Relationship, Identity, and the Role of Women in "Angela's Ashes"

Angela’s Ashes
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Angela’s Ashes
Angela’s Ashes is a memoir by Frank McCourt on account of the poverty life his family has gone through in both New York and Limerick in Ireland. Though the persona tries to blame the father’s behavior as the main reason why the family had to face such hardship, it is worth is noting the major themes and the character roles depicting the reality in the book. The author has used the first person protagonist to reveal his attitude and feelings of the filthy life and his struggles to move away in such helplessness. However, I would be more empathetic to the role of the mother and her love for the children. She never quits taking care of children even if it is a matter of begging; she would unashamedly do it to have their daily bread. The author has elaborated all these through the narrators' reflection and the imagery of the past experiences. In the following sections, I will discuss the themes of family relationship, the role of women in the memoir and identity development.
Family Relationship
Relationship plays an important part in the household. It is critical to enable positive relation between the spouses and live as one family when caring for children. A reflection on the book; Angela’s Ashes by Frank McCourt reveals a new clear but distorted family with no strong bonding between the husband and wife. Frank from his childhood years being brought up in this dullness environment developed a quiet and introvert personality (McCourt, 1999). However, he is compassionate to both his parents and usually felt warm whenever they are around. This kind of feel does not last long due to the alcoholic father whom the narrator blames for the hardship exhibited in their lives. Even though Frank can develop this hatred unnoticed by his siblings, he loves both the parents. He says, “I know when Dad does the bad thing. I find out when he drinks the dole money and Mum is desperate and has to beg…but I don’t want to back away from him and run to Mum. How can I do that when I'm up with him early every morning with the whole world asleep" (McCourt p.116). The father's company comforts him a lot though he loves his mother Angela more due to her hard work. She can clothe her children and feed them despite the hard life and lack of money. He values his family more than the extended relatives and is ready to commit to himself to ensure they are safe (McCourt, 1999).
Frank's character is revealed as temperamental and resentful. However, he is a flexible person who is compassionate and cares for his siblings. Through the theme of family relationship, Frank takes the role of the eldest son and cares for Michael and Alphie at their younger ages. This trait he also exhibited when both Eugene and Oliver are born, but the two died while still young. His urge for the family to move out of poverty and struggles to make sure they live well made him seek for employment at a tender age and never cared about the terrible life he was to go through to get income (McCourt, 1999). This is revealed when he said, “I’m on deck the dawn we sail into New York. I’m sure I’m in a film, that it will end and lights will c...