Aspects of Belonging Explored in Angela's Ashes, and Skrzynecki's 'Immigrant Chronicle'
“When I look back on my childhood I wonder how I survived at all. It was, of course, a miserable childhood: the happy childhood is hardly worth your while. Worse than the ordinary miserable childhood is the miserable Irish childhood, and worse yet is the miserable Irish Catholic childhood.”
From the very first lines in his bestselling novel, Angela’s Ashes, Frank McCourt sets himself apart from all those around him. Throughout the novel, the author gives an insight into his upbringing, and how it affected his outlook on life and his overall sense of belonging in his world. The author explores the concept of belonging in terms of our families, our language, our religion, our home, and ultimately the society in which we live. In an interview later in life, McCourt would state “I am actually a New Yorker. It’s what I’m passionate about. If I go back to Ireland, I feel I don’t belong there.”
McCourt’s novel begins in New York. Frank is three years old, and he lives in a small, run-down apartment with his two year old brother Malachy, his baby brothers Oliver and Eugene, and his parents, Angela and Malachy. At the beginning of the novel, they are a happy family who share evenings in front of the fireplace telling stories of adventure and bravery. A year passes, and Margaret, Frank’s new baby sister is born, however she dies soon after her birth. This event shatters Frank’s parents – Angela resigns herself to a life of misery, and Malachy turns to the drink for comfort.
With his parents in mourning, Frank is left to care for his brothers, with kindly neighbours lending a helping hand along the way. It is through this that we are introduced to the number of people from different cultures that live near the McCourts. The reader is introduced to characters such as Mrs Leibowitz, a kindly Jewish lady from down the hall, and the Italian man who runs the supermarket and gives Frank food from time to time. The cultural differences between many of the people who live
From the very first lines in his bestselling novel, Angela’s Ashes, Frank McCourt sets himself apart from all those around him. Throughout the novel, the author gives an insight into his upbringing, and how it affected his outlook on life and his overall sense of belonging in his world. The author explores the concept of belonging in terms of our families, our language, our religion, our home, and ultimately the society in which we live. In an interview later in life, McCourt would state “I am actually a New Yorker. It’s what I’m passionate about. If I go back to Ireland, I feel I don’t belong there.”
McCourt’s novel begins in New York. Frank is three years old, and he lives in a small, run-down apartment with his two year old brother Malachy, his baby brothers Oliver and Eugene, and his parents, Angela and Malachy. At the beginning of the novel, they are a happy family who share evenings in front of the fireplace telling stories of adventure and bravery. A year passes, and Margaret, Frank’s new baby sister is born, however she dies soon after her birth. This event shatters Frank’s parents – Angela resigns herself to a life of misery, and Malachy turns to the drink for comfort.
With his parents in mourning, Frank is left to care for his brothers, with kindly neighbours lending a helping hand along the way. It is through this that we are introduced to the number of people from different cultures that live near the McCourts. The reader is introduced to characters such as Mrs Leibowitz, a kindly Jewish lady from down the hall, and the Italian man who runs the supermarket and gives Frank food from time to time. The cultural differences between many of the people who live