A Tree Grows in Brooklyn

Johnny goes on a bender for his 21st birthday, finally pushing Katie over the edge. She locks him in a room and tells him to sober up. Due to his delirium tremens, he is loud and impervious, drawing concern from the neighbors. Katie stands her ground but asks Sissy for help. Sissy agrees but says Katie must leave her alone with Johnny for one night. Katie assents, and Sissy comes over and disappears into the room with Johnny. She offers him a bottle of whiskey slowly through the night, allowing him to weep on her until the morning, when she exits the room to talk to Katie.

Katie immediately assumes that Sissy has slept with Johnny, and she says as much upon Sissy’s arrival, but Sissy denies it. Sissy threatens to sleep with him, however, if Katie continues to “nag” him. She tells Katie she has to accept that he is an alcoholic and love him anyway. Katie says she will do this but knows “[i]n her heart” she will not be able to let this flaw go (103). 

Katie’s shame over her husband’s drunkenness leads them to change homes. Katie finds a new house to move into across town where they can live rent-free as long as she keeps the house clean. Johnny fusses, not wanting his wife to be a janitress, but quickly gives in when Katie points out the alternatives. Katie’s mother then comes over to help them move and to sprinkle the new house with holy water. She leaves Francie with the holy water for a moment; Francie then spills it, causing Katie to think Francie has wet her pants. Katie’s mother says that it was just spilled holy water, causing everyone to laugh. She then points out that “it was good luck to start life in a new home with laughter” (106).

The first year in their new home is pleasant, with everyone doing their part, including young Francie, who helps care for Neeley and learns how to stitch. As time goes on, however, Katie works harder, Johnny drinks more, and Francie grows lonelier. The other children make fun of her for having a drunk father, a loose aunt, and a large vocabulary, so she can’t make any friends. She watches the other kids play from the stoop of her house, occasionally playing with made-up friends of her own. She does enjoy watching the local musicians play, as she can enjoy this activity alone. While the city surrounding her is ostensibly happy, Francie and everyone around her can’t help but feel “sad” (116).

The Nolans do not spend long in their new house because of Sissy. One afternoon, Sissy is on her way to the Nolans to watch the kids while Katie is working and sees a tricycle on a neighbor’s porch. Sissy snatches it up and brings it over to the Nolans for Francie and Neeley to ride. Not long after Sissy starts pushing the kids on the tricycle, a cop and a disgruntled mother approach them, demanding she return it. Sissy uses her feminine wiles to convince the policeman to let Francie use the bike. Not only does she get him to give her legal permission, but he himself pushes Francie around for a little bit. After this spectacle, the Nolans become a point of derision in the neighborhood.

Katie starts gearing up to move again when Sissy seals the deal by allowing Francie and Neeley to play with a box containing unidentified unmentionables, which they then tie from the Nolans’ window, not understanding the implications. The Nolans then cut Sissy out of their lives and Katie finds a new home and a new job. Their new home is not as nice, but they have access to the roof, so Johnny brings Francie up there to see the view. She is dazzled by the city stretching out beneath them but upset when they see someone steal a pigeon from a pigeon coop below. Her father tells her not to be upset because it is possible the pigeon wanted to escape anyway. He ends the conversation by telling Francie that this is the last house he plans to live in.