Betty Smith was born on December 15, 1904 in Brooklyn, New York and was raised in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn. Her name was originally Elisabeth Keogh. Smith attended public schools until the age of fourteen when, having completed eighth grade, she began working at a series of factory and clerical jobs. An avid reader as a young girl, she also wrote poems and acted in amateur productions at the Williamsburg YMCA. Moving to the Midwest, she met and married George Smith, a law student at the University of Michigan. There her two daughters were born. She audited literature and writing classes at the university and, although not a regular student, had two plays published in a collection of undergraduate work and won an Avery Hopwo

Each of the members of the Nolan family has an inner conflict, which governs their lives. For Katie, it is the struggle between giving up her hopes and ambitions to fulfill her responsibilities to her playboy husband and young children. Katie is forced to live with the consequences of her choices early in life. She meets Johnny at the age of seventeen and proceeds to steal him from her best friend because "he can dance and is very handsome" (Smith 82). They rush into marriage and she is pregnant within a few months. The first evidence of his playboy behavior is when Katie is in labor giving birth, he goes out and gets drunk. This becomes a routine, not being able to hold a job and drinking with what little money the family has. He and Katie both feel obligated to fulfill their wedding vows (Smith 80-150).

half after their marriage (Collins 25-28).

As a young woman, Katie's dreams are to have a better life than her parents had. Mistakenly, she marries a drunk for a husband, having to look after him, as well as the children. Daily, she experiences hopelessness and despair, doing all she can for her children, hoping to equip them for better lives in the future. She struggles with leaving because she knows she can have something better, but does not in loyalty to her husband and children, and also the Roman Catholic Church (Smith 80-400).

on Johnny's tips as a singing waiter, the ones not spent on liquor, and on Katie's wages as a janitor. The plot continues from here, with several tragedies along the way. Johnny eventually drinks himself to death, dying of Pneumonia in a street gutter. A serial killer attempts to rape and kill Francie when she is fourteen years old, but Katie shoots him before he can cause physical harm (Smith 80-350).

Neeley, the middle child of the family, is also more of a minor character in the family. His conflict is between loyalty to his family and their life of poverty, and the desire to break through and be a member of the more elite, money making class of society. It is first evident in his reaction to receiving his first new pair of long pants for his father's funeral. "She (Katie) bought Neeley a new black pants suit with long pants. It was his first long-pants suit, and pride, pleasure, and grief fought in Neeley's heart" (251). It is also evident in his feelings of receiving his own bedroom. "Neeley's eyes jumped to his own mother's. A room of his own! A dream come true; two dreams come true, long pants and a room...His eyes saddened then, as he thought of how these good things had come to him" (Smith 262).

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).

Some common words found in the essay are:
Grows Brooklyn, Francie Francie, Prima Donna, Francie Neeley, Sissy Johnny, Betty Smith, Johnny Nolan, Robert Finch, Shakespeare Bible, Bridge Francie, tree grows brooklyn, grows brooklyn, tree grows, nolan family, betty smith, francie neeley, novel tree, francie nolan, thousand dollars, husband children, novel tree grows, own childhood, grows brooklyn betty, roman catholic church, brooklyn betty smith,
Approximate Word count = 2687
Approximate Pages = 11 (250 words per page double spaced)