A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (Character Sketch)

Francie began as the girl "[that was] entitled to one cup each meal like the rest. If it makes her feel better to throw it way rather than to drink it, all right. I think it's good that people like us can waste something once in a while and get the feeling of how it would be have lots of money and not have to worry about scrounging" (14). Francie begins in the book as a young girl, very innocent to the world except for the community filled with poverty in which she lives. She was very devoted to her studies, reading a book a day and constantly writing. As she grew up she began to realize how much of a problem her father has with drinking and maybe this is why Francie throws away her drink to show that she doesn't have to give into excesses like her father. In the same way, Santiago from The Old Man and the Sea doesn't need all the things that all the other fisherman need. After her father's death and her assault, she was devastated changing her outlook on life forever. Her father was a large part of her and so was her innocence, once they were taken away she stopped believing in G-d which in part changed her day-to-day routine. Throughout the book, you watch Francie go from a young innocent girl to a woman full of both good and bad experiences.