A Tree Grows in Brooklyn | Literary Qualities
Smith uses a third-person omniscient narrator to relate her story. Thus, although Francie is the book's central character, Smith develops other characters, even the minor ones, by means of occasional internal monologues. When, for example, ten-year-old Francie and nine-year-old Neeley venture forth to win a Christmas tree—a process that involves "catching" unsold trees that are flung at them; children who fall down forfeit their right to the trees—Smith reveals the thoughts of the "tree man": "Oh...why don't I just give 'em the tree, say Merry Christmas and let 'em go?" After...
[The entire page is 361 words long]
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