Mr, Kruszynski
ENG3U1
December 12, 2015
The Theme of Poverty In the 1930-40’s
Angela’s Ashes by Frank Court, is the tale of young Frank, who in his childhood and teenage years, suffers through the streets of Limerick, with his family, in order to fight against the forces of poverty. This extraordinary memoir has a deep message behind - a message about poverty. It is great comparison to poverty today, and how it has greatly impact thousands and thousands of people who were unfortunate enough to be delved within it. The content of Angela’s Ashes can greatly support this, such as through the Great Depression, which unfortunately had just occurred as Angela had first set foot in America, and was soon childbearing young Frank. This …show more content…
To start off, Frank is constantly under the threat of abuse from his family and relatives, even over the simplest things. One of the many examples supporting this is when the family tries to decide the name of Frank’s new younger brother, Alphie, “Alphonsus Joseph. The words fly out of my mouth. That’s a stupid name. it’s not even Irish. Grandma glares at me with two old red eyes. She says, that fella needs a good clither on the gob. Mam slaps me across the face and sends me flying into the kitchen.”(182) Over the past several years up to the present time, many surveys and studies have been taken on the psychological and physical effects of poverty on certain people compared to those are not poor. About an outstanding 5.4% of those in poverty have experienced many situations of either abuse or neglect, almost 7 times more than those who don’t struggle through poverty. With Frank and his family under the effects of poverty, this is a perfect explanation of why Frank is or constantly under threat of being abused by his family. Speaking more on this matter, Frank also has his moments of aggression towards others, being under the influence of poverty, and also because he picks up this behaviour from his parents. Such behavior is displayed mostly at school, such as his fight …show more content…
To support this, the McCourts take confession very seriously,even over the smallest things, because they think hope in reality is lost and their only joy left is an eternity with God. At one of Frank’s confessions, he confesses, “I overslept. I nearly missed my first communion. My Grandmother says I have stunting up, North of Ireland, presbyterian hair. I threw up my communion breakfast.”(129) This quotation shows how willing the McCourts are willing to take confession, just to be a hundred percent sure they are pure enough to spend an eternity with God, and to leave the hopeless and poverty infested reality they live in. In addition, the Christian religion sits in almost every single part of Limerick, being passed down through families, legends and myths, teachers, nurses, librarians, officers, becoming a soul part of Limerick. To clarify, in order to be able to have his first communion, Frank had to learn the following, “He tells us we have to know the catechism backwards, forwards, and sideways. we have to know the ten commandments, the seven virtues, divine and moral, the seven sacraments, the seven deadly sins. we have to know all prayers by heart, the hail mary, the our father, the apostles creed, the confiteor, the act of contrition, the litany of the blessed virgin