Throughout A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, the idea that class is tied to pride and shame is constantly revisited. From the moment little Francie Nolan is called a “ragpicker,” this association is clear to her (7). It doesn’t take her long to learn the importance of having money; even at age 11, when Francie receives a nickel, she realizes she suddenly has a “power” that she didn’t before, and she describes money as a “wonderful thing” (11)—the only thing that will keep her from being called nasty names like ragpicker and “beggar” (213).

Francie learns this sense of shame in poverty partially from her parents. For example, Johnny frequently spends extra money to appear of a higher class than he really is. He insists on getting a paper collar instead of a celluloid one, and on having a personal mug at the barber’s instead of using the communal one, so he can “emulate(e) men who were in better circumstances” (292). When Francie sees her father making these small arrangements to appear of a higher class, she follows suit. For example, she carries a paper bag to pick up her bread instead of carrying it under her arm, since doing so would let “all the world know they were poor” (15).