When it comes to understanding the background of issues such as poverty, immigration or the desire to improve, literature becomes the best refuge to turn to. Although if we dig a little deeper, we will discover a book destined to become a contemporary classic. Written by Frank McCourt and published in 1996, Angela's ashes it is not only one of the best books of the late twentieth century, but the best ticket to travel to an Ireland full of dreams and unfulfilled promises.
Synopsis of Angela's Ashes
They may be poor, their shoes may be in tatters, but their brains are palaces.
Based on the life of the author himself, Frank McCourt, Angela's Ashes takes us to the New York neighborhood of Brooklyn where the writer spent his childhood in the early 30s. Son of Malachy and Angela McCourt, Frank was the eldest of five siblings: Malachy Jr., twins Oliver and Eugene and little Margaret, who after dying a few days old forced the family to return to their native Ireland. There, the two twins also die and Michael and Alphie are born.
The premise of Angela's Ashes becomes the best introduction to immerse the reader in a gray Ireland. More specifically in a city in Limerick that during the 30s and 40s was mired in poverty, the rain that made everything more depressing and some very difficult aspirations to fulfill, especially when your father spends all the money from his first job on pints and your mother is disowned by the priests who sort her leftovers among the neighbors.
A situation that revolves around Frank, a young man who despite growing up in a tiny house, shaken by the smell of the urinal, leaks and bed bugs, manages to evolve despite illness and precariousness, chasing the dream of returning to life. New York to become a writer.
Angela's Ashes Characters
The main characters in the play, based on the author's own life, are those who belong to the McCourt family. On the other hand, some residents of Limerick also take on great importance throughout the work:
- Frank McCourt: Protagonist of the story, the author of The Ashes of Angelas immerses us through his memories in that gloomy Ireland full of broken dreams. A character who despite adversity pursues the dream of fleeing Limerick setting an example for a family corrupted by the behavior of an irresponsible father who, at least, knew how to tell him good stories.
- Ángela: Frank's mother is good, but very weak. With low self-esteem, Angela is rejected by her own family, taking refuge in a husband who does not know how to value her, in the compassion of priests and even prostitution. Although the title of this first novel refers to an episode that takes place in the second part of the story, It is, many point to the title of Angela's Ashes as a reference to the cigarettes consumed by Mrs. McCourt while waiting for her husband returned with money or even with the death of their three children.
- Malachy: Alcoholic and responsible for all the misfortunes of the McCourts, the patriarch is not only unable to maintain a stable job, but every penny he earns is spent on alcohol in the bars of Limerick. Kind-hearted, but too weak, he feeds his son Frank's imagination by telling him stories to disappear in the middle of history fleeing to England.
- Malachy jr: The second son of the McCourts is one of the great accomplices of his brother Frank. He becomes his main ally when it comes to raising the family to end up as a soldier as a way to escape poverty.
In addition to these protagonists, there are the characters divided into three main groups:
- Frank and Malachy Jr's brothers: Especially Michael and Alphie, who survive the early years of poverty.
- Angela's family: His cousins Delia and Phylomena, his sister Anggie, who helps Frank build a future, her husband Pa Keating, a colored man who invites Frank out for his first pint, his mother and Laman, an uncle with whom Angela supports sex for food.
- Frank's friends: Paddy, Miky, Terry, Freddye and Billy and Theresa. In addition, it is worth mentioning Theresa Carmody, a young woman who initiates Frank into sex, although they do not have time to start a love story after Theresa's death due to typhus.
Angela's ashes: X-ray of an era
Certain important plot details of the story are revealed.
Angela's ashes and the story she tells serve as an example. To show that nothing is impossible, especially when a young man from a poor Irish family gets enough money to travel to New York at the age of 19.
This situation, which is the climax of Angela's Ashes, continues in the novel It is, published in 1999 and in which McCourt tells how he became a writer. To this title it would be necessary to add Professor, published in 1999 and in which his experiences as a teacher are revealed, and Angela and the Child Jesus, released in 2007 and inspired by a story from his mother's childhood.
Author Frank McCourt.
1997 Pulitzer Prize Winner, Angela's ashes would be Adapted to the cinema in 1999 by director Alan Parker and starring Robert Carlyle and Emily Watson in the respective roles of Malachy and Angela, coming off with notable critical and public success.
A novel that delves into a certain moment in recent history to tell us that nothing is impossible. That dreams can always be achieved.
Because even though shoes are in tatters, minds can host palaces.
Did you ever read Angela's ashes by Frank McCourt?