families. Eventually, Malachy goes but he never sends any
money home.
The McCourts are kicked out of their home and have to
move in with Angela’s cousin Laman. Angela begins sleeping
with Laman, which made Frank uncomfortable and angry.
When Frank is working as a messenger boy he begins a
sexual relationship with a customer, Theresa Carmody,
who eventually dies of consumption. Frank is devastated.
Frank saves enough money to go to New York. On his first
night there, he goes to a party and sleeps with an American
woman. Although Frank is sad to leave Ireland and his
family, he has great plans for the future.
b) The title ‘Angela’s ashes’ relates to the story because the
book is in remembrance of his mother and he is
giving credit to her for raising him as best she possibly
could.
- a) The main characters in the memoir are; Frank McCourt,
Angela McCourt and Malachy McCourt.
b) Frank is lively, thoughtful and sensitive. Although he
is physically weak and prone to infection, he has emotional
strength and is a survivor. He is also highly intelligent,
works hard at school and is a quick thinker. Despite the
limitations Frank is faced from a life of poverty, he is
determined to make his life a success and provide for his
family.
As Frank gets older he acts as a father figure for his family.
He starts to suffer a lot from guilt and he worries that by
sinning, he has doomed himself and the people he cares
about. Frank escapes his fears and guilt by, reading,
watching movies, listening to the radio and daydreaming.
Frank thinks a lot about the future, and in order for him to
one day reach America he realises that he has to take
quite a few dangerous risks.
Angela is a humorous and loving mother, despite
constant poverty, a criminally irresponsible husband and
the death of three children. Angela must sacrifice a lot
including her dignity in order to provide for her children
but she still brings them up to be well behaved, morally
aware, kind and hard-working men.
It is clear that Angela is struggling to cope under highly
difficult circumstances, by the decision and measures she
takes to help her family. For example begging outside of
church and sleeping with Laman Griffin, which Frank
disapproved of but he still knows Angela’s first priority
is always her sons’ welfare.
Malachy treasures the times he spends chatting drinking
tea with Frank by the fire. As Frank proudly says,
Malachy has a lively imagination, a way with words and
a flair for telling stories.
Malachy can be considered as the rival of Angela’s
Ashes, because it is him that keeps the family in crippling
hunger, and his children contracting diseases.
Malachy is always drunk and comes home roaring and
abusing his sons. He drinks himself almost to
unconsciousness to take away the pain of the deaths of his
twin sons and baby daughter. Franks father satisfies his
need for alcohol instead of providing for his family.
c) I think both Frank and Angela have made an impression
on me. Frank, because out of terrible circumstances he has
survived through hardship and suffering and has written a
unreal book that has given me much more appreciation for
the life I live and the things I have.
And for Angela, because she brought up her children
unbelievably well and despite everything she put her
children first and was still a humorous loving mother.
8. I don’t think there was one main purpose for Frank
McCourt writing his book, other than the fact that he loved
his writing and was good at it so the most significant thing
he thought to write about was his life and to acknowledge
himself and the people that helped him achieve all the
things he has achieved
The message Frank McCourt is trying to convey is that he
is living proof it is possible to suffer from hunger and
deprivation and still make a success of your life. He is
saying that if you have enough determination and
emotional strength then you can do just about anything.
The author never underestimates the hardships he went
through and he wants to leave the impression that
nothing about his boyhood was easy and from that
upbringing he has strong moral values and a sense of
humour which is something that he is proud of.
The issues the Author raises are: Hunger, the affect of
Alcohol, importance of relationships, disease, poverty
And change.
9. Angela’s Ashes is narrated in 1st person and in present
tense, from the perspective of a young boy; the author
writes as though he is experiencing things for the first time.
The length of sentences/paragraphs and chapters vary a lot
in the book. The author has used colloquial language
because it is a true story and he is writing about his own
life.
The author hasn’t used many 4-5 syllable words because
he is writing from a perspective of a young boy growing up
looking out on to the world, rather than as an adult looking
back on his childhood.
The author matches the tone to the age of the narrator,
mainly humorous and matter-of-fact.
The structure of the book is organised with chapters in
sequence of events, the author, Frank McCourt is narrating.
The author chose to narrate because it was a true story
that happened to him so she had to narrate to tell the
story. He didn’t really choose a certain vocabulary as it
is how he really was.
- Overall I think Angela’s Ashes was great book, it was
depressing to read about a family that suffered so much
but at the same time rewarding to know that he got threw it
and became a wonderful writer.
Rating: 7/10
