Smith wrote A Tree Grows in Brooklyn to inform others about what it was like growing up in a small neighborhood in Brooklyn in the early 1900s. In one chapter, she recalls "with a peculiar tenderness" how Brooklynites celebrated Thanksgiving (Smith 1). Smith's use of cultural terminology, such as "ragamuffin" or "slamming gates," helps the reader better understand the language used by children in the Williamsburg neighborhood at that point in history. Her detailed description of the children's selection of costumes reveals the popular culture of the time and tensions between the poor and rich of the town (1). Smith dwells not only on the cultural details of early Brooklyn, but she also describes emotional experiences of growing up poor. Although the children in Francie's classroom are hungry, they are "too proud to accept charitable food. . . . ," even when that food is about to be thrown away (3). For these children, dignity is more important than satisfying hunger pangs. Smith's careful attention to cultural, historical, and emotional details informs the reader of what it was like to grow up in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, in the early 1900s.
