Angela's Ashes Modernism Essay

“In awhile there are voices downstairs and there is talk of tea, sherry, lemonade, buns, and isn’t that child the loveliest little fella in the world, little Alphie, foreign name but still an’ all still an’ all not a sound outta him the whole time he’s that good-natured God bless him sure he’ll live forever with the sweetness that’s in him the little dope spittin’ image of his mother his father his grandma his little brothers dead an’ gone”(182).

There are many books, written by numerous authors, containing similar themes and elements. Two such stories fitting that description are Angela’s Ashes and The Street. The former takes place in Ireland and is written by Frank McCourt; the latter is set in New York and is written by Ann Petry. The characters seem like they would not have much, if anything, in common. Frank McCourt’s main character is a child, born into a large, impoverished family; Petry’s is a single mother trying to get by. Additionally, their geographical locations and the cultures in each place vary greatly. However, their stories are similar in the fact that both characters have relating struggles. The primary theme of each of their stories is close to identical. Both

In describing his atrocious childhood, Frank McCourt writes, “Two small sons starved to death.” In the novel, Angela's Ashes, McCourt portrays his life with an alcoholic father and depressed mother. McCourt uses two of several writing techniques: diction and imagery, to show the hardships of being Irish, Catholic, and poor. Angela’s Ashes is a moving and impassioned testimony of McCourt's life from childhood into early adulthood.

Upon receiving the Nobel Prize for his excellence in writing, William Faulkner expresses his dismay towards the writers of the day and laid out what he terms “the writer’s duty.” In his acceptance speech, Faulkner is disheartened by the fact that young writers continue to discuss “the end of man” in their work. Faulkner advocates that authors must make all efforts to “help man endure by lifting his heart.” Because man leads a difficult life, writers are obligated to use their work to uplift and inspire the reader’s sprit. In his memoir, Angela’s Ashes, Frank McCourt raises the reader’s spirits by illustrating that although one may have a reprobate nature,

"When I look back on my childhood I wonder how I survived at all. It was, of course, a miserable childhood: the happy childhood is hardly worth your while. Worse than the ordinary miserable childhood is the miserable Irish childhood, and worse yet is the miserable Irish Catholic childhood." Thus begins the highly celebrated memoir by the name of Angela's Ashes, written by Frank McCourt. In this book Frank McCourt writes about his childhood, how his parents meet in New York and then decide to return to Ireland. He describes what it is like to be at the bottom of that city's tough social hierarchy, giving vivid descriptions of how class imposes severe limitations and restrictions. It is this topic, this theme, to which I

Angela’s Ashes, written by Frank McCourt, takes place during the late 1930s and 1940s in Brooklyn, New York briefly, but mostly in Limerick, Ireland. Frank McCourt writes about his experience growing up poor in Limerick, Ireland. Throughout his life, Frank deals with the limitations imposed by class, hunger, an alcoholic father, multiple illnesses, and hard weather. Frank grows up as the book progresses, and he learns many lessons of life through his various experiences. His ultimate goal is to get out of Ireland and poverty, but his lower-class status makes this difficult as he faces conflict from various people of authority, such as priests, schoolmasters, and even family members who look down on him.

Modernist literature began between 1915-1935, writers mainly wrote fiction this is because they started to question what the future was going to bring since they were living through both World War. Modernists wrote their stories in first person which made their stories seem like a stream of consciousness, irony and satires. This type of literature was mainly written in English and became well known due to the increase of globalization, which was more about how the people felt about the events going on and how the people were affected in other words it spoke from the inner self of the writer. Many famous writers including Ernest Hemingway, Langston Hughes, and F. Scott Fitzgerald believed that the increase in new technology was leading to the decrease in civilization which was making individuals lonely.

The three most important scenes in my opinion were life changing not only to Francis but to his family also. The first scene is the death of baby Margaret. Francis' parents get sad and the two cousins of Angela step in and send them away to Ireland to suffer even more. The next scene I chose is when Malachy Sr. went to England (the second time) and disappears from their lives. Francis really did become the man of the house after that. The third scene I thought was important was when Francis decided not to take the exam to become a permanent messenger boy. He thought that would stop him from doing what he wanted. Two of the scenes made Francis' life harder, while the other one probably changed his life in a good way

The age of literary modernism in America allowed a break in traditional literature, especially with the concepts of religious, political and social views. This creation of difference was influenced by the changing of lifestyles in America. Modernism made its first appearances during the twentieth century. American’s were facing conflicts that were tearing at the seams of a traditional lifestyle. World War I, a decrease in patriotism, and racism shaped modern literary works.

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.

The birth of the modernist movement in American literature was the result of the post-World War I social breakdown. Writers adopted a disjointed fragmented style of writing that rebelled against traditional literature. One such writer is William Faulkner, whose individual style is characterized by his use of “stream of consciousness” and writing from multiple points of view.

Authors wanted to revolutionize arts and audience worldwide. This was done by the creation of tools that helped excel the “American Dream”. Some of the major authors in this time included T.S. Eliot, James Joyce, Ezra Pound, and Gertrude Stein (Modernism). There are two different groupings of modernism, which are modernism and post modernism. In the beginning, “early modernists used elements of experimentation, freedom, radicalism, and utopianism” (Modernism). After the war, “post-modernists, however, rebelled against many modernist elements and instead depicted disillusionment and elements of dystopian ideas—dehumanized and fearful lives” (Modernism). Many different historical aspects influenced the upcoming of the modernist movement such as publications of scientific theories, technological inventions that globalized society, Sigmund Freud’s change in the discipline of psychology, new concepts of ethics, morality, and ideals, and artistic movements (Modernism).

Modernism brought a new era to fiction as a whole. With World War One raging distress and fear to people worldwide, the modernists as a whole were very angry. They were angry with the propaganda of the time telling them that war was good; those who’d seen the battlefield knew better. They despised their didactic Victorian predecessors, who taught clear divisions between right and wrong. Modernists instead believed that authority figures were corrupt and that morality is often unclear. This comes to light especially within the poems of Eliot and Yeats, and especially in the modernist manifesto Blast.

Modernism was a movement that was developed during the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century. Modernism developed due to the changes happening in societies at the time. Around the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century there was a rise in the industrial society’s where there were advancements in technologies and machines, and a rapid growths in cities. This lead to a change in cultural trends and philosophies, which is known as modernism. Modernism was well known for the rejection on traditional way, such as the arts and beliefs. It rejected the idea of realism and religious beliefs. During these years modernism could be distinguished by two aspects, High and Low Modernism.

The term Modernism, which refers to a literary movement must not be confused with Modern which refers to “being ahead of ones time or being ahead of ones contemporaries”