Issues In Angela's Ashes

Angela’s Ashes portrays a kid (the author Frank McCourt) who grows up raising his own family because of the cruelty of a father. In the book, Frank McCourt writes about the way he grows up in Ireland because their family couldn’t handle America. Throughout the story Frank McCourt faces many problems that he has to overcome to get to his final destination, America. America opens people’s hearts to hope and their futures turn brighter. Frank McCourt writes this story not to receive sympathy from others because of the way he had to live, but rather to give insight to what life was like in Ireland in the 1900s. People suffered, but the ones who stuck out were the ones who continued to work hard for them and for their family to get to America, where
dreams come true. That’s what Frank McCourt aspired to do throughout this whole novel. Frank McCourt never gave up, and he kept his head up all the way until the end of the novel where he reached his destination. Through all of the ups and downs that Frank McCourt faces in Ireland, he sticks through and continues to work hard, to make sure that his family would be able to survive. The problems won’t hold Frank McCourt back because he continues to see the light at the end of the tunnel. In investigating Frank McCourt’s Angela’s Ashes, Frank suffers from a variety of difficulties, but continued to push through.
In Angela’s Ashes, America defines the destination for the people who succeed in life. Frank McCourt realizes that America can change the way he lives; therefore Frank works hard and starts to get jobs. Throughout the whole story, Frank suffers through many jobs. However, some of these jobs don’t come to an advantage, while others do. Frank has many jobs, and one of the first was his coal delivery job with Mr. Hannon. Mr. Hannon gets old and has trouble mining and lifting coal, therefore he asks Frank to help him out. During the whole job, Frank’s eyes gets filled up with coal dust and he begins to have problems with his eyesight. After a shift at his coal delivery job, “[his] face is black and the eyes are worse than ever. The whites and the eyelids are red, and the yellow stuff oozes to the corners and out over the lower lids” (McCourt 265). Although coal mining hurts Frank, he keeps on thinking about the future he would have in America if he can just make it through here. After coal mining with Mr. Hannon, getting dusty eyes and having trouble breathing, Frank moves onto his next job, the post office. The post office becomes one of Frank McCourt’s most prominent jobs. He makes quite a lot of money from this job, especially from going and helping others out when he shouldn’t. At first the ladies who sit at the front desk tease him and be mean to him. However, Frank ignores them and continues to think about his future in America. Everybody would make fun of Frank for the way he looked because no one in his family could make money but him. When Frank leaves the store, due to the fact that today wasn’t his starting day, the ladies at the desk say, “Jesus above, Maureen, who dragged in that specimen?’ and they laugh along with the telegram boys” (McCourt 311). Although everyone looks at him and laughs at him, he makes money and moves onto a next job. His final job before he goes off to America, the Eason’s Company. At the Eason’s company Frank McCourt sends newsletters and papers. He continues to work at this job although the other boys there are very abhorrent. Frank McCourt manages to get by the boys and he isn’t influenced by the way they behave. One of the boys, Eamon, sits in the bathroom, “…Eamon [was] looking at girls in their underwear and then going at [himself] in the lavatory” (McCourt 347). These boys could have lost him his job working at the Eason’s Company, however, Frank sticks to himself and avoids the boys. In the end, Frank McCourt suffers many different jobs that test his morale throughout the story. In addition to jobs that Frank goes through to get to America, he also goes through struggles to get to America. Life in Ireland contrasts the life in America. Dull and slow, life in Ireland depresses Frank. However, happy and exciting, life in America keeps people on their feet. The case with Frank in Ireland isn’t going very well. In the beginning of the story, the McCourts are living in America. However because of Malachy’s drinking problem the McCourt’s are forced to go back to Ireland. Malachy loses all the money that he collects because he wants to drink beer. Frank McCourt suffers from this because he is the oldest son in the house, therefore he has to step up and get his family money and food. Malachy comes home, “He makes his way downstairs with the candle, sleeps on a chair, misses work in the morning, loses the job at the cement factory and we’re back on the dole again” (McCourt 112). Despite the fact that Malachy spends the money he makes, Frank thinks about getting to America where he can make a lot of money for his mother and family. Malachy isn’t going to get in the way of Frank’s hopes of arriving at America. Frank McCourt faces another struggle, sickness. All throughout Angela’s Ashes, sicknesses come and go. Whether it’slv a baby, kid, or an adult, many people suffer diseases. Frank himself has to suffer in the hospital, where he feels pain beyond the limit. Knowing himself, Frank McCourt gets himself up and continues to fight for the happiness of America. Frank endures all kinds of pain, “[his] ankles and the back of [his] hand are throbbing from the tubes bringing in the blood and [he doesn’t] care about boys praying for [him]” (McCourt 192). Even if pain did come through and hurt Frank, he knows that in the end he will be fine, and he will go move to America. Frank suffers through one more problem, giving up his money that he collects for America, because his mom lost her job. Angela loses her job because The Dispensary finds out the Frank gets paid a pound a week. Since Frank makes that much money, someone else should get Angela’s job because her son can make enough money for his family. The Dispensary talks to Angela, “She’s told that if her son is bringing in a pound a week that’s more than some families get on the dole and she should be grateful he has a job. Now I have to hand over my wages” (McCourt 319). Therefore Angela gets fired. Now that the only person who makes money for the family isn’t making money, Frank has to give up the money that he makes from his work, for his family. Frank McCourt doesn’t want to give up his money that he collects to go to America, but he cares a lot about his family, especially since his father doesn’t. Although Frank McCourt dealt with a tremendous amount of problems everyday, he pushed through them and got himself to America. Lastly, Frank deals with many deaths throughout the novel.
Many people die because of the lack of nutrition or lack of sanitation. Some of the deaths that Frank McCourt faces are very hard to go through, while others just pass by in an instant. Frank mourns for many deaths especially for the deaths of Margaret, Oliver, Eugene, and Theresa. These people hold a very important part in Frank’s life, therefore when they die Frank becomes very depressed. Margaret touched the entire family's heart when she came into their life. Especially since Malachy’s drinking problem in America, when Margaret came he stopped drinking and took great care of her. He watched her 24/7 and nurtured her like the best father in the world could do. However, Margaret didn’t make it, “The doctor examines the baby…raises her eyelids, feels her neck, arms, legs. He straightens up and shakes his head. She’s gone” (McCourt 36). The death of Margaret tore the family into pieces again. Margaret’s death sparked Angela’s cousins to send the McCourt back to Ireland to solve their issues. Now Malachy returned to his drinking problems and he continues to make the family suffer because of his ignorance. Frank McCourt has to see more family members pass away as his two brothers, Oliver and Eugene, die. The two die back to back and this leads the McCourt’s to more catastrophe. Now the McCourt’s have lost three of their children and can’t bear to lose anymore. Every now and then Frank would see his mother looking out
the window imagining Eugene and Oliver playing outside. She looks outside, “She sees him (Eugene) climbing the bed to look out at the street for Oliver and sometimes she sees Oliver outside and Eugene inside, the two of them chatting away” (McCourt 91). Frank McCourt knows that he will push and work hard to make it back to America, especially to make his mom happy again. One of the most controversial deaths in the entire book, the death the shook Frank’s heart, waslv Theresa. Frank McCourt suffered a lot of extreme pain from the death of Theresa. She means a lot to him because of the love that the two share. He met her one day when sending mail, and finds out that she coughs. Her sickness didn’t stop him from having a relationship with her, and she has to go to the hospital where she dies. Frank believes that it’s all because of him. He is the reason why she went to hell, “…I know now she is in hell and all because of me” (McCourt 325). Now that Frank McCourt feels ashamed, he goes to the Church for help. After talking to St. Francis, St. Francis tells Frank that Theresa will be in heaven, and she will be wonderful. With Theresa off of Frank’s mind, he continues his adventure to America. Frank McCourt has to face lots of deaths throughout the entire story from Margaret to Theresa, but he gets himself back up and helps his family.
In Angela’s Ashes, Frank McCourt writes about the struggles and pain to get to America, where dreams come true.
Overall, the struggle to live in Ireland allowed Frank McCourt to understand the obstacles he needed to overcome. Determination became the way that Frank McCourt would get to America. Life punched Frank McCourt in the face, but he persevered and continued his dream to live in America; the land where everybody’s dreams come true. The story ends in a simple “Tis”, which could mean an endless amount of possibilities such as how Ireland helped Frank get to the US, or to show the greatness of the US (McCourt 363). The end of the novel shocked some of the readers due to the suspense of what will happen in America. However, the suspense becomes alleviated after his sequel to Angela’s Ashes. Frank McCourt’s second novel, labeled Tis, demonstrates the life Frank lived. In the end, Angela’s Ashes exhibits the endeavor to get through tenacious times in Ireland, to end in the refinement of obtaining a home in America; where dreams become a reality. “Without a struggle, there can be no progress” (“Brainy
Quotes”).