Poverty In Angela's Ashes

Angela’s Ashes takes place in Ireland during the 1930s, a period of time when the economy in Limerick was declining. The Street takes place in Harlem, New York City during World War II. The settings in both novels take place in the bitter cold during hard times. The settings play a huge role in the theme because it shows how the characters live. Frank McCourt and Lutie Johnson are two characters who deal with poverty throughout their lives. Frank McCourt, the author and main character of Angela’s Ashes, writes about the struggles with poverty he had as a child. Through this time he has to make hard decisions in order to survive. Ann Petry portrays poverty in her writing by using the cold to show the despair of the people walking along the streets of New York. The authors’ way of showing poverty in their novels differs in some ways but is very similar to one another. The author of Angela’s Ashes and the author of The Street convey the theme of poverty through their similar settings and the characters’ need for survival.

Angela's Ashes and The Street experts both display the common theme of poverty and the struggles that come with it. In Angela's Ashes the author make the setting cold. Winter time is one of the hardest times for families that live in poverty, in the winter food and warmth is a necessity and not having it can really impact your health; like in Angles's Ashes the mother is sick due to the cold and lack of food, this is an exsmaple of how the auother uses the charcters and setting to creat an overal theme. In the expert The Street the overall theme is also proverty, the theme was created through the setting and characters also.

Poverty is a terrible condition, which as unfortunate as it is, many people across the globe suffer from. Poverty can present itself in many ways and in many different circumstances, which is shown in the following stories. In ' Angela's Ashes' by Frank McCourt, young Frank is burdened with the responsibiliity of providing for his family. Similarly, in 'The Street' by Ann Petry, Lutie, a single black mother, is struggling to find shelter for her family. In both 'Angela's Ashes' and 'The Street,' a key member of each family is desperately trying to support their loved ones and meet their basic human needs. In both passages, the author uses specific characters, events, and settings to demonstrate the theme that one needs perseverance to overcome poverty.

His father Malachy was an alcoholic ex-IRA fighter,

Soon after that, she had a little girl named Margaret. Margaret lived for a month and then she died. That was the only month that Malachy never drank the whole paycheck and he never once came home late singing any songs. Angela loved her little girl more than anything, especially because of the way it reformed Malachy. After Margaret died, they moved to Ireland, hoping to get away from the poor streets of New York and back to their families.

He then began not coming home again and then Angela began to get depressed. He drank the rest of his wages away and then Angela could not buy any food for the children again. While this happened her new born baby Margret died and that threw her into a great depression and Malachy Sr. didn’t come home again and she began to neglect the children. She would just lock herself in her room. While this happened her neighbors began to chip in and feed the children and take care of them since they had no money for food or supplies and Angela was depressed. But the McCourt’s are somewhat responsible for their poverty. One of the reasons being is for it is very hard to find jobs in this economic stage they are living in. Even Frank’s grandmother said it was very tough to find one. The other reason why they are responsible is because Malachy Sr. cannot keep a job or his wages. He spends his wages on his bad habit also known as Alcoholism. Then in chapter 2 when they arrived in Ireland Franks grandmother told Malachy there are not jobs but you can ask for money in recognition for your service in the IRA (pg.50), but Malachy goes and is not eligible due to the fact there are no records of his service, so his last resort of income is

Frank wanted to be a man, unlike his father, he wanted to be a better man than how he saw Malachy. McCourt says, “I think my father is like the Holy Trinity with three people in him, the one in the morning with the paper, the one at night with the stories and prayers, and then the one who does the bad thing and comes home with the spell of whiskey and wants us to die for Ireland.” Malachy McCourt is a alcoholic

In this last section of Angela’s Ashes, Malachy (father) claims that he is going to change himself for good. Unsurprisingly, he shows up late and only comes home from England for a short amount of time. Malachy leaves right after the family Christmas dinner. Even through all the darkness in the lives of the McCourt family, they still manage to help people. While they may be poor, they still find the energy and resources to help even poorer people and animals.

Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt is a heartbreaking memoir novel in which the family suffers from poverty and hunger. The lives of McCourt's family are being darkened by the father, Malachy, who is responsible for what his family is going through. Frank, the oldest son takes over adults responsibly to help the family since he is dissatisfied from his father and when he is old enough he escapes to his long journey and away from his country, Ireland, for a better life. Year after year the mother, Angela, has babies but the father does not supply milk or food for them like all the babies should drink; this milk is the motherly love that she wants to offer to her children but she is unable.

People who think the world is perfect and life great, think about the people who do not have anything whatsoever. In several countries today, many families are dying because of poverty. In Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt, Frank and his family severely suffered in Ireland because of how poor and unprivileged they were. A group of people today do not understand or care about how many people who die because they have nothing. Their house may be flooded or they may not even have a house at all. Only one grain of rice or a cup of water will satisfy them. In several places people should help countries such as people like Frank McCourt who many have poverty and decide to fight the issue that is haunting us today.

Throughout the whole story, young McCourt is an optimistic child. The author discussed a central idea that young McCourt is always seeking for chance to leave Ireland, sail back to USA to chase his American Dreams. Unfortunately, McCourt's father Malachy is a horrible alcoholic, he drank out all the money from family, went to England for work and ever sent money back. McCourt has to write

There are many situations that cause stress: a death, a test, and much more. A sick loved one can make an individual really stress, and it can affect their relationship. This issue can cause severe arguments, based on how personalities change while stressed. Also, losing a job can have a huge impact on a relationship, because the worry of paying bills gets to extreme. Bradbury and Karney (2014) stated, “A stressor is an aspect of the environment that makes demands on the partners, leaving them with a reduced capacity to maintain their relationship” (p.377).

The first, and most important antagonist in Angela’s Ashes is Malachy McCourt. Frank McCourt described his father, Malachy, as “the Holy Trinity with three people in him, the one in the morning with the paper, the one at night with the stories and the prayers, and then the one who does the bad thing and comes home with the smell of whiskey” (210). While Malachy was an important and influential antagonist in the story, he was not always the best role model for his children. Mr. McCourt was said to be known for abandoning his family for multiple days at a time without warning or any way for the to provide for themselves. Often times Malachy would spend the majority of his paychecks on feeding his addiction, rather than feeding his children. Due to his father’s constant absence, Frank had to step up and take on more responsibilities in his 1household. Frank was working a full-time job to provide for his family by the time he was fourteen. Malachy was a very proud man and a very loving father, when he wasn’t drinking. He was generous and would eat just a small amount so that his family would have more to eat when food was scarce. “Food is a shock to the system”, (24)

There are always things stressing us out, sometimes some more than others. My stress stems from my continuation of my education, from elementary school, high school, and College. From there on, it spread to my self-image; how I saw myself both physically and mentally. As I continued studying in College, money became an issue. I had to look for a job, eventually for that job I had to “change” and adjust to the norms and rules of the environment, all of which is difficult. How I see my stress is mentally draining and I feel the need to run a way. But that is not an option. Stress will always be with us. The important fact is how do we deal with it in a positive way and cope with it.

      Stress can be caused from numerous things for example, a death in the family, divorce, or loss of a job.  But stress is also attributed to