Hunter Dobson
Professor Marziliano
Discover New York
19 December 2018
Final Paper – “Exterior Street” and A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
It is an undeniable fact that New York City is an extremely large place. This was even true in the early twentieth century with its population exceeding all other U.S. cities by a landslide. NYC during this time was already developing into the industrial and cultural powerhouse of a city it is today. Because of its vastness and diversity this early on in its history, it makes sense that its literature during this time was not all the same with some being glaringly different. Such is the case when examining Stephen Graham’s “Exterior Street” and Betty Smith’s A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. These two works set in early-1900s NYC both depict a character’s experiences in the Big Apple. Graham tells of his personal account walking the city streets at night while Smith offers somewhat of a memoir of her own childhood living in Willamsburg, Brooklyn. Graham and Smith write stories that are, in many ways, strikingly different due to their contrasting backgrounds and familiarity with NYC, both of which play a significant role in the outlook on the city by each author. While there are clear differences between the two pieces when observing the city on the surface, when analyzing it on a deeper level, they share common viewpoints regarding the disappointment some faced in NYC and the abstract beauty that the city had to offer.
Since “Exterior Street” and A Tree Grows in Brooklyn both take place during the same era, their differences lie mainly in how the authors themselves are different. Graham’s work recounts his first time ever being in NYC and because of this, it offers the unique perspective of a tourist. The immense size of many of the places Graham encounters has an additional shock factor that would not come to a person with more experience in the city. In one of these encounters at a large market on West Street, he points out how “peaches are like stones in the roadway! They tumbled from wooden troughs and buckets uncovered and overfilled. There were South Mountain oranges and California lemons. There were crates of greens stacked higher than men” (Graham p. 488). Smith’s novel is different in how it is written not only from the point of view of a native New Yorker but also from the low social status her protagonist lives. Francie Nolan, born and raised in Brooklyn, is obviously more accustomed to the scope of the city compared to Graham. In addition to this, the abundance that Graham experiences is a luxury that Francie and her family do not have. Rather than the extravagant tourist’s perspective offered by “Exterior Street,” A Tree Grows in Brooklyn views NYC from that of poor tenement-dwellers and their struggle for survival. In one such instance, “When money gave out and food ran low, Katie and the children pretended they were explorers discovering the North Pole and had been trapped by a blizzard in a cave with just a little food. They had to make it last till help came” (Smith p. 217-218). This jarring portrayal of how hard it was to live in the tenement districts of NYC shows a sharp contrast to Graham’s descriptions of the aspects he notices at first glance. This divide between native New Yorkers and tourists has existed throughout the city’s history. Tourists in most cases tend to view NYC more superficially because of their lack of familiarity. Those that were born here, however, like me, or even those that have lived here for a long time know that there is more to NYC beneath its surface.
Aside from their general thematic differences on the city, these two works are also distinct from each other in their literary nature. Stephen Graham was an English travel writer whose goal in “Exterior Street” was to give his take on NYC to others who have never been there. He did this by describing his journey through night life when was less busy. Betty Smith, however, had a more muckraking approach when writing A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. She subtly gave criticism on the NYC she grew up in where she had to suffer the poor conditions of tenement buildings at the time. Because of these differences in approach, the ways in which NYC is described are inherently conflicting. Graham has a more objective narrative compared to Smith who, due to her novel being somewhat of social commentary, is subjective in her portrayal of the city. Smith also has a much longer history in NYC as opposed to Graham whose account is based purely on a couple of nights. She goes in depth discussing the hardships that the Nolans face that include the rampant crime that breeds in tenements and the practically nonstop work that had to be done just to make ends meet. Graham, on the other hand, only has a select number of experiences to draw from in his writing, all of which are his thoughts at first glance. Regardless of what the two works explicitly discuss, the level of detail in which they discuss NYC differ, especially when concerning how each one represents NYC as a whole. Smith’s novel follows the Nolans over a long period of time and observes how they grow and how the city affects their growth while Graham offers more of a snapshot of the nightlife of the city.
Because Stephen Graham was a travel writer, his account on NYC surpasses that of a common tourist in terms of insight. This is where his work displays clearer similarities to Betty Smith’s. One of the features both pieces analyze is the disillusionment that existed in some people because their ideal American Dream did not come to fruition. This was a harsh reality that many people, especially immigrants, faced upon arriving in NYC where they believed their life would become better but, in many ways, it actually became harder or at least not what they expected. Graham brings this up in his writing when recalling an exchange with a Greek immigrant who, in speaking about NYC, says “‘Not like it. Bad place here. Kill you for a dime. Want woman; cost ten dollars. Take her hotel two more. Drinks bad poison. Good drink cost big money. Not like New York’” (Graham p. 490). This negative perception of the city was similar for most other immigrants at the time as they were typically forced into poor and dangerous neighborhoods where there was little room to escape living in these conditions. While in A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, the Nolans’ are not immigrants, Betty Smith is still able to convey this issue in respect to the Nolans’ personal experiences, one of which being Johnny Nolan’s disappointment from his trip to the sea. Although he was excited about this trip based on the various songs he had heard, several mishaps that occur while he is there with his children ruins that perfect image of the sea he initially came with. “He had sung many a song about ships and going down to the sea in them with a heave ho and a heave to. He wondered why it hadn’t turned out the way it said in songs … The songs of the sea had betrayed him” (Smith p. 228). Smith clearly has an understanding of the ways in which people are let down in regard to their expectations in NYC as does Graham from what was said to him on his travels. The lack of the American Dream was a common occurrence during this time period, especially in NYC where many people were pulled towards to achieve their dreams. Though “Exterior Street” and A Tree Grows in Brooklyn deal with different subject matters, this concept is prevalent enough to remain constant in both pieces.
Another important way in which these two texts share similarities is in how they both acknowledge the beauty NYC on a deeper level. Again, Graham’s eloquent observations and writing allows his shorter narrative to reflect ideas fleshed out in Smith’s novel. At several points in both works, there is an evident appreciation of aspects of the city beyond what can just be seen on the surface. After his initial reactions to his what he sees, Graham spends time viewing the city in a different way. Instead of looking at things at face value, he starts to look at them from an outside perspective; a place where he calls ‘Exterior Street’ which “has a Venetian view of river, lights, ferries, and small boats … The silence is only accented by the rustling of the wind … I sit on the grass under the cliff and look over the water. It is Exterior Street: I am outside New York” (Graham p. 493). It is from here where he can step outside of the city and view it as something more. This semester, with various assignments and trips in NYC, I have made an effort to see parts it in this new way and I have truly been surprised in how something as similar as the city’s skyline can be redefined when viewing it from a ferry off of New York Harbor. This same outside perspective of NYC is displayed in A Tree Grows in Brooklyn as well shown by how Francie views Manhattan from the roof of her tenement building in Williamsburg. From here, “she saw a whole new world. Not far away was the lovely span of the Williamsburg Bridge. Across the East River, like a fairy city made of silver cardboard, the skyscrapers loomed cleanly” (Smith p. 122). Whether through the insightful observation of a travel writer or the fantastical imagination of a little girl, both of these texts show how there are more ways to view NYC than just up close and on the surface. As mentioned by Graham, “To understand any experience you must get outside of it” (p. 493). Recontextualizing what is initially seen can sometimes drastically change it. In a place as big as NYC, the limits of this recontextualization are endless.
NYC is such a large place that two literary works set during the same time period can be different in so many ways in regard to what is discussed and analyzed. “Exterior Street” is the first-person narrative of a man seeing the city and all of its special characteristics for the first time. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, contrarily, is a story written by a woman well-seasoned in NYC’s unique nature and instead chooses to comment on how that nature impacts those that live there. While NYC is so big as to result in these two mostly different texts, it is so unlike any other place that it is impossible for overlap not to exist. There are qualities that cannot be omitted when discussing the city. Its status on a global scale that has attracted millions of people to both visit and live and the subsequent dissatisfaction of some with it not living up to its reputation is an idea that has been a substantial aspect of its history. This idea, accordingly, is examined to some extent by both authors. Additionally, its unmatched spectacle both on the surface and beneath it is, of course, an integral part to both pieces in how the city itself is viewed and described to the reader. No other place can offer such a distinctive comparison between two works that can have such clear differences yet underlying similarities. This phenomenon is not limited only to literature within the same time period. These same ideas discussed in these texts, whether it be the disenchantment among some individuals or the deeper beauty that runs throughout the city, will always define NYC in both its rich history and its ever-evolving future.