If asked to list my favorite top ten books, Angela’s ashes
would tie with Steinbeck’s Grapes of Wrath.
Frank McCourt uses language of a child and slang to effectively
transform his readers to Limerick Ireland.
One example is his recreation of the hardships of his youth. He describes the reasons for his family’s
move. “Mam says she can’t spend another
minute in that room on Hartstronge Street.
She sees Eugene morning, noon and night.
She sees him 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.” By using the word Mam, a term of
endearment, for his mother, I immediately felt a sense of cultural identity and
camaraderie. He continues by explaining
her sorrow and in doing so illustrates the hardships of poverty.
McCourt then shows how religion had an effect on his
philosophy on life. He illustrates this
by retelling the story of his father’s treasured picture. He tells of his father, “He’s the only pope
that was ever a friend to the workingman and what are we to say if someone from
the St. Vincent de Paul Society comes in and sees blood all over him?” This illustrates how his father revered this
pope and only this pope. He insinuates
that other priests and popes were not as compassionate for the poor. He also shows how his father worries about
what the church will think of him, illustrating his fear of the church.
I found it interesting that the author did not use the
formal method of quotations; he does not indent or use quotations. His dialogue is intermingled with description
and action and the experimental writing creates a sense of youthful vision, a
story told from a child. In addition the
dialogue reads as part of the story being told.
Finally, McCourt offers another example of how his parents
formulated his personality. His father
took great pride in dressing properly, thinking that it presented an individual
as respecting himself, he tells his children, “A man without a collar and tie
is a man with no respect for himself.”
The father believed that by dressing well he might receive an opportunity
and if he was not dressed for the opportunity it would pass him. He was teaching his children to be prepared
for that oppourtunity.
Like Jonh Steinbeck before him, McCourt offers an honest
vision of poverty. Because of his imagination
and determination he was able to overcome his difficulties and pay homage to
his mother. Some day I would like to do
the same for the family that worked so hard for me.
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