“A Tree Grows in Brooklyn” by Betty Smith (post 4): When, on the last page, Francie says, “Good-bye, Francie,” to whom does she refer?

When I was growing up, my family and friends called me “Kenny,” and they still do. For me to say “Good-bye, Kenny” would be absurd.

And undoubtedly, the people closest to Francie (who is now almost seventeen and about to attend college out of town) will continue to call her “Francie.” So what does she mean by “Good-bye, Francie”? (1, p. 493).

To whom, or to what, does she refer?

On the preceding page, she identifies that Francie as being a girl aged “ten” (1, p. 492). Thus, she is distinguishing herself from a 10-year-old, child-aged alternate personality that she expects to play a much less significant role in her life from then on.

Since there is no indication that the character or narrator thinks in terms of alternate personalities, per se, this novel is another example of unacknowledged multiple personality.

1. Betty Smith. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn [1943]. New York, Harper Perennial Modern Classics, 2006.