This quote comes from the first chapter of the novel. The author begins the book by describing this specific tree to emphasize the importance of the setting in the novel. What do you think the tree symbolizes?
“The one tree in Francie's yard was neither a pine nor a hemlock. It had pointed leaves which grew along green switches which radiated from the bough and made a tree which looked like a lot of opened green umbrellas. Some people called it the Tree of Heaven. No matter where its seed fell, it made a tree which struggled to reach the sky. It grew in boarded-up lots and out of neglected rubbish heaps and it was the only tree that grew out of cement. It grew lushly, but only in the tenement districts.”
“The one tree in Francie's yard was neither a pine nor a hemlock. It had pointed leaves which grew along green switches which radiated from the bough and made a tree which looked like a lot of opened green umbrellas. Some people called it the Tree of Heaven. No matter where its seed fell, it made a tree which struggled to reach the sky. It grew in boarded-up lots and out of neglected rubbish heaps and it was the only tree that grew out of cement. It grew lushly, but only in the tenement districts.”
2 comments:
I thinke that the tree symbolizes all the children growing up in the tenement area. Many children grow up in families that neglect them, and grow up in bad places. The children will struggle throughout their life either with living, drinking, abuse, or money. It only grows with the poor because the poor have the harder time reaching heaven because of all the temptations!
Post a Comment