Angela's Ashes-Historical Essay

“Whatever it was, it was dying by the time I was born,and before I turned six”(Pfeffer, 2). The short story Ashes was written by Susan Beth Pfeffer. The story is about Ashes and her relationship with her dad and her mom. Ashes is in a problem when her dad asks her to “borrow” money from her mom. Ashes is left with two options, either help her dad or her mom. Ashleigh did take the money because she loves her dad, trusts her dad, and she is like her dad.

Although life presents you with many obstacles, if you continue to persevere, eventually you will achieve success. Angela’s Ashes, by Frank McCourt, is a good example of this. Frank is constantly limited by his poverty. We watch him stick with his goals and eventually accomplish them in the end. He also watches his mother continually try to stretch the family budget in order to get meager amounts of food. Death is also very prevalent in this book as Frank and his family have to adjust to the death of loved ones.

Imagine: A young boy scavenges for food to provide for his impoverished family which was composed of his ill mother and starving siblings or a homeless, single mom desperatley seeking for shelter. These synopses from "Angela's Ashes" by Frank McCourt and "The Street" by Ann Petry share a common theme: perseverance through hardships. In "Angela's Ashes," a memoir by Frank McCourt, he stells about the harships he endured through his childhood, such as, struggling to assist his family in the midst of poverty by stealing food to provide for them. Futhermore, in "The Street," a novel by Ann Petry, tells the story of young Lutie Johnson, a homeless single mom who is seeking shelter for herself and her children. In these two excerpts, the authors use the characters, settings, and events to develop the theme, which I've identified as perseverance through hardships.

In Angela's Ashes, the theme of struggling to get through life's obstacles is shown using character. In paragraph 4, McCourt writes, "You can look in people's windows and see how cozy it is in their kitchens with fires glowing or ranges black and hot everything bright in the electric light cups and saucers on the table with plates of sliced bread pounds of butter jars of jam smells of fried eggs... the mother crisp and clean in her apron everyone washed and the Sacred Heart of Jesus looking down on them from the wall suffering and sad but still happy with all that food and light and good Catholics at their breakfast." This quote shows, that the protagonist has been peering into the houses of the rich and realizes that the rich has everything they want and more. This theme shows that the main character is jealous of the rich lifestyle because they have more struggles than the rich do. In addition, this theme is also presented using events. In paragraph 5, "In a second I have

In Angela's Ashes, the theme of struggling to get through life's obstacles is shown using character. In paragraph 4, McCourt writes, "You can look in people's windows and see how cozy it is in their kitchens with fires glowing or ranges black and hot everything bright in the electric light cups and saucers on the table with plates of sliced bread pounds of butter jars of jam smells of fried eggs... the mother crisp and clean in her apron everyone washed and the Sacred Heart of Jesus looking down on them from the wall suffering and sad but still happy with all that food and light and good Catholics at their breakfast." This quote shows, that the protagonist has been peering into the houses of the rich and realizes that the rich has everything they want and more. This theme shows that the main character is jealous of the rich lifestyle because they have more struggles than the rich do. In addition, this theme is also presented using events. In paragraph 5, "In a second I have two bottles of lemonade up under my jersey and i saunter away trying to look innocent," (McCourt). This quote is

From the article entitled Catholic Social Teaching – Convictions and Connections by Russell Connors (Catherine Core Reader, 2011)

Despite their unfortunate situations, both Frank McCourt and Lutie Johnson never seem to lose hope or determination to continue to survive, in the hopes that one day they will be able to thrive alongside their loved ones. This contributes to the theme shared between the

By focusing on an individual’s memories, O’Brien demonstrates to us that his narration of stories is true and false as he speaks about them meanwhile communicating that story-truth stand in opposition to “happening truth.” In “How to

"I can't spend my life running around" (McCourt 10). In "The Street" and "Angela's Ashes", the main characters who are poverty stricken, show perseverance through their actions. The author reveal the theme through the characters, events, and settings of the stories. In “Angela’s Ashes” by Frank McCourt, the main character steals to provide for the needs of his family. In “The Street” by Ann Petry, a single mother, Lutie Johnson, is out in the elements trying to find a home for her family. In both “The Street” and “Angela’s Ashes”, the authors show the theme of when poverty occurs in a daily life, perseverance shines through of the main characters in each story by the use of characters, events, and settings.

Three of the most powerful scenes in Angela’s Ashes were Margaret’s death, Oliver’s funeral, and the portion about Mickey Spellacy. Margaret’s death was easily the most powerful scene, as it displays one of the highest emotional levels in the book, highlights character’s flaws, and displayed Frank’s first familial death. At Oliver’s funeral, Frank expresses his emotions more subtly, his anger at the jackdaws, and his belief that men can only show emotion through the pint. Mickey Spellacy was an interesting anecdote about a young boy who was around death so much he becomes jaded to death in his own family as much as anything, and wishes it for personal gain.

The American Dream is capable of being achieved by all because America is the land of opportunity, where hard work leads to success. In Angela’s Ashes by Frank McCourt, an Irish family encounters countless struggles despite their effort to live a good, prosperous life. Throughout his childhood, the protagonist of this novel, Francis “Frank” McCourt, strives to return to America one day, where he lived from birth to age four, to enjoy and profit from the better standard of living, social equality, and more abundant job opportunities promised to all by America. America’s standard of living is among the best in the world.

The father spends his money in the pubs, while his family at home starves for food and his daughter, Margaret, and the twins, Oliver and Eugene, die from lack of nourishment and spread of disease. Malachy's sickness not to worry about his family makes Angela's life miserable. The life for her is meaningless and she never smiles. The smiles from her had disappear while ago, but when Malachy receives the first paycheck she smiles for the first time in the novel (23). All her life is hanged on this paycheck and her children can fill their bellies with some food, while she "can hold her head up again" (23) when she pays back the shopkeepers.

Frank McCourt’s novel, Angela’s Ashes, portrays the theme of following one’s dream even though many times such unrealistic hope feels ultimately impossible. Throughout Angela’s Ashes, McCourt endures multiple obstacles such as complete poverty, life-threatening diseases, and obligated child labor. However, none of these devastating interferences were able to detour McCourt’s dream of returning back to America. McCourt’s first obstacle was the uttermost devastation of losing three of his siblings who were all very dearest to their family. Unfortunately, during the time of McCourt’s childhood, their family was in extreme poverty due to unsupportive and instable parents.

He was the eldest of seven children and the McCourt’s were of Irish descent. His father was called Malachy and his mother Angela. When Frank was four years old the family returned to Ireland, where his parents had lived before” (McCourt 6). They found no work in America, Because of the Great Depression. During Angela’s Ashes Frank McCourt did not experience a normal childhood, growing up in Ireland during the 1930’s gave him many challenges to overcome and McCourt had to grow up faster than any child should.

The Giver and An Ember In The Ashes are both fascinating books that revolve around protagonists and the will to change their crumbled societies which is seen as justified by their rulers. Not only are these two books strikingly similar but yet have their own unique storylines and characters. From the genres literature to the last pages, here are some of the overlapping features in both novels.