Comparing Alcoholism In My Papa's Waltz And First Confession

Frank McCourt opens his memoir with “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” (McCourt 11). A common stereotype about the Irish is that they either are very religious or can’t resist the pint. In the memoir Angela’s Ashes, the poem “My Papa’s Waltz” and the short story “First Confession”, alcoholism affects the life style of these families in a negative way. It’s a daily struggle for each character to grow up in the environment with a family member who has an addiction. Both Frank McCourt and the speaker in “My Papa’s Waltz” do not realize until they are older
that what their father’s drinking was abusive towards their families. In each piece of literature, the young boys have an inner conflict within themselves concerning a family member who drinks. Religion can add a sense of hope and comfort for some families such as Jackie in “First Confession”. For others religion is an added conflict. An example is Frank McCourt who had the church literally slam the door in his face multiple times. In both pieces of literature, religion is based on punishment. Frank McCourt and Jackie have grown up believing that everything wrong that they do, can send them to hell. The only way to forgive their sins is through punishments. In all of these works the message seems to be that in order to survive these times, one needs a sense of humor, a sense of God, and a pint of alcohol. In Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt both alcoholism and religion are shown to have a great influence on the children of Ireland. Frank and his family suffer a great deal from their father's unstoppable drinking. Their father takes all the money they get from the dole, spends it and stays out all night to drink. In chapter one Frank states “When Dad’s job goes into the third week, he does not bring home the wages. On Friday night we wait for him…The darkness comes down…Other men with jobs are home already and having eggs for dinner. We know Mam won’t sing....she sits at the table saying, What am I going to do” (McCourt 24)? If their father is not home by sundown the children know their father is at the pub, and they will be sent out to find coal and food to eat. Angela breaks down seeing her children starving and her husband coming home drunk, singing songs. Besides living with the burden of their father's alcoholism they have the burden of being raised Catholic which is maddening as he is taught that everything he does is sinful. After leaving the Catholic Church Frank McCourt says, "I was so angry for so long, I could hardly have a conversation without getting into an argument. It was only when I felt I could finally distance myself from my past that I began to write about what happened." As a child Frank was taught to fear the Lord and to always be a good Christian. His teachers are very harsh on the children, and will punish you severally if you are the least bit out of line. They taught their students that instead of their Lord being forgiving and a relief to their stressful life, the students are in fear the Lord and any sins would send them to hell. Frank lives with the guilt of every sin he ever made because of how he was taught, when in reality, religion is supposed to be a wonderful light in the children's lives. After having all these emotions build up Frank is finally able to let them out, and write Angela's Ashes. Although an Irish Catholic childhood was bad, Frank McCourt also had to experience having an depriving youth with an irresponsible father. Alcoholism is greatly portrayed in "My Papa's Waltz," by Theodore Roethke.
Back in the early 1920s and 30's some parts of the world were very oppressed, and some thought alcohol would help them deal with their struggles. In My Papa's Waltz, a little boy is dancing around the kitchen with his drunken father. The speaker of the poem refers to his father's "Palm caked hard by dirt" (Roethke). This quote is saying that the man is a blue collar worker and he works hard for his money, but wastes it at the pub. His family probably waits up for him to bring home the days wages, but are disappointed when he arrives without a penny in his pocket. The narrator says, "My mother's countenance could not unfrown itself." The women is used to her husband coming home at late hours and putting the house in an uproar. Her countenance could not unfrown itself conveys that she could not get that disappointed, sad, angry look off her face. We can infer that she loves her husband but wishes he would change his selfish ways and be responsible. The four works of literature that we studied all have a very bittersweet tone, which is a mixture of two opposing feelings. One which is satisfactory, and the other which is abominable. My Papa's Waltz shows what life was like for children with alcoholic fathers. It wasn't easy, but they had to manage and work with what they
had. Religion, especially the Catholic Church, influenced and controlled the society of Ireland for several years. In the short story “First Confession” by Frank O’Connor, many examples of religious control were displayed. For example, the character Mrs. Ryan shows a very pure approach to life and enforces it on the minds of young children. She preaches about burning in hell for eternity for actions such as sinning or having a bad confession. “All eternity! Just think of that! A whole lifetime goes by and it’s nothing, not even a drop in the ocean of your sufferings.” This leaves a scarring impression on their young innocent minds and brings them to a state of terror. In fear of hell, children feel the need to live up to the standards of the Catholic Church. Irish children are expected to live as if they were angels, pure with no mistakes or flaws. But only through fear, not reason they act upon this. As well as religious control, the disease of alcoholism affected the Irish population greatly. An example of the affects of alcoholism on an Irish family is also depicted in “First Confession”. In the short story Jackie’s Grandmother is a very heavy drinker. She is always seen with a bottle in her hand and walks around drunk. “When I was playing with Bill Connel, the sergeant major’s son, and saw my grandmother steering up the path with the jug of porter sticking out from beneath her shawl I was mortified“ (O'Connor). She is an embarrassment to the entire family and Jackie feels the most shame. Even during his confession he confessed wanting to kill his Grandmother because he felt so much shame. Religious control and alcoholism really took a toll on the families of Ireland and added to their already many daily struggles. Alcoholism and religious influence had many effects on the self esteem of younger boys in the literature we have read. Similar feelings of both the boys in “First Confession” and Angela’s Ashes was embarrassment and shame. The family members in each piece of writing did not do anything to stop the alcoholism which made life a struggle but the families worked through it. Religion instilled fear within the boys but Frank McCourt for an example was able to live his life and not let the religion affect him in a negative way as well as the other children.