A Tree Grows in Brooklyn

by Betty Smith

Francie, who would grow up to be a Rommely woman even though her name was Nolan.

A person who pulls himself up from a low environment via the bootstrap route has two choices. Having risen above his environment, he can forget it; or, he can rise above it and never forget it and keep compassion and understanding in his heart for those he has left behind him in the cruel upclimb.

“There are very few bad people. There are just a lot of people that are unlucky.”