A Tree Grows In Broklyn Essay Research — страница 4

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fictional Nolan family, the main character, Francie Nolan, became almost a national figure. To this day, continued Smith, people write or phone me asking where Francie Nolan … is living now; has she married, how many children she has, is she happy? … One fifth of my letters start out, Dear Francie (Collins 75-80). In terms of profit for Smith, over 4,000,000 copies have been sold of A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. It has been translated into sixteen languages and has been made into a motion picture. Before publication of the book, she had offered to sell it to Hollywood for five thousand dollars and was refused. Because of its success, the movie offer went up to fifty thousand dollars, but Smith held out for fifty-five thousand because she still wanted that five thousand dollars

(Literary Encyclopedia of Authors 350). Through the brilliant novel, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, Betty Smith has related her own childhood experiences to an audience of over 4,000,000. The relentless tree, which endures all hardships in the novel, is a main symbol of the Nolans and all other families struggling to survive over time, faced with money problems, immorality, and duty versus freedom. Eventually the Nolans move beyond the tree, but the roots permanently remain embedded within each one of them. 336