What does this say about growing up poor in that time?

[Marie]

This is one of my favorite classic stories. But what does it say about growing up "poor" at that time? How is it different from today? Would Francie be the same if set in the later part of the century?
Her story is so compelling, you almost envy her life. Why, at the end, when things were looking up, did it seem Francie and Rory almost seemed to be nostalgic for their old, hard life that their sister would never know?

[Holly]

One message I got from this book is that there are people whose minds are not limited to the barriers imposed by their economic or social status, or even by lack of education. Francie's Grandma Mary Rommely is one such person; she is a totally uneducated peasant woman and yet she knows so much of human nature and the truths of the world. She also understands the importance of education, as she regrets the lack in herself.

Francie herself sees so much beauty in her surroundings; she observes people and thinks deeply and thirsts for more knowledge. She is resourceful in taking advantage of the opportunities that present themselves to her. Compare Francie to the saloon keeper, McGarrity's daughter. She is a mean, dull minded child who seems to have gotten no benefit from all the advantages she has had in life due to her father's relative prosperity. McGarrity himself always envied the Nolans; and regretted the lack of gentility and intellectualism in his own family.

I think this book says that regardless of the harshness of the circumstances, the human mind and spirit will rise to their own level. In a reasonably
balanced society, the physical being will follow.

[Melinda]

This is a great book. As to how being poor is different now, I think there are so many types of poor, and reasons for it, that it's hard to generalize, but I think one thing that's changed is that there are more social programs now to help, but there's also more regulation and other constrictions that make it harder to engage in small-scale business and claw your way out of poverty.

[Kressel]

The worst problem in Francie's life is not her poverty - it's her father's alcoholism. And having just finished Random Family: Love, Drugs, Trouble, and Coming of Age in the Bronx , which is about poverty in more recent times, I also have to say that it's crime and drugs that make poverty so much worse.

[Aisling]

One thing that hasn't changed though is that education is the key to getting out of poverty.

[Kandi]

Aisling wrote: "One thing that hasn't changed though is that education is the key to getting out of poverty."

This is what I took away from reading this, too - adding that it also helps to have people in your life that encourage and support you no matter how impossible it seems.

[Kathleen]

As someone else noted, there are many ways to be impoverished. Francie's mother wryly notes that the bar owner has plenty of money but she's watched his daughter toss candy into a ditch rather than give it to the obviously hungry and poor children around her. That's an individual whose very soul is stuck in poverty.

And Kressel, I agree. If the handsome Johnny had it together and was a good provider, the lives of the Nolans would have had quite a different life. It reminds me of my grandmother. My grandfather was famously handsome and charming, and it turns out, something of a con man. She gave up everything for him, only to have him leave her during The Great Depression with all their kids to raise alone. That he was so unstable and then, ultimately absent, left my father and siblings in utter poverty too. So heart breaking.

[Carrie]

I agree w so many post here. I love this book. Poverty isn't really different from then til now. People still go w/o. People still go to bed hungry. People still lie,cheat and steal to "get by" in this world. 2 kinds of people in this world...the haves and the have-nots.and sometimes money has nothing to do with it.

[C.G.]

This is my favorite book and I'm rereading it for probably the fourth or fifth time. It's my favorite because every time I've finished reading it, I feel an incredible sense of hope that I sometimes seem to lose when dealing with day to day situations. Francie's life/reaction to being poor would be (I think) basically the same today as it was in the early century. She's poor, so she's forced to see the beauty in things that cannot be bought with money, like sitting outside and reading a book on a Saturday afternoon. If Francie existed today, I think she would still be fascinated by small miracles like this. Sometimes being poor opens your eyes to greater values.