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Angela’s Ashes Character Analysis: Angela McCourt Angela McCourt is the mother of Angela’s Ashes main character Frank McCourt, wife to the alcoholic Malachy McCourt Sr. If one were to judge her simply based on actions without any context it would be rather repulsive, she has an affair with her cousin, is addicted to smoking, cannot provide any sort of living for her family and is filling her sons heads with absurd dreams of a better life in America. However with context of the circumstances not only are not only understandable, but quite admirable. On numerous occasions she demonstrates characteristics of being a loving mother, whether it’s raising her sons to be kind, hardworking, well-mannered men, to even sacrificing her own dignity as …show more content…
She arrives in America in the middle of the Great Depression, meeting Malachy McCourt Sr. fresh out of jail seduced by his “hangdog look” (1.27), she ends up getting pregnant after a one night stand. And from there forcibly marrying Malachy, and experiencing hardship early on in the marriage, caused by her husband’s alcoholism which lead to the family starving and going without food. This irresponsibility on Malachy’s behalf actually leads to Angela’s daughter Margaret to die of malnutrition “Her little face is there day and night, her curly black hair and her lovely blue eyes. Oh, Jesus, Dan, what will I do? Was it the hunger that killed her, Dan?” (1.258). The death of Margaret drove Angela to depressing causing family intervention and the McCourt’s to be brought back to Limerick, …show more content…
But regardless she still presses on doing what she can for her family, whether it be simple words of encouragement to strengthen young Frank when he is denied entrance into a secondary school because of a lack of money. Inspiring him by saying “You are never to let anybody slam the door in your face again. [O]h, God, I didn't bring ye into the world to be a family of messenger boys.” (13.53-54). Almost commanding Frank to do and be better than just “messenger boy” and should aspire for his dream. She even goes to a complete extreme of having an affair with her cousin Laman all for the sake of keeping a roof above her children’s head. “Then he calls to Mam, Angela, this chamber pit is full, and she drags chair and table to climb for the chamber pot, empty it in the lavatory outside, rinse it and climb back to the loft. Her face gets tight and she says, is there anything else your lordship would like this day? And he laughs, woman's work, Angela, woman's work and free rent.” (12.122). This abuse is more of a desirable fate to behold than letting her family go without and be
If it is fun who is going to stop anyone from doing whatever it is. No matter the dangers when the adrenaline is pumping there is a sense of invincibility. In the book Fire In The Ashes by Jonathan Kozol there is a character in chapter 4 Silvio: Invincible who was one of the main characters in that story who proves my point. A bit rebellious and still young Silvio had many different characteristics to describe him perfectly. Silvio had somewhat of a grudge against authority he never really obeyed his mother's wishes or the personnel that worked in Person In Need of Supervision or PINS. Silvio was also a defensive boy who protected himself when he was confronted by a thief who was trying to steal his mothers pager from him on the subway that
I think that Angela's Ashes relates to the historical theme of Change, Cooperation and conflict, relation to environment, and movement. This novel was a memior about Frank McCourt and all the hardships that he endured. He had to deal with the deaths in his family, his way of living, his family's poverty and his father's alcoholism. Thorughout this novel there are many things which bring the feeling of sadness to the reader's mind. There were many changes in his life, in the beginning there are six family members. Suddenly, a new girl is born Margaret. Margaret excites the entire family because she is the only girl with her brothers Frank, Malachy,Oliver and Eugene ( the twins). Soon Margaret is not well and dies unexpectedly. Next the twins die. There are a total of 3 deaths in the first chapterof the novel, so you can see how these deaths bring suffering to the family. I took this idea as a Change & movement, there is a change in there family. After Margaret dies Malachy and Angela decide to move back to Ireland to live a better life but instead it changes and they lead a worse life. Another aspect of Movement was that Frank's dream was to move to America. Franky decides when he is fourteen that he will be able to save up enough money to move back to America by the time he is eighteen. He works very hard but is forced to give most of his money to his mother for food.
In Angela’s Ashes, the father Malachy is inflicted with the disease of alcoholism, and his need for the drink leads him to use his paycheck to buy alcohol instead of using it for the basic needs of his family. Countless times, Malachy’s alcoholism harms or gets in the way of his family. Not only this, but Malachy is blind to what his behavior is doing to his family. Because he does not use his money on food for his family, they are forced to beg and accept help from friends and strangers—and yet he is too proud to admit this. Repeated instances such as when he asked the RIAA person for enough money just for one pint—when the money was supposed to be for a cab to get he and his son back to the station without having to walk. Or even when his first child was born and he was too drunk for the hospital staff to interpret what he was saying he wanted to name his son. There are too many of the same repeated episodes—he gets a job, brings home money at first, then just stops altogether and uses it at the pub, he gets fired from his job, and his family is worse off now, they are forced to move or live off the kindness of others. It’s the same cycle over and over again. Lives are lost along the way—the innocents, the children. And still Malachy depends on the drink. He is a constant disappointment—and spirals the family deeper and deeper into poverty over the years, mainly because of his addiction.
... Evidently, Maria Teresa is being selfish and failing to recognize her sister’s bold act in hoping to achieve freedom. Focusing on her own freedom and safety, Maria Teresa loses sight of the kind consideration that she developed in her childhood.
A journey through a heartbreak can be tough on a person and may lead to clouding of proper judgment and beliefs. In the book Catcher in the Rye, Holden Caulfield is a sixteen year old who has dealt with trauma and sadness in his past due to his brother’s death. This has created massive heartbreak for Holden who had become unstable when it came to projecting his feelings. This makes Holden not very admirable because he has trouble understanding age groups and the concept of growing up, he takes advantage of people by lying to them, and Holden has great difficulty when it comes to talking about how he feels. Holden may never realize it, but he is too far gone.
The main character of this book Gemma does see her mission and reflects and changes because of it throughout the whole book. There are factors throughout the book and the mission that change her whole way of thinking. I believe that she changes not because she want to but to survive and not lose her mind. Ty is a big reason why Gemma accepts this mission.
Frank remained calm in the toughest situations, and was willing to help others. For instance, “Of course we will… We can stretch the food a little. It’s only for a few days” (325). This shows that Mr. Frank is a very kind person since he does not mind helping another person in need. Even though his own family does not have enough to eat, he is willing to add another member to feed and take care of. Furthermore, Mr. Franks states, “For two long years, we have lived here, side by side. We have respected each other’s rights… we have managed to live in peace. Are we going to throw it all away? I know this will never happen again, will it, Mr. Van Daan?” (364). This demonstrates that Mr. Frank constantly remains calm, even in the most frustrating situations. Mr. Van Daan stole food from everyone, but Mr. Frank attempted to calm his wife down instead of get mad at Mr. Van Daan for his mistake. To wrap up, Mr. Frank also proves Anne correct since he provides shelter for someone in need, even though he does not have enough to eat himself, and he remains calm in extremely stressful
Even though Mr. Kraler and Miep know this, they’re always cheerful and gay as if nothing in the world could bother them. This fear-striking statement proves that Miep, even under harsh circumstances, is willing to risk everything and stand up for what is right in the face of many great odds. Furthermore, Miep has just left a “meeting” to go dancing with Dirk. Yet, she promises Anne that she will “remember now what everyone is wearing, and what you have to eat and everything” (69). Sacrificing her chance of being carefree, Miep symbolizes how she uses her optimism and loving nature to enrich Anne’s mind despite all of this, and keep a happy tone lifting everyone else up. Lastly, Mr. Van Daan and Mrs. Van Daan are bickering on about Mr. Van Daan’s smoking issue and cigarettes. When Mrs. Frank brang up Miep’s coming, Anne wonders if she ever had a life of her own “the way we make her run errands for us” (33). They always ask for some starch, to take out trash, or tell about the latest news. This self-sacrificing statement exemplifies how Miep is so busy caring for the families that Anne wonders if she has a life of her
Frank’s character scarcely had any dramatic changes. Anne was careless and energetic in the beginning, however she later became more considerate and serene. To illustrate, “Look at me, the way I’ve treated Mother . . . so mean and horrid to her.” (Page 386) Ultimately, Anne recognized that her past actions weren’t amiable, especially towards her mother, thus she developed a further sympathetic attitude. While Anne was a dynamic figure, Mrs’ Frank had a sudden change and remained primarily static. Anne’s mother was constantly quiet for over a year, until Mr. Van Daan was caught eating their food supply, which much too insufficient for 8 people. The people of the Annex barely ate food since it always had to be rationed, after they assumed rats were stealing their stock. Mrs. Frank ultimately cracked as soon as she discovered the rat was Peter’s greedy father. Mrs’ Frank infuriatingly shouted, “No! No! No more talk! I want them to leave!” (Page 384) Though she had finally broken out of her shell, she returned back when she apologized. Anne’s dynamic role contrasted with Edith Frank’s static
“I was sixteen then, and I’m seventeen now, and sometimes I act like I’m about
Chris McCandless, a man who went into the wilderness and died in a bus, in the cold wilderness of Alaska, after living 114 days in the Alaska cold. Though, before ending up in Alaska Chris was constantly on the move. Yet he somehow was able to meet people and befriend them. Such people were Wayne Westerberg, Jan Burres, her boyfriend Bob and finally Ronald Franz. In the end, of meeting all these people, Chris ended up leaving such a strong impression on each of them. Though why did Chris McCandless leave such a strong impression on them? Well, in the book “Into the Wild” by Jon Krakauer, one can read how Chris influenced people, encouraged them, how people thought he was a hard worker that lived out his own beliefs and there are many more reasons
Frank is nice and quiet, although I think she doesn’t understand Anne and that’s why Anne doesn’t like to respect her mother. Mrs. Frank doesn’t try to understand Anne, which is why I think Anne doesn’t listen to her mom. Margot is quiet, she respects her parents and the other adults. Mr. Van Daan is selfish, his son Peter isn't selfish, he is embarrassed by his father. Mr. Van Daan complains that there's food, he’s always saying that Peter needs to get rid of his cat, Moushi. Mrs. Van Daan isn’t selfish, but she is rude, Anne accidentally spilled milk on Mrs. Van Daan’s fur coat and Anne apologized, Mrs. Van Daan yelled at Anne “I could just kill you, I could just kill you right now”. Peter is shy and he doesn’t talk much. He doesn’t like to be around Anne and Margot, but he doesn’t like to be around anyone and he doesn’t like anyone to go his
Christopher Johnson McCandless, a.k.a Alexander Supertramp, “Master of his Own Destiny.” He was an intelligent young man who presented himself as alone but really he was never lonely. However, he believed that life was better lived alone, with nature, so he ventured off throughout western United States before setting off into Alaska’s wild unprepared where he died. Some may say he was naive to go off on such a mission without the proper food and equipment but he was living life the way he wanted to and during his travels he came across three people: Jan Burres, Ronald Franz, and Wayne Westerberg. McCandless befriended these people, it is believed that he made such a strong impression on them that their connection left them with strange feelings after finding out about McCandless’ death.
As a girl, she had an extremely difficult childhood as an orphan and was passed around from orphanage to orphanage. The author has absolute admiration for how his mother overcame her upbringing. He opens the third chapter by saying, “She was whatever the opposite of a juvenile delinquent is, and this was not due to her upbringing in a Catholic orphanage, since whatever it was in her that was the opposite of a juvenile delinquent was too strong to have been due to the effect of any environment…the life where life had thrown her was deep and dirty” (40). By saying that she was ‘the opposite of a juvenile delinquent’, he makes her appear as almost a saintly figure, as he looks up to her with profound admiration. He defends his views on his mother’s saintly status as not being an effect of being in a Catholic orphanage, rather, due to her own strong will. O’Connor acknowledges to the extent that her childhood was difficult through his diction of life ‘throwing’ her rather than her being in control of it. As a result, she ended up in unsanitary and uncomfortable orphanages, a ‘deep and dirty’ circumstance that was out of her control. Because of this, the author recognizes that although his childhood was troublesome, his mother’s was much worse. She was still able to overcome it, and because of it, he can overcome
Before the major upheaval occurs Jane Austin gives us a glimpse of what social life, the class distinction, was like through the perspective of Ann Elliot. Ann is the second out of three daughters to Sir Walter Elliot, the proud head of the family (Austen, 2). The Elliots are an old landowning family that seems well known in the upper echelons of British society. The most important piece of background we are presented with as central to the plot of the story is that eight years prior to the setting Ann was engaged to a man she loved, Frederick Wentworth. They were soon engaged, but her family along with mother-like figure, Lady Russell, soon persuaded Ann that the match was unsuitable because Frederick Wentworth was essentially unworthy without any money or prestige (Austen, 30). This piece of background echoes exclusivity among the upper classes of Britain. In that time it would seem unacceptable for a girl like Ann with a family like hers to marry or even associate with someone not of ...