Angela's Ashes Symbolism

Aidan Hartnett
Mr. Kearney
Modern Irish Literature 7th
11 December 2012
Margaret’s Affect on the McCourts During Frank McCourt’s 1996 novel Angela’s Ashes, the birth of Margaret significantly alters Frank’s father, Malachy’s life. Although her life was short, Margaret changes the dynamic of the McCourt family. She brings happiness to her father, which in turn stops his horrid drinking habit. Margaret arguably has the biggest affect on her father, after she dies. In his novel Angela’s Ashes, Frank McCourt’s younger sister Margaret plays a crucial role in the his father’s life. Margaret’s birth drastically changes Malachy’s life. Margaret’s name means pearl. Pearl’s often symbolize preciousness. Her name reflects the way in
which her father, Malachy, views her. Before Margaret’s birth, Frank’s father lived a destructive life, usually wasting all the family’s wages on “the drink”. This is most evident when Malachy comes home drunk singing Kevin Barry songs, usually terrorizing his family. McCourt describes it as, “Mam is tired, and when Dad comes home with the whiskey smell on him, roaring about Kevin Barry getting hanged on a Monday morning … when he sings he marches around the table, Mam cries and the twins howl with her. She says, you shouldn’t see your father like this.”(McCourt 29). However, Malachy’s destructive habit takes a halt when Margaret is born. Instead of coming home drunk, singing Kevin Barry, Malachy comes home and sings to his daughter, Margaret. McCourt writes, “When Dad comes home from looking for a job he holds Margaret and sings to her … He walks around the kitchen with her and talks to her. He tells her how lovely she is … The more Dad sings to Margaret the less she cries and as the days pass she even begins to laugh.”(McCourt 30). Here Frank McCourt, documents how cherished Margaret is in his father’s eyes. Mam even brags to Minnie MacAdorey about her husband’s resistance of “the drink”, saying, “He’s in heaven over that child. He hasn’t touched a drop since she was born.” (McCourt 30). Frank’s illustrious love for Margaret is again shown in her death.
McCourt writes of his father’s devastation as, “The twins are awake, crying with the hunger, but Dad stands in the middle of the room, staring at the ceiling. His face is white and he beats his thighs with his fists. His hand is shaking.”(McCourt 36) McCourt illuminates the severity of his father’s devastation after Margaret dies. Malachy’s face even goes white. A white face often symbolizes devastation, shock, and a loss of emotion. Thus, Malachy’s white face emulates his extreme shock and agony. In addition, Frank’s father turns to drinking after his precious daughter dies. McCourt describes this as, “Two days later Dad returns from his cigarette hunt. It’s the middle of the night but he gets Malachy and me out of the bed. He has the smell of the drink on him.” (McCourt 39). Malachy leaves for two straight days pillaging for alcohol, while leaving the other four children to fend for themselves. This reiterates the deep love that Malachy has for Margaret. This love is so strong the cops don’t even bother throwing him in jail for drunkenness. And again as, “Malachy McCourt, went mad all over Flatbush Avenue and Atlantic Avenue, that he was thrown out of all the bars around the Long Island Railroad Station, that the cops would have thrown him in jail if it was anything else but the death of that lovely little baby.” (McCourt 42) Even the cops recognize Malachy’s extreme devastation. Just as
Margaret’s birth brings joy to Malachy, her death generates sorrow.
From reading Frank McCourt’s novel Angela’s Ashes, one recognizes the harsh situations many poor Irish immigrants faced, living in the United States. Many of these families were burdened with alcoholic fathers. After analyzing Margaret’s role in Malachy’s life, one gains perspective on an alcoholic father’s feeble attempt to escape agony. Margaret was Malachy’s prized child, and by her death he is struck with misery.

Works Consulted
McCourt, Frank. Angela's Ashes: A Memoir. New York: Scribner, 1996. Print.
Cirlot, Juan Eduardo. A Dictionary of Symbols. New York: Philosophical Library, 1962. Print.
Livingston-Caneiro, Ian. "Literary Analysis: Angela's Ashes, by Frank McCourt." Helium.
Helium, 06 Jan. 2011. Web. 12 Dec. 2012.