book review - Frank McCourt, Angela's Ashes

Themes and plot of the Book. Beware of Spoilers!

The limitations of their class.

Frank is confined to the lower class and because of this he is denied many opportunities. Although he is an intelligent and ambitious boy, he is prevented from becoming an altar boy and even further education. Throughout the book Frank conquers many small obstacles. To him, however, they mean a lot and this gives him a confidence boost. When he finally manages to get an ‘adult job’ he is really proud of himself, although it is a poorly-paid job. Supporting his mother financially means a lot to him, especially because his father does not.

Hunger and poverty

Frank is plagued by hunger throughout the book. As the eldest of the brothers Frank feels responsible for taking care of his siblings. Seeing them starve effects him greatly. Frank’s father is an alcoholic and drinks away the dole or his salary every month, leaving the rest of his family with no money throughout the month. They eat whatever they can find, so the quality and the quantity of the food are really poor. Frank associates feeling satiated with feeling like an independent and successful member of society, because the only people that can afford food are the upper class people. His mother Angela sees the severeness of the situation for the children and does everything a mother can do for her children. At the end of the book she is so desperate she even starts to beg for food, because her husband is too proud to do so.

Male role model

Frank yearns for his father’s recognition. Frank’s father, his name is Malachy like his second son, is not a bad man and he loves his children dearly, but somehow he lost track of everything because of his alcohol abuse. Because Malachy is from Northern Ireland, (Belfast) the people of Limerick do not accept him. They say that because he is from outside from Limerick he is allowed to fail; he cannot be a decent man. He loses his jobs all the time, because he gets so drunk he is unable to go to work.

So on one hand Frank fights for his father’s love, trying to make him proud by trying to be a man and on the other hand his father disappoints him time and time again. It seems like it motivates him even more to be a better man.


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Core

The McCourt family started their life in America. Back then there were father Malachy, mother Angela, eldest brother Frank, the twins Oliver and Eugene and baby sister Margaret. They were not rich, but life treated them fairly well. In the America they had a decent house with electricity, water and a toilet inside their house. Although he was still young Frank could still remember the death of his baby sister Margaret. His father is inconsolable. When Frank turned four, they returned to Ireland. No one could imagine how awful the life in Ireland was. Soon after they arrive the twin brothers die of pneumonia. Soon Frank’s mother is pregnant with Michael, but also Michael dies at a young age. Important to know is that Ireland was very catholic and to this day still is. So religion plays a big part in Frank’s life and he confesses regularly, especially when he comes into puberty and does all kinds of ‘sinful things’.  He often goes to a nearby chapel to pray to saint Francis. Saint Francis is really important to Frank because the two of the have the same name.

His life is basically the same every single day. Playing outside with friends, thinking of food and at night, when his drunken father comes home singing, he drags the boys out of bed and makes them swear to die for Ireland. The young boys are exposed to this torment every single night. This is when Angela feels ashamed of her husband and to hide her shame she stares into the ashes of the fireplace. She often replies with: “Ireland can kiss my arse.” And then asks him if there’s any money left for food for the children to eat. There never is...

After a while they move house and Frank and his brother Malachy go to a public school. The house is not any better than their former house. The community lavatory is just outside their front door and people come there every day to empty their buckets. You can imagine how it would smell like in the summer. When it rains the whole ground floor gets flooded. When this happens or the stench becomes unbearable the family hides upstairs. The second floor is what they call ‘Italy’, because it is warm and dry there. So when visitors ask the young boys where their parents are, they often say, “They’re in Italy.”

School is not any better for Frank. He hates school. Not because he is the only poor boy, because the rest is equally poor, but because he feels that school is useless. School does not bring any money home and it certainly does not support his poor mother and his younger brothers.

Frank is a very sickly boy and he has to visit the hospital regularly. The last time he nearly succumbs to typhoid fever. This, however, is the first time he ever had a good meal. It is also a painful memory for him, because his father cried when he visited Frank. Frank as a child misunderstood why his father was crying and he felt that he had let his father down.

Then at one point the Irish get new opportunities. Because of the WWII the Irish men can get jobs in England in factories. The Irish, however, despise the England and their posh behaviour, but they see it as their last resort. His father leaves for England, but he never sent any money, leaving Angela to beg for money. Frank’s responsibility kicks in and he first gets a job as a coal hauler then as a telegram boy. Every penny he earns he gives to his mother and youngest brother. At that time Malachy left to join the army.

But the dream of ever going to America and becoming successful pulls at him and eventually becomes unbearable. Then he has to make a huge decision: taking care of his family or for once being selfish and follow his dream. He chooses to follow his dream...

Position in era

The book is set in Ireland in the 30s and 40s of the 20^th century. They moved to Ireland when Frank was four years of age and this was in the year 1934. During that time a lot of things were going on in Ireland. To begin with, there was the aftermath of the struggle for independence which started in 1919 until 1921. There was also a lot of poverty in Ireland during that time. With poverty also comes disease and of course deprivation on all levels. The Roman Catholic Church played a major part in the lives of the people of Ireland. Frank McCourt tried his whole childhood to become a good and loyal Catholic. Because of their importance they had an overwhelming influence on people and a privileged position.

The relation with England was very poor at that time. The Irish did not even want to mention the word “England”. This changed a bit when the WWII started and the Irish men were given a lot of jobs in England. Because they were poor and of low status, this was the only opportunity for them to take care of their families.

Angela’s Ashes is a biographical book. I think the reason why Frank McCourt wrote it was to show people how life was like for an Irish family during the 30s and 40s of the 20^th century. I think he also wants to show what people are capable of, even when they grow up very poor. He was deprived of everything; not only food but also opportunities and because of his persistency he managed to become successful in live. With hard work and the desire you can achieve many things in live. This is a very beautiful moral for a book that revolves about misery, poverty and diseases.

Comment – reading experience - with quotations

I loved this book the very moment I turned the first page. It was also a book I already owned. I also own the second book “’Tis”. I have not read that one yet. The reason why I liked this book so much, is not only the subject, but also Mr McCourt’s writing style. He is somehow capable of putting so much emotion into his words, choosing each of them carefully. I also noticed that a lot of the good male writers used to fight for their father’s love (Khaled Housseini – The Kite Runner) and began reading books at a very young age. You can also tell that McCourt has been through a lot and it is a shame that he passed away a few years ago.

About the content: I simply love autobiographical books; written in the “I” form. I also enjoy the themes very much. It is realistic; openly talking about poverty and misery. I am not that much into the romanticised books. I want the truth and this is exactly what I am getting here. I would like to know when his siblings die because of diseases. It may sound cruel but for me it is a way of getting sucked into a novel; relating to it. The world is not made out of sugar and spice. Running through fields, picking daisies. And I still consider is to be “relaxing”, “fun to read” and a “relief for the real world”.

A few memorable quotes of the book:

“Mam tries all the bars around the station before she gives up. She leans against a wall and cries:”Jesus, we still have to walk all the way to Classon Avenue and I have four starving children…” (p. 21)

A bit further down the page:

“Mam is happy with the milk. She says she knows all about teeth and bones and rickets but beggars can’t be choosers…” (p. 21)

I cannot imagine what it would be like for a young mother not being able to feed your starving children. Her husband is too proud to even provide for a few pennies, so Angela had to overcome her pride in order to prevent her children for dying. Mother are willing to do anything for their children and throughout the whole book Angela tries her very best to care for the children. Not an easy task of course as she is also married to a useless man from outside Limerick. Angela hides her shame by making jokes about being beggars but in reality the shame of being one is slowly killing her on the inside.

“There is plenty of salt and butter on the potatoes and I wonder if there’s any chance Minnie could be my mother so that I could eat like that all the time. If I could have Mrs Leibowitz and Minnie for mothers at the same time I’d had no end of soup and mashed potatoes...” (p. 35)

Young Frank is already so desperate for food that he will do anything for it. He loves his mother dearly but starving is something very difficult to deal with, especially for a young child like Frank. People in Western Europe can barely understand what it is like to not being able to eat any food for days.

“People in families in the lanes of Limerick have their ways of not talking to each other and it takes years of practice. There are people who don’t talk to each other because their fathers were on the opposite sides in the Civil War in 1922. If a man goes off and joins the English army his gamily might as well move to another part of Limerick where there are families with men in the English army. If anyone in the family was the least way friendly to the English in the last eight hundred  years it will be brought up and thrown in your face and you might as well move to Dublin where no one cares..” (p. 147)

This shows how deeply this hate for the English is rooted. It is passed from generation to generation and since the Irish were and still are very traditional they hold on to that. That makes them very principle as well. To this day there are riots when the Queen visits Ireland. She is planning to visit Ireland really soon and people are already worried about that.

“Well, if Brenda hangs on and I get me week off ye can come to the wake and have ham and cheese and cake and sherry and lemonade and everything and ye can listen to the songs and stories all night”

“Who could say ‘no’ to that? Theirs is nothing but a wake for having a good time…” (p.193)

People have become insensitive and dull but it is their way of surviving. They gladly take advantage of the dead if it means free food or a few days off from school. The adults critise the children for being rude but the adults are no better themselves. But it cannot be helped, since the adults do not have the option of raising their children outside the misery.

“Sister Rita in and tells Dad he has to go. I don’t want him to go because he looks sad. He’s like Paddy Clohessy the day I gave him the raisin. When he looks sad it’s the worst thing in the world and I start crying…” (p.128)

Little Frank was being so indoctrinated and influenced by the community and indirectly by his father that he felt ashamed of himself when he got ill. He wanted nothing more than for his father to recognise what a decent man his son was. When his father started to cry instead, Frank thought that his father was deeply disappointed in him. Frank, however, misinterpreted his father’s crying. Malachy felt an intense pain when his son got ill, because he cares for his son of course, but also because he lost so many children already.