Angela's Ashes: Post 5

In the latest section of Angela’s Ashes, many important events happen in the lives of the McCourt family. Frank spends two extended stays at the hospital, first for typhoid fever and then for an infection in his eyes. Mr. McCourt makes a difficult decision to relocate to England, away from his family, and find work in a factory. The plan is that he will send money back to his wife and children in Ireland, but he brings his drinking habits to England with him, and doesn’t send any money to his family. Mrs. McCourt also spends some time in the hospital with pneumonia, and Frank and his three brothers are taken care of by their unpleasant Aunt Aggie. Finally, Frank gets a job helping his neighbor, Mr. Hannon, deliver coal.

Poverty continues to plague the McCourt family. When Mr. McCourt goes to work in England, though, it seems as though this problem might come to an end. The McCourts dare to believe that “surely our troubles will be over” (221). This is because the other poor families in the McCourts’ neighborhood equate a father working in England with boundless happiness. The reader can’t know whether Mrs. McCourt truly believes that Mr. McCourt will be able to hold a steady job in England and earn wages that keep the family satisfied, but perhaps it doesn’t matter if she believes this or not. The mere idea of having enough money raises the McCourts’ spirits and makes them happy for a few days. Mrs. McCourt talks about having “new boots and coats…” (221) and “eggs and rashers on Sunday for breakfast and ham and cabbage and potatoes for dinner” (221) and “electric light” (221). When no money arrives from England, though, the McCourts’ dreams are crushed. Mrs. McCourt is ashamed of her family’s poverty and often laments the fact that other families on their street have more than the McCourts.

However, Frank and his brothers learn that having enough money doesn’t always bring happiness when they stay with Aunt Aggie. Aunt Aggie isn’t rich, but she has a nice house and enough food. When the McCourt boys stay with her, though, she is stingy in sharing with them, and she bullies them constantly. Frank is puzzled over how someone so fortunate could be anything but happy. He says, “I don’t know why she’s always angry. Her flat is warm and dry. She has electric light in the house and her own lavatory in the backyard” (246). The McCourts take actions opposite from Aunt Aggie: though they have less than she, they are generous even to strangers. Mrs. McCourt feeds dinner to women and children who come off the street occasionally, and Frank’s brother Michael brings homeless men to their house to spend the night. On this topic, Frank says that “The bread she gives them always means less for us and if we complain she says there are always people worse off and we can surely spare a little from what we have” (273). The McCourts’ selfless attitude shows that they are compassionate and good-hearted people. They must make an ethical decision between saving their food for themselves and letting others go hungry, or feeding people with greater needs than their own by sacrificing some of their food. Their choice shows their generosity and desire to help others.

Mr. McCourt, however, doesn’t display this generosity with his own family. His failure to send wages to the rest of his family in Ireland causes him to be rejected by his family. Mrs. McCourt learns to cope financially by getting public aid and even by begging. Frankie finds a new father-figure in Mr. Hannon, the man he delivers coal with. In fact, Mr. Hannon is subject to much adoration by Frankie, who is “dying to go around with Mr. Hannon on the great float like a real workingman” (258). When a train conductor gives the McCourts a bit of food as they wait for Mr. McCourt at the train station, Frankie breaks even more ties to his father. He writes, “I wish I had a father like the man in the signal tower who gives you sandwiches and cocoa” (269). When Mr. McCourt visits his family in Ireland, his family is unforgiving about his failure to send them money. Mrs. McCourt and three of the McCourt boys accuse him, saying, “You drank the money, Dad” (270). The tension and anger in the McCourt family creates unhappiness and divides the family.

Frank continues to mature, and is now almost thirteen. He doesn’t have a very positive image of himself for a variety of reasons. First of all, he is made fun of at school by other boys. They tease him by calling at him, “Blinky McCourt beggar woman’s son scabby eyed blubber gob dancing Jap” (262). Frank doesn’t let it bother him too much, though. He does have friends, and he feels good about himself when he works for Mr. Hannon. He is more deeply humiliated when he sees his mother begging at a priest’s home for their dinner. Frankie says that seeing his mother beg is “the worst kind of shame” (250). Something positive in Frankie’s childhood is his love of reading. He enjoys Shakespeare and other books, and teachers at his school have previously noticed his good writing. It is fun to read about him discovering his passion when, in the back of your mind, you know that he grew up to write a book that won the Pulitzer Prize.

Work Cited:

McCourt, Frank. Angela’s Ashes. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1996.