TODAY'S NUGGET: A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (1945) - Emotion: Earning the Audience's Sympathy

[Quick Summary: In 1900s Brooklyn tenements, Francie Nolan (12) and her brother Neeley grow up with an alcoholic father and determined mother.]

I did not expect to cry, so I was surprised when I teared up around part 9 (this printed edition is divided into 10 parts).  How did this script earn my sympathies?

First, it showed me a "oh-I-know-that-character," Francie:

"[She is] about thirteen. She is a rather quiet child. She has inherited from Johnny, her father, a sensitiveness and an imagination that make her by the far the more difficult problem in parenthood for the Nolans."

Then it showed me an "oh-I-know-that-role" in her family's situation. 

This is best seen in the scene below:
- Francie is closer to her father Johnny, a loving father, but drinks because he cannot provide well. 
- The burden falls on her mother Katie, who is the janitor of their apartment building, and the kids to look out for Johnny.
- Note the recognizable dynamic: an overly responsible child who loves her still impractical parent.

Suddenly he stops at the window of the hardware shop as they pass it.

JOHNNY: Look at all the things they got. No use talkin', some day I'm gonna get you them skates.

FRANCIE (maternally): Mama said not to be late, papa.

JOHNNY: God invented time, Prima Donna, and whenever He invents somethin' there's always plenty of it. (Moving down the window) Look at them knives!

FRANCIE (gravely): Mama says time is money.

JOHNNY: Well, I guess maybe He wasn't worryin' about money right then.

FRANCIE (a little worried): There's your car, papa.

JOHNNY (looking, and grinning at her): Might as well catch it, I guess.

He kisses her quickly and goes toward the car. Francie calls "goodbye" after him and stands watching anxiously.

Johnny swings onto the car just as it starts to move on. He smiles back, then tips his hat with a fine flourish to Francie.

Nobody but papa has ever tipped his hat to her. She is so proud her eyes glisten suspiciously. Her concern is gone and nothing is left but worship. She waves till the car is out of sight. And the scene fades out.

WHAT I'VE LEARNED: The audience will not sympathize if it cannot recognize a situation.

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (1945)
by Tess Slesinger & Frank Davis
Adapted from the novel by Betty Smith