neeley bring the Christmas Tree home

Since Francie and Neeley are poor and their family doesn’t have a tree of their own, they take part in a conetst. But instead of just playing by the rules they work together strategically. They pick out a tree they like and manage the situation so that they can claim it as their prize.

Was it fair? Not entirely. They bend the rules and rely on cleverness rather than pure competition. However, the novel presents this without harsh judgment.

Significance:

It shows how poor children must often use ingenuity to get what others receive without effort

It reflects the theme that survival sometimes requires bending rules

It also highlights their determination to experience a bit of joy despite hardship

So, while the contest itself isn’t strictly fair, it underscores the broader reality: for Francie and Neeley, fairness is less important than making sure they don’t go without. Her determination stands out. Her mother Katie says she knows that Francie will get ahead, whereas Neeley is a less robust person.

Geetha also pointed out how tightly knit this family is, it's so balanced even in their poverty, with a responsible mother and a resourceful daughter. The children all rally around.

The children were interested in listening as their parents talked, and they get to know their views. In Thomo's family also, at breakfast or meal times around the table their father and mother discussed things and Thomo and his siblings listened. It happens in some families. Geetha didn't have that in her family. They had a lot of fun growing up, but politics and other topics around the table was not a thing. Geetha went to boarding school from first standard. That made her appreciate the sound life balance in this book within the Nolan family and their relatives.

Geetha

Geetha read a portion where Francie's world collapses with the death of her beloved father. He's only 34 years old when he dies, young therefore, and Francies was devastated. Neeley and Katie the mother, also begin to doubt their faith. They were all brought up in the Catholic faith and it has been imparted to the children too,. They’ve been to Sunday school where  religion is painted in black and white.

The piece Geetha read is between Neeley and Francie. They used to chat on the terrace and at the end also we see that. Francie and Neeley discuss Papa's death and are treated to hot chocolate by their mother as a comfort drink.

The children are surprisingly understanding. They understood each other and Katie was relieved after they cried their hearts out – it's beautiful.

Francie and Neeley process their father’s death in a way that reflects both childlike simplicity and emerging maturity. How do they see Johnny’s death? –

They understand that he is gone, but they don’t fully grasp the deeper causes like alcoholism or long-term suffering.

Their thoughts are practical and immediate—they think about what his absence means for their daily lives.

They remember him with affection and admiration, focusing on his warmth, stories, and singing rather than his flaws.

There’s a quiet acceptance rather than dramatic grief; they are used to hardship and adapt quickly.

There is an implied meaning of the hot chocolate:

It is a rare treat, something special in their otherwise deprived lives.

It represents comfort and care from their mother at a moment of loss.

Symbolically, it shows how life continues—small pleasures exist even in sorrow.

It also reflects a kind of emotional contrast: sweetness and warmth alongside grief.

Overall, the scene shows how children cope with loss in a restrained, realistic way, and how something as simple as hot chocolate can become a symbol of love, stability, and quiet consolation in difficult times.

Shoba

Shoba read a portion where Francie is working for a newspaper-clipping firm and she comes to work one day, April 6th, 1917 and the headlines in the papers are all caps, in tall bold letters.

The ink was still damp on the headline about the coming war – WWI breaking out in Europe. People believed that by Christmas the war would be over, but it dragged on for nearly four years.

We are looking back at this incident that happened 110 years ago; it was a momentous date. We are now having wars all the time, still this was a big thing. Trump who started the current US-Israeli War on Iran keeps saying it will be over a few weeks, but keeps up his minatory threats on bombing Iran. The proclaimed goals of the unprovoked aggression keep changing. The latest goal is to open the Straits of Hormuz to navigation – which is ridiculous, because before the illegal military action of the two rogue countries, USA and Israel, the straits were indeed open.

WWI involved many countries such as Russia Austria, Hungary, Serbia, Britain, and much later the USA got pulled into it. India was a crucial participant in World War I (1914–1918), contributing over 1.3 to 1.5 million men to the British Indian Army to support the Allied efforts, primarily against the German and Ottoman Empires. Indian troops fought in various regions, including France, Belgium, Mesopotamia, Egypt, and East Africa, resulting in over 74,000 deaths and 69,000 wounded. 

Francie thinks the momentous start of the war should be remembered all her life. She created a time-capsule to recall this: 

Using the razor blade, she clipped a lock of her hair, wrapped it in the square of paper on which were her finger prints and lipstick mark, folded it, placed it in the envelope and sealed the envelope. On the outside she wrote:

Frances Nolan, age 15 years and 4 months. April 6, 1917.

Francie saving memorabilia and noting the date the war was declared, shows how deliberately she is beginning to observe and preserve life. This moment reveals that she:

Has a strong sense of history and time—she understands that ordinary days can become important later

Wants to hold on to experience, not let it fade away

Is learning to see her own life as something worth recording and remembering

It also reflects her habit of noticing details and attaching meaning to them, which is essential for a writer.

Is this a step toward her becoming a memoir writer? Yes, very much so. By consciously saving objects and marking events for the future, Francie is:

Practicing memory-making

Treating her present as future history

Beginning to shape her experiences into something that can be looked back on and told in a narrative

In a deeper sense, it shows her moving from simply living through events to interpreting and documenting them—which is exactly what a memoir writer does.

Some little bits of Betty Smith’s writing are  beautiful. What Francie writes to God in a letter is so touching:

"Dear God," she prayed, "let me be something every minute of every hour of my life.

Francie wants to live every moment and achieve something. It's really a remarkable resolution of hers.

A reader liked that Katie finds a good second husband in the policeman McShane. The money problem which is ever-present in this book goes away for Katie. Francie sees another tree pushing up through the cement, just as her father promised when the original tree was cut.

What is beautiful is that even though they are poor, the mother takes care to bring in little things to give some joy to the children. She is proud and does not accept  charity – those things build up the family ethos.

At first Joe thought that Johnny Nolan committed suicide. He didn't commit suicide, but he sort of wanders away from home and lives on the streets, catches pneumonia and then he's found in a hospital where he dies. A doctor wants to put his death down to alcoholism rather than pneumonia.

One of the things in this book is this sense of rejection of Johnny Nolan within his own family, at least he feels it, not from his daughter, but from his wife. His wife is quite grim and sullen. One doesn’t know what to say about her except that she's always engaged in slaving and making money to protect her home and family.

She was German and the husband was Irish. If she hadn’t made money, they wouldn't have had anything in the house. The father was just squandering his money and didn't hold down a regular job. ‘Singing waiter’ he called himself, but that was more of what we call ‘gig working’, rather than a steady job. What he earned would go largely on drink. Katie had to make sure her children were well fed and clean.

The mother Katie was not very communicative or loving towards the husband, said Joe. She's the one who's earning bread for their family. And doing really hard work, scrubbing floors and cleaning for other tenants. Her sister Sissy tries to explain to her that she has a lovely family, and a loving husband. She tells Katie when you don't have that love you'll realise he was so caring and loving, and that he was proud of his family everywhere and spoke about them.

KumKum ended the reading by asking the readers to remember our next reading is Twelfth Night by Shakespeare on Monday April 27.

I acknowledge using DeepSeek AI program for info gathering and summarising the essentials of the passages.

The Readings

Thomo Ch 3 – Johnny Nolan sings Molly Malone – he is a well-loved man (576 words)

PAPA came home at five o'clock…. Papa came in singing his favorite ballad, "Molly Malone." He always sang it coming up the stairs so that everyone would know he was home. 

In Dublin's fair city

Where the girls are so pretty

I first set my eyes on sweet Molly Malone

As she wheeled her wheelbarrow

Through the streets, broad and narrow

Crying, "Cockles and mussels, alive, alive, oh"

 Francie, smilingly happy, had the door open before he could sing the next line. 

"Where's your mother?" he asked. He always asked that when he came in. 

"She went to the show with Sissy." 

"Oh!" He sounded disappointed. He was always disappointed if Katie wasn't there. "I work at Klommer's tonight. Big wedding party." He brushed his derby with his coat sleeve before he hung it up. 

"Waiting or singing?" Francie asked. 

"Both. Have I got a clean waiter's apron, Francie?" 

"There's one clean but not ironed. I'll iron it for you." 

She set up the ironing board on two chairs and put the iron to heat. …He was very happy because he had a job that night and because it was a nice day. 

…He took the slice of bread and turned it over. The Union sticker was on that piece. "Good bread, well made by Union bakers." He pulled the sticker off. A thought struck him. "The Union label on my apron!" 

"It's right here, sewn in the seam. I'll iron it out. 

"That label is like an ornament," he explained, "like a rose that you wear. Look at my Waiters' Union button." The pale green-and-white button was fastened in his lapel. He polished it with his sleeve. "Before I joined the Union the bosses paid me what they felt like. Sometimes they paid me nothing. …Then I joined the Union. Your mother shouldn't begrudge the dues. The Union gets me jobs where the boss has to pay me certain wages, regardless of tips. All trades should be unionized." 

"Yes, Papa." By now, Francie was ironing away. She loved to hear him talk. 

Francie thought of the Union Headquarters. One time she had gone there to bring him an apron and carfare to go to a job. She saw him sitting with some men. He wore his tuxedo all the time. It was the only suit he had. His black derby was cocked jauntily and he was smoking a cigar. He took his hat off and threw the cigar away when he saw Francie come in. 

"My daughter," he said proudly. The waiters looked at the thin child in her ragged dress and then exchanged glances. They were different from Johnny Nolan. They had regular waiter jobs during the week and picked up extra money on Saturday night jobs. Johnny had no regular job. He worked at one-night places here and there. 

"I want to tell you fellows," he said, "that I got a couple of fine children home and a pretty wife. And I want to tell you that I'm not good enough for them." 

"Take it easy," said a friend and patted him on the shoulder. 

….

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.

KumKum Ch 6 – Mama teaches the children how to order meat to get the most out for you money (562words)

Francie started the negotiations. "Ten cents worth of round steak." 

"Ground?" 

"No." 

"Lady was just in. Bought a quarters worth of round steak ground. Only I ground too much and here's the rest on the plate. Just ten cents' worth. Honestly. I only just ground it." 

This was the pitfall Francie had been told to watch against. Don't buy it off the plate no matter what the butcher says. 

"No. My mother said ten cents worth of round steak." 

Furiously the butcher hacked off a bit of meat and slammed it down on the paper after weighing it. He was just about to wrap it up when Francie said in a trembling voice. 

"Oh, I forgot. My mother wants it ground." 

"God-damn it to hell!" He hacked up the meat and shoved it into the chopper. Tricked again, he thought bitterly. The meat came out in fresh red spirals. He gathered it up in his hand and was just about to slam it down on the paper when. ... 

"And mama said to chop up this onion in it." Timidly, she pushed the peeled onion that she had brought from home across the counter. Neeley stood by and said nothing. His function was to come along for moral support. 

"Jesus!" the butcher said explosively. But he went to work with two cleavers chopping the onion up into the meat. Francie watched, loving the drumbeat rhythm of the cleavers. Again the butcher gathered up the meat, slammed it down on the paper and glared at Francie. She gulped. The last order would be hardest of all. The butcher had an idea of what was coming. He stood there trembling inwardly. Francie said all on one breath, 

"And-a-piece-of-suet-to-fry-it-with." 

"Son-of-a-bitchin' bastard," whispered the butcher bitterly. He slashed off a piece of white fat, let it fall to the floor in revenge, picked it up and slammed it on the mound of meat. He wrapped it furiously, snatched the dime, and as he turned it over to the boss for ringing up, he cursed the destiny that had made him a butcher. 

After the chopped meat deal they went to Hassler's for the soup bone. 

…

Francie ordered a nice bone with some meat on it for Sunday soup for five cents. Hassler made her wait while he told the stale joke: how a man had bought two cents' worth of dog meat and how Hassler had asked, should he wrap it up or do you want to eat it here? Francie smiled shyly. The pleased butcher went into the icebox and returned holding up a gleaming white bone with creamy marrow in it and shreds of red meat clinging to the ends. He made Francie admire it. 

"After your mama cooks this," he said, "tell her to take the marrow out, spread it on a piece of bread with pepper, salt, and make a nice samwish for you." 

"I'll tell mama." 

"You eat it and get some meat on your bones, ha, ha." 

After the bone was wrapped and paid for, he sliced off a thick piece of liver wurst and gave it to her. Francie was sorry that she deceived that kind man by buying the other meat elsewhere. 

Pamela Ch 8 – Francie was mixture of the maternal Rommelys and the paternal Nolans (613 words)

Georgie and Frankie liked Katie but thought it was a dirty trick for Johnny to skip out and leave them to take care of their mother. They made the best of it, however. They looked around for a wedding present and decided to give Katie the fine pillow they had bought for Andy and which he had used so briefly. The mother sewed a new ticking over it to hide the ugly stain that had been the past part of Andy's life. The pillow thus passed on to Johnny and Katie. It was considered too good for ordinary use and only brought out when one of them was sick. Francie called it "the sick pillow." Neither Katie nor Francie knew that it had been a death pillow. 

About a year after Johnny's marriage, Frankie, whom many thought even handsomer than Andy, wavered home after a drinking party one night and stumbled over some taut wire that a bucolic Brooklynite had strung around a square foot of grass before his house stoop. The wire was held up by sharp little sticks. As Frankie stumbled, one of the sticks pierced his stomach. He got up    somehow and went home. He died during the night. He died alone and without the priest's last absolution for all of his sins. For the rest of her days, his mother had a mass said once a month for the repose of his soul which she knew wandered about in Purgatory. 

In little more than a year, Ruthie Nolan had lost three sons; two by death and one by marriage. She grieved for the three. Georgie, who never left her, died three years later when he was twenty-eight. Johnny, twenty-three, was the only Nolan boy left at the time. 

These were the Nolan boys. All died young. All died sudden or violent deaths brought on by their own recklessness or their own bad way of living. Johnny was the only one who lived past his thirtieth birthday. 

And the child, Francie Nolan, was of all the Rommelys and all the Nolans. She had the violent weaknesses and passion for beauty of the shanty Nolans. She was a mosaic of her grandmother Rommely's mysticism, her tale-telling, her great belief in everything and her compassion for the weak ones. She had a lot of her grandfather Rommely's cruel will. She had some other Aunt Evy's talent for mimicking, some of Ruthie Nolan's possessiveness. She had Aunt Sissy's love for life and her love for children. She had Johnny's sentimentality without his good looks. She had all of Katie's soft ways and only half of the invisible steel of Katie. She was made up of all of these good and these bad things. 

She was made up of more, too. She was the books she read in the library. She was of the flower in the brown bowl. Part of her life was made from the tree growing rankly in the yard. She was the bitter quarrels she had with her brother whom she loved dearly. She was Katie's secret, despairing weeping. She was the shame other father staggering home drunk. 

She was all of these things and of something more that did not come from the Rommelys or the Nolans, the reading, the observing, the living from day to day. It was something that had been born into her and her only-the something different from anyone else in the two families. It was what God or whatever is His equivalent puts into each soul that is given life-the one different thing such as that which makes no two fingerprints on the face of the earth alike. 

Priya Ch 19 – Aunt Sissy goes to Francie’s school and threatens her teacher for not letting Francie go to pee when she needs (626 words)

The next morning, ten minutes before school started, Sissy was in that classroom confronting the teacher. 

"There's a little girl named Francie Nolan in your room," she started out. 

"Frances Nolan," corrected Miss Briggs. 

"Is she smart?" 

"Y-e-e-es." 

"Is she good?" 

"She had better be." 

Sissy brought her face closer to Miss Briggs. Her voice went a tone lower and was gentler than before, but for some reason Miss Briggs backed away. "I just asked you is she a good girl?" 

"Yes, she is," said Teacher hurriedly. 

"I happen to be her mother," lied Sissy. 

"No!" 

"Yes!" 

"Anything you want to know about the child's work, Mrs. Nolan ..." 

"Did it ever occur to you," lied Sissy, "that Francie's got kidney trouble?" 

"Kidney what?" 

"The doctor said that if she wants to go and some people don't let her go, she's liable to drop right down dead from overloaded kidneys." 

"Surely you're exaggerating." 

"How would you like her to drop dead in this room?" 

"Naturally, I wouldn't, but ..." 

"And how would you like to get a ride to the station house in the pie wagon and stand up in front of this here doctor and the judge and say you wouldn't let her leave the room?" 

Was Sissy lying? Miss Briggs couldn't tell. It was the most fantastic thing. Yet, the woman spoke these sensational things in the calmest, softest voice she had ever heard. At this moment, Sissy happened to look out of the window and saw a burly cop sauntering by. She pointed. 

"See that cop?" Miss Briggs nodded. "That's my husband." 

"Frances' father?" 

"Who else?" Sissy threw open the window and yelled, "Yoo, hoo, Johnny." 

The astonished cop looked up. She blew him a great kiss. For a split second, he thought it was some love-starved old-maid teacher gone crazy. Then his native masculine conceit assured him that it was one of the younger teachers who had long had a crush on him and had finally screwed up enough courage to make a passionate overture. He responded to the occasion, blew her a return kiss with a ham-y fist, tipped his hat gallantly and sauntered off down his beat whistling "At the Devil's Ball." "Sure I'm a divil amongst the ladies," he thought. "I am that. And me with six kids at home." 

Miss Briggs' eyes bugged out in astonishment. He had been a handsome cop and strong. Just then, one of the little golden girls came in with a beribboned box of candy for Teacher. Miss Briggs gurgled with pleasure and kissed the child's satin pink cheek. Sissy had a mind like a freshly-honed razor. In a flash, she saw which way the wind blew; she saw it blew against children like Francie. 

"Look," she said. "I guess you don't think we got lots of money." 

"I'm sure I never ..." 

"We're not people that put on. Now Christmas is coming," she bribed. 

"Maybe," conceded Miss Briggs, "I haven't always seen Frances when she raised her hand." 

"Where does she sit that you don't see her so good?" Teacher indicated a dark back seat. "Maybe if she sat up front more, you could see her better." 

"The seating arrangements are all set." 

"Christmas is coming," warned Sissy coyly. 

"I'll see what I can do." 

"See, then. And see that you see good." Sissy walked to the door, then turned. "Because not only is Christmas coming, but my husband who is a cop will come up here and beat hell out of you if you don't treat her right."

Devika Ch 22 – Francie makes the discovery that she could read (257 words)

OH, MAGIC HOUR WHEN A CHILD FIRST KNOWS IT CAN READ PRINTED WORDS!

For quite a while, Francie had been spelling out letters, sounding them and then putting the sounds together to mean a word. But one day, she looked at a page and the word "mouse" had instantaneous meaning. She looked at the word and the picture of a gray mouse scampered through her mind. She looked further and when she saw "horse," she heard him pawing the ground and saw the sun glint on his glossy coat. The word "running" hit her suddenly and she breathed hard as though running herself. The barrier between the individual sound of each letter and the whole meaning of the word was removed and the printed word meant a thing at

one quick glance. She read a few pages rapidly and almost became ill with excitement. She wanted to shout it out. She could read! She could read!

From that time on, the world was hers for the reading. She would never be lonely again, never miss the lack of intimate friends. Books became her friends and there was one for every mood. There was poetry for quiet companionship. There was adventure when she tired of quiet hours. There would be love stories when she came into adolescence and when she wanted to feel a closeness to someone she could read a biography. On that day when she first knew she could read, she made a vow to read one book a day as long as she lived.

Joe Ch 23 – Francie transfers to a new school (619 words)

Soon it was time to go home and tears came into Francie's eyes because papa hadn't said anything about getting her into the new school. He saw the tears and figured out a scheme immediately. 

"Tell you what we'll do, Baby. We'll walk around and pick out a nice house and take down the number. I'll write a letter to your principal saying you're moving there and want to be transferred to this school." 

They found a house-a one-story white one with a slanting roof and late chrysanthemums growing in the yard. He copied the address carefully. 

"You know that what we are going to do is wrong?" 

"Is it, Papa?" 

"But it's a wrong to gain a bigger good." 

"Like a white lie?" 

"Like a lie that helps someone out. So you must make up for the wrong by being twice as good. You must never be bad or absent or late. You must never do anything to make them send a letter home through the mails." 

"I'll always, be good, Papa, if I can go to that school." 

"Yes. Now I'll show you a way to go to school through a little park. I know right where it is. Yes sir, I know right where it is." He showed her the park and how she could walk through it diagonally to go to school. 

"That should make you happy. You can see the seasons change as you come and go. What do you say to that?"  Francie, recalling something her mother had once read to her answered, "My cup runneth over." And she meant it. 

When Katie heard of the plan, she said: "Suit yourself. But I'll have nothing to do with it. If the police come and arrest you for giving a false address, I'll say honestly that I had nothing to do with it. One school's as good or as bad as another. I don't know why she wants to change. There's homework no matter what school you go to." 

"It's settled then," Johnny said. "Francie, here's a penny. Run down to the candy store and get a sheet of writing paper and an envelope." Francie ran down and ran back. Johnny wrote a note saying Francie was going to live with relatives at such and such an address and wanted a transfer. He added that Neeley would continue living at home and wouldn't require a transfer. He signed his name and underlined it authoritatively. 

Tremblingly, Francie handed the note to her principal next morning. That lady read it, grunted, made out the transfer, handed her her report card and told her to go; that the school was too crowded anyhow. 

Francie presented herself and documents to the principal of the new school. He shook hands with her and said he hoped she'd be happy in the new school. A monitor took her to the classroom. The teacher stopped the work and introduced Francie to the class. Francie looked out over the rows of little girls. All were shabby but most were clean. She was given a seat to herself and happily fell into the routine of the new school. 

The teachers and children here were not as brutalized as in the old school. Yes, some of the children were mean but it seemed a natural child-meanness and not a campaign. Often the teachers were impatient and cross but never naggingly cruel. There was no corporal punishment either. The parents were too American, too aware of the rights granted them by their Constitution to accept injustices meekly. They could not be bulldozed and exploited as could the immigrants and the second generation Americans.

Saras Ch 24 – How Tammany Hall got jobs for the union workers and the poor (633 words)

She was an interested listener at the debates between mama and papa on the merits and faults of the party. Papa was an ardent Democrat but mama just didn't care. Mama criticized the party and told Johnny he was throwing his vote away. 

Don't say that, Katie," he protested. "By and large the party does a lot of good for the people." 

"I can just imagine," sniffed mama. 

"All they want is a vote from the man of the family and look what they give in exchange." 

"Name one thing they give." 

"Well, you need advice on a legal matter. You don't need a lawyer. Just ask your Assemblyman." 

"The blind leading the blind." 

"Don't you believe it. They may be dumb in many ways but they know the City's statutes backward and forward." 

"Sue the City for something and see how far Tammany will help you." 

"Take Civil Service," said Johnny starting on another angle. "They know when the examinations for cops, firemen or letter carriers are coming up. They'll always put a voter wise if he's interested." 

"Mrs. Lavey's husband took the examination for letter carrier three years ago. He's still working on a truck." "Ah! That's because he's a Republican. If he was a Democrat, they'd take his name and put it on' the top of the list. I heard about a teacher who wanted to be transferred to another school. Tammany fixed it up." 

…

Suppose Francie wanted to get working papers but was too young." 

"They'd get them, I suppose." 

"Certainly." 

"Do you think that's right to fix it so little children can work in factories?" 

"Well, supposing you had a bad boy who played hooky from school and was getting to be a loafer hanging around street corners but the law wouldn't let him work. Wouldn't it be better if he got faked working papers?" 

"In that case, yes," conceded Katie. 

"Look at all the jobs they get for voters." 

"You know how they get them, don't you? They inspect a factory and overlook the fact that they're violating the factory laws. Naturally, the boss pays back by letting them know when they need men and Tammany gets all the credit for finding jobs." 

"Here's another case. A man has relatives in the old country but he can't get them over here on account of a lot of red tape. Well, Tammany can fix that up." 

"Sure, they get them foreigners over here and see to it that they start in on their citizenship papers and then tell them they must vote the Democratic ticket or go back where they came from ." 

"No matter what you say, Tammany's good to the poor people. Say a man's been sick and can't pay his rent. Do you think the organization would let the landlord dispossess him? No sir. Not if he's a Democrat." 

"I suppose the landlords are all Republicans, then," Katie said. 

"No. The system works both ways. Suppose the landlord has a bum for a tenant who gives him a punch in the nose instead of the rent. What happens? The organization dispossesses him for the landlord." 

"For what Tammany gives to the people, it takes from them double. You wait until us women vote." Johnny's laugh interrupted her. "You don't believe we will? That day will come. Mark my words. We'll put all those crooked politicians where they belong-behind iron bars." 

"If that day ever comes when women vote, you'll go along to the polls with me-arm in arm-and vote the way I do." He put his arm around her and gave her a quick hug. 

Arundhaty Ch 27 – Francie and Neeley win a Christmas tree (614 words)

The others made a wavering lane. Francie and Neeley stood at one end of it and the big man with the big tree at the other. It was a human funnel with Francie and her brother making the small end of it. The man flexed his great arms to throw the great tree. He noticed how tiny the children looked at the end of the short lane. For the split part of a moment, the tree thrower went through a kind of Gethsemane. 

"Oh, Jesus Christ," his soul agonized, "why don't I just give 'em the tree, say Merry Christmas and let 'em go? What's the tree to me? I can't sell it no more this year and it won't keep till next year." The kids watched him solemnly as he stood there in his moment of thought. "But then," he rationalized, "if I did that, all the others would expect to get 'em handed to 'em. And next year nobody at all would buy a tree off of me. They'd all wait to get 'em handed to 'em on a silver plate. I ain't a big enough man to give this tree away for nothin'. No, I ain't big enough. I ain't big enough to do a thing like that. I gotta think of myself and my own kids." He finally came to his conclusion. "Oh, what the hell! Them two kids is gotta live in this world. They gotta get used to it. They got to learn to give and to take punishment. And by Jesus, it ain't give but take, take, take all the time in this God-damned world." As he threw the tree with all his strength, his heart wailed out, "It's a God-damned, rotten, lousy world!" 

Francie saw the tree leave his hands. There was a split bit of being when time and space had no meaning. The whole world stood still as something dark and monstrous came through the air. The tree came towards her blotting out all memory of her ever having lived. There was nothing-nothing but pungent darkness and something that grew and grew as it rushed at her. She staggered as the tree hit them. Neeley went to his knees but she pulled him up fiercely before he could go down. There was a mighty swishing sound as the tree settled. Everything was dark, green and prickly. Then she felt a sharp pain at the side of her head where the trunk of the tree had hit her. She felt Neeley trembling. 

When some of the older boys pulled the tree away, they found Francie and her brother standing upright, hand in hand. Blood was coming from scratches on Neeley's face. He looked more like a baby than ever with his bewildered blue eyes and the fairness of his skin made more noticeable because of the clear red blood. But they were smiling. Had they not won the biggest tree in the neighborhood? Some of the boys hollered "Horray!" A few adults clapped. The tree man eulogized them by screaming, "And now get the hell out of here with your tree, you lousy bastards." 

Francie had heard swearing since she had heard words. Obscenity and profanity had no meaning as such among those people. They were emotional expressions of inarticulate people with small vocabularies; they made a kind of dialect. The phrases could mean many things according to the expression and tone used in saying them. So now, when Francie heard themselves called lousy bastards, she smiled tremulously at the kind man. She knew that he was really saying, "Goodbye-God bless you." 

Geetha Ch 37 Francie and Neeley discuss Papa’s death and are treated too hot chocolate when they get home (633 words) 

Francie had not shed a tear since her father's death. Neither had Neeley. Now Francie felt that all the tears she had were frozen together in her throat in a solid lump and the lump was growing ... growing. She felt that if the lump didn't melt soon and change back into tears, she too would die. She looked at Neeley. Tears were falling out of his eyes. Then her tears came, too. 

…

"Neeley, why did papa have to die?" 

"I guess God wanted him to die." 

"Why?" 

"Maybe to punish him." 

"Punish him for what?" 

"I don't know," said Neeley miserably. 

"Do you believe that God put papa on this world?" 

"Yes." 

"Then He wanted him to live, didn't He?" 

"I guess so." 

"Then why did He make him die so quick?" 

"Maybe to punish him," repeated Neeley not knowing what else to answer. 

"If that's true, what good is it? Papa's dead and he don't know that he's punished. God made papa the way he was and then said to Himself, I dare you to do anything about it. I just bet He said that." 

"Maybe you shouldn't talk about God like that," said Neeley apprehensively. 

"They say God's so great," said Francie scornfully, and knows everything and can do everything. If He's so great, why didn't He help papa instead of punishing him like you said?" 

"I just said maybe" 

"If God has charge of all the world," said Francie, "and the sun and the moon and the stars and all the birds and trees and flowers and all the animals and people, you'd think He'd be too busy and too important – wouldn't you – to spend so much time punishing one man – one man like papa." 

"I don't think you should talk about God like that," said Neeley uneasily. "He might strike you down dead." 

"Then let Him," cried Francie fiercely. "Let Him strike me down dead right here in the gutter where I sit!" 

They waited fearfully. Nothing happened. When Francie spoke again, she was quieter. 

"I believe in the Lord, Jesus Christ, and His Mother, Holy Mary. Jesus was a living baby once. He went barefooted like we do in the summer. I saw a picture where He was a boy and had no shoes on. And when He was a man, He went fishing, like papa did once. And they could hurt Him too, like they couldn't hurt God. Jesus wouldn't go around punishing people. He knew about people. So I will always believe in Jesus Christ." 

They made the sign of the cross as Catholics do when mentioning Jesus’ name. Then she put her hand on Neeley's knee and spoke in a whisper. 

"Neeley, I wouldn't tell anybody but you, but I don't believe in God anymore." 

"I want to go home," said Neeley. He was shivering. 

When Katie let them in, she saw that their faces were tired, yet peaceful. "Well, they've cried it out," she thought. 

Francie looked at her mother, then looked away quickly. "While we were gone," she thought, "she cried and cried until she couldn't cry any more." The weeping wasn't mentioned aloud by any one of them. 

"I thought you'd come home cold," said mama, "so I made a warm surprise for you." 

"What?" asked Neeley. 

"You'll see." 

The surprise was "hot chocolate" which was cocoa and condensed milk made into a paste and boiling water stirred into it. Katie poured the thick rich stuff into the cups. "And that's not all," she added. She took three marshmallows from a paper bag in her apron pocket and popped one into each cup.

Shoba Ch 48 Francie tucks away memorabilia into an envelope to recall the date war was declared, fifty years hence (635 words)

Francie had a vision. Fifty years from now, she'd be telling her grandchildren how she had come to the office, sat at her reader's desk and in the routine of work had read that war had been declared. 

…

Not caring about clients who might be mentioned on pages one and two, she detached the front sheet of the newspaper and folded the sheet into a careful oblong, watching the creases come under her thumb. She inserted it into one of the strong manila envelopes that the Bureau used to mail clippings in. 

Francie heard, as if for the first time, the sound the desk drawer made when she opened it to get her purse. She noted the device of the purse's catch-the sound of its click. She felt the leather, memorized its smell and studied the whorlings of the black moire-silk lining. She read the dates on the coins in her change purse. There, was a new 1917 penny which she put in the envelope. She uncapped her lipstick and made a line with it under her finger prints. The clear red color, the texture and the scent of it pleased her. She examined in turn the powder in her compact, the ridges on her nail file, the way her comb was inflexible and the threads of her handkerchief. There was a worn clipping in the purse, a poem she had torn out of an Oklahoma newspaper. It had been written by a poet who had lived in Brooklyn, gone to the Brooklyn public schools and, as a young man, had edited The Brooklyn Eagle. She reread it for the twentieth time handling each word in her mind. 

I am of old and young, of the foolish as much as the wise; 

Regardless of others, ever regardful of others. 

Maternal as well as paternal, a child as well as a man, 

Stuff'd with the stuff that is coarse, and stuff d with the stuff that is fine. 

The tattered poem went into the envelope. 

…

The fabric of her dress was made of tiny cords. She turned back the hem and noticed that the narrow lace edge of her slip was diamond-shaped in design. 

"If I can fix every detail of this time in my mind, I can keep this moment always," she thought. 

Using the razor blade, she clipped a lock of her hair, wrapped it in the square of paper on which were her finger prints and lipstick mark, folded it, placed it in the envelope and sealed the envelope. On the outside she wrote: 

Frances Nolan, age 15 years and 4 months. April 6, 1917. 

She thought: "If I open this envelope fifty years from now, I will be again as I am now and there will be no being old for me. There's a long, long time yet before fifty years ... millions of hours of time. But one hour has gone already since I sat here ... one hour less to live ... one hour gone away from all the hours of my life. 

"Dear God," she prayed, "let me be something every minute of every hour of my life. Let me be gay; let me be sad. Let me be cold; let me be warm. Let me be hungry ... have too much to eat. Let me be ragged or well dressed. Let me be sincere-be deceitful. Let me be truthful; let me be a liar. Let me be honorable and let me sin. Only let me be something every blessed minute. And when I sleep, let me dream all the time so that not one little piece of living is ever lost." 

The delivery boy came by and slapped another city paper on her desk. This one had a two-word headline. 

WAR DECLARED!