In A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith, the protagonist, Francie, faces the challenges of growing in her home of 1910’s Brooklyn. When she is thirteen years old, Francie witnesses a young mother, Joanna, being ridiculed due to the circumstances under which she bore the child. Though it upsets Francie, she does not stand up for Joanna in fear that the woman’s persecutors will turn their judgement upon her. Francie is consumed by guilt following the incident, especially for not acknowledging Joanna earlier in the day. “[Francie] remembered how Joanna had smiled at her and how she had turned her head away without smiling back. Why hadn’t she smiled back? Why hadn’t she smiled back? Now she would suffer- she would suffer all the rest of her
