Angelas Ashes

“Despite the rags and hunger and pain, love and strength do come out of misery.” Is what Vanessa V Friedman of “Entertainment weekly” concluded about Frank McCourt’s hard fought struggles in Ireland. On the same uplifting note, Heddy-Dale Matthias of “The Clarion Ledger” states, “Frank McCourt has seen hell, but found angels at heart.” Both opinions present the idea that even though Frank was going through a rough period in his life, his determination to succeed allowed him to progress and eventually succeed in accomplishing his goals. Showing that the struggles Frank McCourt and his family had to endure in order to survive were a result of the widespread poverty and prejudice in Ireland, illustrating the fact that the McCourt family was forced to effectively utilize every available resource in order to survive

The poverty in Ireland and America in the 1930’s and 1940’s forced the McCourt family to take full advantage of situations that could have been manipulated to favour them. After the death of the McCourt family’s only daughter, the poverty which had forced the McCourts to have less then a couple of dollars to their name forced the father to manipulate his sister-in-laws to write a letter to Angela’s mother persuading her

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The McCourt family’s general view towards beggars was one of disgust. One of Frank’s various jobs included sending threatening letters to those who were in dept. Frank being a resident in the town of Limerick was influenced and raised to possess feelings of utmost dislike towards Protestants, yet Frank was forced to take a job that required him to deliver food to a Protestant.

The unique point of view in which Angela’s Ashes is written in helps the reader to understand why the author makes the decisions he does. Frank’s father Malachy possessed feelings of great dislike towards the English but he was forced to change his opinion on the English and move to England when his family was starving in Ireland due to the fact that he was unable to get a job. “ People who profit from Hitlers war, people who will work and fight for the English. Another instance when Frank does not make a decision that he normally would is when he is forced to have sex with a girl who is about to die with consumption(p 324). The ability to manipulate situations was clearly evident in the older McCourts but Frank’s ability to manipulate situations was comparable to his parents. He says he’ll never go over there and help England win a war. Frank is forced to commit sin and even though he repents it right afterwards, the fact that he did commit the sin shows that the need to acquire money forced him to make a decision that he normally wouldn’t have. The family felt as though begging was the lowest a person could stoop to, but Angela was forced to change her opinion about beggars due to the fact that she turned to begging when times got bad. A argument between Frank and his relative Laman, left Laman enraged and howling for Frank to be evicted from his residence, “He’s a little shit and I want him out of the house. I can’t look at her but I help myself to a roll of money. (Page 310) Frank’s discontinuation of acquiring knowledge shows that the poverty in Ireland forced him to make decisions, which would allow him to gain an advantage financially.

Approximate Word count = 1278
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)

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