Ever since Frank McCourt, author of Angela’s Ashes, could recall, he had lived in the damp, dark underbelly of the impoverished world. He began an early career as a street beggar and repeatedly learned to cope as he watched his younger siblings die off. With this said, it is eminent from the very start that Frank is a strong and patient young man, just simply wanting to make something of himself to make the world proud.
The time at which Frank was born, was one of great confusion as well as immense loss. Being the child of immigrated Irish parents living in New York City, it became clearly obvious to him early on, that life wasn’t a walk in the park. Night after night he had to put up with his drunken father stumble in from a night on the town, drinking the dole away, and making him and his siblings “stand attention in the kitchen and promise to die for Ireland.” (p39)
It is because of the lack of parenting and positive influence throughout the course of Frank McCourt’s lifetime that one would normally assume that he would amount to nothing when he was older. However, Frank proved to be quite the contrary, and managed to accomplish his dreams of coming back to America. Throughout the entire story, Frank continues to take his audience captive by continuously surprising them with his hard-working and determined attitude towards life. Perhaps it is because he has seen the consequences of lethargy from looking at his parents, and decided that he was going to take the high road, and create peace, rather than sitting around and waiting for it to come knocking on his doorstep.
Upon reading his story, one should come back from it and feel inspired, or rather invigorated with the notion that, you too can do what you set out to do, no matter how great the challenge may appear. I must commend Frank McCourt for using the sympathy and emotions of his audience in order to get message of how vital determination truly is. This is partly why I feel as though Frank McCourt is more creative with his hidden messages than he lets on in through his writing.
Unfortunately, there were flaws to his writing technique. Although the use of the child’s voice, no doubt emphasized the emotions that the reader felt throughout the story, but it also created confusion and misunderstandings between writer and audience. For instance, when reading experts such as, “There’s a knock at the door, Mr. MacAdory. Och, Malachy, for God’s sake, it’s three in the morning. You have the whole house woke with singing. Och, Dan I’m only teaching the boys to die for Ireland. You can teach them to die for Ireland in the daytime.” (p41) it often times takes a few reads over to fully understand who is speaking to whom, and what each person is saying. Therefore, even though his use of his inner child is undoubtedly vital to his memoir, it seems as though it takes over the story and at times, creates more confusion than comprehension.
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
Book Review: Angela's Ashes
Ever since Frank McCourt, author of Angela’s Ashes, could recall, he had lived in the damp, dark underbelly of the impoverished world. He began an early career as a street beggar and repeatedly learned to cope as he watched his younger siblings die off. With this said, it is eminent from the very start that Frank is a strong and patient young man, just simply wanting to make something of himself to make the world proud.
The time at which Frank was born, was one of great confusion as well as immense loss. Being the child of immigrated Irish parents living in New York City, it became clearly obvious to him early on, that life wasn’t a walk in the park. Night after night he had to put up with his drunken father stumble in from a night on the town, drinking the dole away, and making him and his siblings “stand attention in the kitchen and promise to die for Ireland.” (p39)
It is because of the lack of parenting and positive influence throughout the course of Frank McCourt’s lifetime that one would normally assume that he would amount to nothing when he was older. However, Frank proved to be quite the contrary, and managed to accomplish his dreams of coming back to America. Throughout the entire story, Frank continues to take his audience captive by continuously surprising them with his hard-working and determined attitude towards life. Perhaps it is because he has seen the consequences of lethargy from looking at his parents, and decided that he was going to take the high road, and create peace, rather than sitting around and waiting for it to come knocking on his doorstep.
Upon reading his story, one should come back from it and feel inspired, or rather invigorated with the notion that, you too can do what you set out to do, no matter how great the challenge may appear. I must commend Frank McCourt for using the sympathy and emotions of his audience in order to get message of how vital determination truly is. This is partly why I feel as though Frank McCourt is more creative with his hidden messages than he lets on in through his writing.
Unfortunately, there were flaws to Mr. McCourt's writing technique. Although the use of the child’s voice, no doubt emphasized the emotions that the reader felt throughout the story, but it also created confusion and misunderstandings between writer and audience. For instance, when reading experts such as, “There’s a knock at the door, Mr. MacAdory. Och, Malachy, for God’s sake, it’s three in the morning. You have the whole house woke with singing. Och, Dan I’m only teaching the boys to die for Ireland. You can teach them to die for Ireland in the daytime.” (p41) it often times takes a few reads over to fully understand who is speaking to whom, and what each person is saying. Therefore, even though his use of his inner child is undoubtedly vital to his memoir, it seems as though it takes over the story and at times, creates more confusion than comprehension.
The time at which Frank was born, was one of great confusion as well as immense loss. Being the child of immigrated Irish parents living in New York City, it became clearly obvious to him early on, that life wasn’t a walk in the park. Night after night he had to put up with his drunken father stumble in from a night on the town, drinking the dole away, and making him and his siblings “stand attention in the kitchen and promise to die for Ireland.” (p39)
It is because of the lack of parenting and positive influence throughout the course of Frank McCourt’s lifetime that one would normally assume that he would amount to nothing when he was older. However, Frank proved to be quite the contrary, and managed to accomplish his dreams of coming back to America. Throughout the entire story, Frank continues to take his audience captive by continuously surprising them with his hard-working and determined attitude towards life. Perhaps it is because he has seen the consequences of lethargy from looking at his parents, and decided that he was going to take the high road, and create peace, rather than sitting around and waiting for it to come knocking on his doorstep.
Upon reading his story, one should come back from it and feel inspired, or rather invigorated with the notion that, you too can do what you set out to do, no matter how great the challenge may appear. I must commend Frank McCourt for using the sympathy and emotions of his audience in order to get message of how vital determination truly is. This is partly why I feel as though Frank McCourt is more creative with his hidden messages than he lets on in through his writing.
Unfortunately, there were flaws to Mr. McCourt's writing technique. Although the use of the child’s voice, no doubt emphasized the emotions that the reader felt throughout the story, but it also created confusion and misunderstandings between writer and audience. For instance, when reading experts such as, “There’s a knock at the door, Mr. MacAdory. Och, Malachy, for God’s sake, it’s three in the morning. You have the whole house woke with singing. Och, Dan I’m only teaching the boys to die for Ireland. You can teach them to die for Ireland in the daytime.” (p41) it often times takes a few reads over to fully understand who is speaking to whom, and what each person is saying. Therefore, even though his use of his inner child is undoubtedly vital to his memoir, it seems as though it takes over the story and at times, creates more confusion than comprehension.
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Angela's Ashes
"Poverty often deprives a man of all spirit and virtue; it is hard for an empty bag to stand upright." Benjamin Franklin.
This qoute gives a perfect depiction of how Malachy feels throughout the entire novel. Malachy, being out of money and out of charity, feels as though he is useless to his family, and to make matters worse, the people around him only emphasize his failure. I believe Malachy's loss of spirit and virtue is greatly due to the fact that he is out of a job, and basically a beggar. When someone such as Malachy feels like this, it is hard for them to get out of the rut they're in, and they continue through life with their head hung low, and their spirits diminished. However, not everyone in the family is in accordance with Benjamin Franklin's statement. Malachy's wife Angela, even though she is in the same boat as him, is still able to walk with her head held high, and is able to keep her wits about her. Perhaps she doesn't feel the shame that Malachy does because she, being the woman of the house, was not expected to the bread winner during those times. Therefore, when she does things like collect charcoal from the side of the road, and take food from charity, she is unable to feel the unbearable guilt that Malachy feels.
By what Benjamin Franklin is saying here, is that once a man loses his ability to provide, he loses his ability to feel like a man. And, when he loses his ability to feel like a man, he can no longer walk with his head held high, just as the empty paper bag is unable to stand up on its own. Furthermore, since poverty is the main cause for Malachy's loss of virtue, I believe this is what drives his addiction to the drink. From his failure came the poverty. From the poverty came the shame, and out of the shame, came the drink. Unfortunately for Malachy, times are so hard, that it seems as though there isn't even a chance for him to turn things around. His children are dying because of the enviroment they live in, which is a direct affect of Malachy's failure. I also tend to think that the mounting guilt that is building up inside of Malachy is only adding to the feeling of loss and emptiness he feels everyday. However, I find it hard to blame Malachy completely for the family's problems. The depressing atmosphere of sickness and poverty is also enough to erase the spirit in a man, and inevitably kills his will to succeed. I can understand the reasons why he is unable to become motivated and regain his spirit, because it seems physically impossible to do so in the various areas they have lived. Everywhere they turn there is disease, death and hunger. How is a man supposed to overcome this all by himself?
This qoute gives a perfect depiction of how Malachy feels throughout the entire novel. Malachy, being out of money and out of charity, feels as though he is useless to his family, and to make matters worse, the people around him only emphasize his failure. I believe Malachy's loss of spirit and virtue is greatly due to the fact that he is out of a job, and basically a beggar. When someone such as Malachy feels like this, it is hard for them to get out of the rut they're in, and they continue through life with their head hung low, and their spirits diminished. However, not everyone in the family is in accordance with Benjamin Franklin's statement. Malachy's wife Angela, even though she is in the same boat as him, is still able to walk with her head held high, and is able to keep her wits about her. Perhaps she doesn't feel the shame that Malachy does because she, being the woman of the house, was not expected to the bread winner during those times. Therefore, when she does things like collect charcoal from the side of the road, and take food from charity, she is unable to feel the unbearable guilt that Malachy feels.
By what Benjamin Franklin is saying here, is that once a man loses his ability to provide, he loses his ability to feel like a man. And, when he loses his ability to feel like a man, he can no longer walk with his head held high, just as the empty paper bag is unable to stand up on its own. Furthermore, since poverty is the main cause for Malachy's loss of virtue, I believe this is what drives his addiction to the drink. From his failure came the poverty. From the poverty came the shame, and out of the shame, came the drink. Unfortunately for Malachy, times are so hard, that it seems as though there isn't even a chance for him to turn things around. His children are dying because of the enviroment they live in, which is a direct affect of Malachy's failure. I also tend to think that the mounting guilt that is building up inside of Malachy is only adding to the feeling of loss and emptiness he feels everyday. However, I find it hard to blame Malachy completely for the family's problems. The depressing atmosphere of sickness and poverty is also enough to erase the spirit in a man, and inevitably kills his will to succeed. I can understand the reasons why he is unable to become motivated and regain his spirit, because it seems physically impossible to do so in the various areas they have lived. Everywhere they turn there is disease, death and hunger. How is a man supposed to overcome this all by himself?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)