You walk tiredly up the steps to your school, the same drab gray school you’ve been going to all your life. When you reach the door, you stop to think about what is to come. What is to come today, tomorrow, and even in the far-off distance. Sometimes the pressure of what people are expecting of you, the knowledge of what may happen if you take the wrong step, and the lack of familiarity you have of growing up may overwhelm or frighten you. As you go on in life, having the confidence and strength to accept and prepare for the future can make life seem far less menacing.
Francie Nolan’s life was pretty uncertain. As she moved toward experience she suffered through many hard choices that would affect her future. One of her choices to make was education. She changed schools early on in her childhood, trying to plan an easier life for herself with the higher quality learning. When her father died and money became tight, there became a decision. Was she or was she not to go back to high school? Even when she made her decision, the unexpected happened and she was forced to work while Neeley went back to school. Francie decided to live with her mother’s choice and did the best she could with what she had, earning her a high paying job. Using your own strengths and senses you can accept what you have in life and succeed without what you don’t have. Sometime in life you’ll get what you’ve rightfully earned and then your life will come full circle.
Moving from innocence to experience is a hard path with many twists and turns. You don’t naturally learn about growing up or moving on. You must teach yourself and move to experience for yourself no matter how hard it may be, as is the theme of the novel. Throughout life you will have to make many choices just like Francie, and it is your own job to prepare for them. Making the wrong choice may cost you an opportunity, and an opportunity missed may cost you a wonderful time. However, that doesn’t mean you can’t learn from your mistakes and make new decisions. If everyone made the right decision on the first try, there would be no lesson learned, and therefore, no greater knowledge of life. Mistakes are human. They’re a part of life, and the point of the novel A Tree Grows in Brooklyn is that we can move on toward experience living with what we’ve done already.
Some people spend their lives worried about the future. Always afraid to take the next step for fear that they will choose the wrong path toward experience and end up with a life of regret. Planning what you’re going to do before you do it can make all the difference, and having a solid plan can help you achieve and accept what your future is destined to be. Accepting what is to come and doing the best with it will help clear the path from innocence to experience of doubt.
