Angela's Ashes
McCourt, Frank. Angelas Ashes, A Memoir, New York, New York. 1996.
This narrative is about a young boy's journey to keep his family alive. Frank McCourt tells the story of his family's hardships during the 30's in Ireland. The young boy's experiences poverty at a very young age, and the loss of three other siblings. His father, Malachy, is a drunk who spends all the family's money at the bar. Because of his alcoholism, Angela, Frank's mother soon has to beg for money, food, anything to keep her children from starving. With the birth of Angela's youngest son Micheal, we learn more about Malachy then just his bad habits. He shows how to be a true father by saving Micheal from death my making him able to breath again. Frank soon realizes, after his father leaves for England that he will not be back or be sending any money home. Frank gets a job at a post office and saves his money for his family. He gets them food and shelter. After three years, he saves enough to finally reach America where he hopes to continue his education and find a high paying job so he can send money to his family back in Ireland. He is sad to leave his family but he knows it is what is best.
" I stand on the deck with the Wireless Officer looking at the lights of America twinking. He says, My God, that was a lovely night, Frank. Isn't this a great country altogether? Tis." Relationship between narrator and addressee: While I read this test, I was consumed with rage, and emotion. This narrative made me a submissive reader which I attempted to break pass a few times. I was absorbed into the text, and began projecting but once I realize I was projecting I would start looking at the text differently. I would start to see a value graph being drawn in my head. I began thinking about the thematic register and how the structure of this story was provided. I soon noticed a pattern in the text, consisting of problem and solution. Every problem that was given, had a solution coming short after. I noticed myself looking at the text and focusing on the narration. I was becoming the addressee, and relating my own family problems with Frank's. I related my own father, with Malachy. I even put myself in Frank's shoes, and wondered what I would do in certain situations that he experienced. Frank's journey to success was far from an easy road, but he reached his goal in the end which always calls for a good ending. Conventional Form: Although this story had its surprises such as Angela becoming desperate for money and having to beg on the street, I was particularly upset that I could see how the book was going to end. The memoir of Frank McCourt had to have had a happy ending because he becomes a well known author after this book and even wins an award, "Winner of the Pulitzer Prize," which is on the cover. It was interesting to read about the McCourt's hardships and what they had to go through. I am happy about the ending to this book because I was grateful that Frank was able to provide for his family back in Ireland. It was a breeze to read once I hit the part where he moves to America because I wanted to read about his successes since he lived a miserable childhood. One part of this story that really touched me was how Angela, his mother, reacted to Frank leaving for America. She writes a sad song; ( Angela's Ashes 357). "A mother's love is a blessing No matter where you roam. Keep her while you have her, You'll miss her when she's gone." Angela writes this the night before Frank leaves for America. This part almost made me cry because I thought about how difficult a decision that must have been for Frank to up and leave his family. I can understand why he did leave for America, because he wanted a better life for himself and his family but I could not imagine the course of making that decision. Proairetic code: "This code determines the causal, narrative sequence and syntagmatic progression. This is the denotative, mimetic dimension of the text, wherein the reader encounters the juxtaposition of events, creates a connection between the two that is already presupposed in the unfolding action, which allows the reader to predict subsequent events. This code also is a function of generic (that is, formal) conventions and the expectations they generate." In "Angela's Ashes," sequence is a meaningful aspect of this story because it is how the story is written. This Memoir is told in a life sequence representing the struggles of the McCourt family and the famine that is happening during this time of the century. This code provided me with the expectations of Frank and his success in America. The progression of this story stayed at a slow pace and ended with Frank on a boat. We are left without knowing how his life in America ends up. We, as readers, can only hold and maintain the same expectations we had throughout the story. Angela's Ashes was a book I would have never picked up if I had not taken this course. It did not appeal to me in any way until I was about three chapters in. I thought this story was depressing and hard to read at times. I do not enjoy reading about children being abused or even what Angela had to go through when she lost three children. I have not read any books like this before. Now that I have, I can make better connections with other stories, and hope to broaden my reading. |