Literary Devices In Angela's Ashes

How would your life be different if your family was in poverty and your father was an alcoholic? In the memoir Angela's Ashes written by Frank McCourt. Frank who is the oldest out of six children is the protagonist. Throughout the memoir Frank explains how his life was growing up in a poverty family, his father being an alcoholic and never being able to hold a steady job, and the death of his three younger siblings. In the novel, McCourts use of style, point of view, and use of literary devices accomplishes a comic relief that distracts from the hardship that the McCourt family was faced with. First, McCourt uses humor and wit as his main style for his memoir. In the memoir McCourt uses the style of humor to break up from all the serious issues he was faced with within his life. “I don't give a fiddler’s fart” (F. McCourt). Frank uses quotes like this one a lot throughout the novel. By using the phrase “fiddler's fart” it takes away from the seriousness …show more content…
One literary device that is used in Angela's Ashes is imagery. “I told him that I was waiting for angel” (F. McCourt 107). This quote is very powerful because even through all the hard times Frank, went through at the end of the day, he still had faith. After losing three siblings in a short period of time, getting very ill, and having an alcoholic father McCourt was able to stay strong and follow his religion. Another literary device that McCourt uses is irony. “The doctor told me to go to Arizona” (F. McCourt). These words are ironic because the McCourt family does not have money to send Frank to Arizona. The reason the family moved back to Ireland from the United States is because they did not have much money and could not afford to continue living in the United States. McCourt uses irony a lot throughout the memoir to really express to the reader of how his life was while he was growing