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The Nurse
Francie’s first schoolteacher. Miss Briggs is an arrogant woman who dislikes poor children but favors the children of prosperous shopkeepers. Her voice is “gentle” when she speaks to these “fortune-favored few” and “snarling” when she talks to “the great crowd of unwashed.” She refuses to let Francie use the restroom during class—a habit that she has with all of the poor children she teachers—until Aunt Sissy confronts her, pretending to be Francie’s mother, and lies about Francie having kidney trouble. When this fails to convince Miss Briggs, Aunt Sissy then pretends that a police officer passing in the street below is her husband. She threatens that he will “beat the hell out of” Miss Briggs if she doesn’t treat Francie with more respect.
Miss Briggs Quotes in A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
The A Tree Grows in Brooklyn quotes below are all either spoken by Miss Briggs or refer to Miss Briggs. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 2
Quotes
Francie, huddled with other children of her kind, learned more that first day than she realized. She learned of the class system of a great Democracy. She was puzzled and hurt by teacher's attitude. Obviously the teacher hated her and others like her for no other reason than that they were what they were. Teacher acted as though they had no right to be in the school but that she was forced to accept them and was doing so with as little grace as possible. She begrudged them the few crumbs of learning she threw at them. Like the doctor at the health center, she too acted as though they had no right to live. It would seem as if all the unwanted children would stick together and be one against the things that were against them. But not so. They hated each other as much as the teacher hated them. They aped teacher's snarling manner when they spoke to each other.
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Explanation and Analysis:
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Miss Briggs Quotes in A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
The A Tree Grows in Brooklyn quotes below are all either spoken by Miss Briggs or refer to Miss Briggs. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 2
Quotes
Francie, huddled with other children of her kind, learned more that first day than she realized. She learned of the class system of a great Democracy. She was puzzled and hurt by teacher's attitude. Obviously the teacher hated her and others like her for no other reason than that they were what they were. Teacher acted as though they had no right to be in the school but that she was forced to accept them and was doing so with as little grace as possible. She begrudged them the few crumbs of learning she threw at them. Like the doctor at the health center, she too acted as though they had no right to live. It would seem as if all the unwanted children would stick together and be one against the things that were against them. But not so. They hated each other as much as the teacher hated them. They aped teacher's snarling manner when they spoke to each other.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
