The Theme of Hunger and Poverty in Angela's Ashes - Term Paper Example

Order 332950 Topic: The Theme of Hunger and Poverty in Angelas Ashes Introduction: Study the lifestyles (living conditions) of a couple of poor families in a country, to whom tomorrow’s bread is not assured from today’s labor; rather today’s labor is also not assured! Who are they? What is their position? Why do they need help and what kind of help? What is the method of communication with them? What are the precise steps needed to enable them to come up in life? How confidence can be infused in them to be self-starters? What is the system to be adopted to help them? What is the essential difference between the town-based poor and the rural-based poor? How to bridge the gulf between the city-people and the country-folk? If we are able to find answers and honest solutions to these questions, take it that the problems of the country as a whole are addressed properly. “The life-work and happiness of all societies depend on certain ‘psychological structures’ which are infinitely precious and highly vulnerable. Social cohesion, co-operation, mutual respect, and above all self-respect, courage in the face of adversity and the ability to bear hardship-all this and much else disintegrates and disappears when ‘psychological structures’ are gravely damaged.”(Schumacher, p.179) It is in this context, one needs to understand how the Irish characters show themselves up in Angela’s Ashes by Frank McCourt. The curse of poverty…. Poverty and hunger are the inseparable companions. They are alternative beats of the same heart. The theme of poverty is pervasive in the story. The danger with the poor individual is when one accepts it as a fact of life. The degeneration begins, when the society consists of people with such a mentality. “A man is destroyed by the inner conviction of uselessness.”(Schumacher, p.179) The loss of confidence to live up to the challenges of life is the loss of everything. “In Limerick, poverty is accepted as a fact of life; although there is a charitable society and a rudimentary system of public assistance, neither does much to lift the poor out of their misery. For the McCourts, the dole money is never sufficient. When they first settle in Limerick, Malachy receives a mere nineteen shillings a week, for a family of six. "Just enough for all of us to starve on," says Angela. The family often goes hungry.” (Angela’s ….) This is the picture of the poor segment of the Irish society. Not enough food and the appalling living conditions. The McCourts have to cope up with rats, flies, fleas and lice. The sanitation is condemnable. Eleven families share one common lavatory, and it is directly outside the door of their tenement. The stench emanating from it throughout the day and night is unbearable. Bad living conditions combined with malnutrition- can there be anything more annoying in the life of the Irish poor? “Worse than the ordinary miserable childhood is the miserable Irish childhood”, so writes Frank McCourt in his Pulitzer Prize winning novel. “This is a story of extreme poverty and hardship that is not for the faint hearted. Indeed it sometimes traverses the line between entertainment and enlightenment.” (Angelas Ashes….) When difficulties arrive in the life of the poor, they come like the advancing avalanche. When the McCourt family reached Limerick from America where they had gone to try their luck to make fortune, this city in Ireland had hardy anything to bring cheer in their life. The description of poverty makes the reading of the book horrible. The young Frankie and his brother Malachy grow up like persons condemned by the society and for Christmas dinner their luxury was old potatoes and boiled pigs head. Frank’s father has his own problems. Not all people drink for pleasure; there are many who have taken to alcohol to forget the day to day vicissitudes of life. The father’s drunkenness and the eventual abandonment of family in desperation have to be understood in this context. The typical childhood of Frank and the life of father McCourt and mother Angela, can not categorized as role models for their respective genre in Ireland. That is part of their family story. But the suffering of childhood of Frank, describes the plight of the poor Irish children. The arguments and the counter-arguments: Angela’s Ashes can not be termed as the representative sample of the social and cultural life of Ireland. The crows are black but all those who are black are not crows! The tragic sufferings of this poor family are not the measuring rod for the Irish culture. Such a drunkard individual will fail in life, whether one is in America, Ireland or Switzerland! Alcohol is not the mainstay of the Irish. The people drink like their counterparts in any other European countries. This suffering family is a typical dysfunctional family on all counts. Take the examples from the lifestyles of the Irish people those who migrated to US in the early 20th century. They are not one or two, but in thousands. They have integrated into the mainstream of the national life of US very well, with their positive qualities like faith in God, individual morality, dedication, mutual love and with a strong foundation of ethical life. They have carried with them the hallmarks of the Irish culture. The Irish-American people find a respectable place in all walks of life in America. Drunkards anywhere in the world do not grow. The growth of their personality and to make a mark in their lives is beyond comprehension. Irish intelligence has nothing to with the character of McCourt. The facts give a totally different and bright picture about the Irish people. 45% of those associated with Wall Street are Irish. Many CEO’s of US companies are of Irish origin. The book is likely to generate a feeling amongst the lay readers (those who do not know about the authentic conditions in Ireland) that the Irish people are lazy, uneducated, are not willing to progress in life and they are alcohol-addicts. General refection of how Irish Families are run is not seen in the portrayal of the characters in the book. To be poor is not a sin; it is a stage one has to face bravely and convert the life’s defeats into victories. But to be poor and lead an unethical life is the worst issue. The statement that one drinks to forget the suffering of poverty is a meaningless statement. One drinks and becomes poor! Drinking when the family can not afford decent food is the double tragedy. If anyone is to be blamed for the plight of the family of McCourt, it is McCourt himself! Being the captain of the boat, he should have controlled the oar properly to take it to proper direction. Mutual love, familial bonds, sharing and living for the sake of others—these are some of the positive traits of the poor families. By nature, the poor are adventurous, but luck may not favor them. Poor do have the sterling qualities of head and heart, which normally one won’t find in a rich family. The poor in the Irish society are no McCourt-like! Poor or rich, the Irish people are always proud of their heritage! A happy, cohesive poor family is a great gift of God. The suffering of a negative character in a novel, teaches a sincere reader many positive qualities that one needs to adopt in life. Only when one experiences darkness, the glory of the light becomes evident. McCourt’s character may be sincere from the view point of a poor family. Here is a lesson how the head of the family who is addicted to alcohol, can destroy the entire family. Poverty and alcohol is a deadly combination, for such an individual can never implant the positive qualities in his family members nor can he provide them proper education. This is the greatest disservice alcohol can do to a poor family. It is only through education, the poor have a chance to come up in life. If the father or the mother, can provide the inner strength to the children, that family has the chance to come up in life. Poor children have a ‘rich’ childhood. Their experiences are varied, beautiful and challenging. Unlike the children of the rich who live a regulated life, facing mostly stock situations for which they have stock solutions. Do not take the contents of this novel to heart. Irish people are great and Ireland is a fine country to visit. The families like Frank McCourt exist in all parts of the world. Today’s rich families can become poor overnight. Take the example of the share market Depression in United States in the 1930s. Many rich individuals were rendered paupers overnight. If you read the novel keeping in mind the concept of ‘the world is one family,’ this is an ideal novel that depicts the conditions of the poor. The problems of the poor, all over the word are the same. The disadvantaged children, with no moral guidance from the parents are compelled to live a directionless and destination less life. Specially speaking about the Irish families, they see themselves as extended families, and they can be compared to the Indian Joint families that live under one roof. The beauty of the novel is how the children survived through the love-hate drama of the parents. Father proved to be totally hopeless; and the mother could not do her best to the family, due to circumstances beyond her control. The challenge of life was all the more intense for these children, who happened to be Irish, but Ireland as a nation, can not be blamed on that count. Blame not the parents, howsoever poor you are, take it as a divine grace that they brought you in to this beautiful world full of possibilities! Those who blame the previous generations for their present plight are weaklings and are not likely to leave anything better for their children. Recollect the past and compare the present life with the trials and tribulations that one had to undergo. When you are proud of your present achievements, blame not the parents for the distressing past. They provided you with the fighting platform, for which they deserve rich tributes. Which is better? Born great or to achieve greatness? The latter option is by far the best! It is the predicament of the young lad, Frank, that highlights the merit of the novel and evokes tender feelings for his plight. Frank had to undergo the agony of the death of his sister and two brothers. His father does not earn much, that is fine, what he earns is spent on the drinking bouts at the local pub. One finds an interesting trait in this Irish character. He tells beautiful stories to remind the children and expects his children to die for Ireland. Through the thick and thin of his secular problems, he grows, morally, intellectually and spiritually. Notwithstanding all his negative tendencies, he is a strong individual, even at the threshold of utter poverty and starvation. He is patriotic and but for this bouts with alcohol, he must be a dynamic individual. The ensuing description highlights the principles for which the various characters in the novel stand for. "The master says its a glorious thing to die for the Faith and dad says its a glorious thing to die for Ireland and I wonder if theres anyone in the world who would like us to live. My brothers are dead and my sister is dead and I wonder if they died for Ireland or the Faith. Dad says they were too young to die for anything. Mam says it was disease and starvation and him never having a job. Dad says: `Och, Angela, puts on his cap and goes for a long walk" (McCourt, p.113). The people of Limerick during the era to which the story of this novel belonged, accepted poverty as a way of life; the divine curse! The story “is narrated in the first person and is told in the present tense. This kind of immediacy centers on the reality of the childs experiences and avoids the impression, as the past tense might, that the story is being reflected upon by an adult on his childhood. Regional, Irish phrases, and vulgar expressions are used often to convey the way people really talked during the authors childhood in Limerick.” (Haub-vonach, 2006) Frank does not pity or condemn himself for being born in Ireland. But due to the social snobbery prevalent in Ireland, he is denied many opportunities to come up in life. His dress, his poor social standings hold him in check to progress in life. But his fighting spirit and the encouragement that he receives from family members keeps the torch of his enthusiasm aflame. His small achievements bolster his spirit. He is part of the soccer team that beats a team of wealthy boys. His self-esteem gets a shot in the arm. His fascination for America, which he believes as a classless society, is great. He wants to realize all his dreams in America. But like the Irish society, class consciousness pervades American society as well. “Even so, McCourt’s success as a teacher, performer, and world-renowned author stands as a testament to his ability to surmount the impediments of class, and to the society that made his idealistic dream a reality beyond his—or anyone’s—greatest expectations.”(Spark Notes…) Anti-English and pro-Irish Sentiments: In the opening lines of his memoir, McCourt ascribes some of the sorrow he endured as a child to “the English and the terrible things they did to us for eight hundred long years.” England is at the receiving end and most of the characters condemn the English invasions of the past and the current repression of Ireland. Right from childhood Frank is taught, how evil and immoral are the Englishmen. How they are responsible for the moral degeneration of the Irish people. How they interfered in the noble and peaceful lifestyles of the Irish people. How English soldiers committed atrocities in the battle. A firm belief system takes root in the mind of Frank that Englishmen represent evil and Irishmen represent all that is good and noble. Conclusion: Frank has to carry lots of burden of responsibility of the family on his young shoulders. But he remains loyal to his father and this is the typical Irish quality of familial love. He loves his father’s intellectual brilliance, his flair for storytelling and the style in which he tries to kindle the spirit patriotism. In fine, the novel that highlights poverty, it teaches the poor people how to fight it out and earn a respectable place for themselves in life! ************* Works Cited: McCourt, Frank. Angelas Ashes: A Memoir; Scribner; 13th Printing edition (May 25, 1999) Schumacher, E.F. Small is beautiful, Radha Krishna, New Delhi 110002; 1977 Angelas Ashes Study Guide by Frank McCourt: Themes…. - Retrieved on November 7, 2009 Angelas Ashes This is a story of the fight against poverty. ... Retrieved on November 7, 2009 Haub-vonach, L(Author)(Amazon.com….)(Amazon.com: L. Haub-vonachs review of Angelas Ashes: Angelas Ashes: A Memoir 068484267X Frank McCourt; May 9,2006 Retrieved on November 7, 2009 SparkNotes: Angelas Ashes: Themes, Motifs & Symbols Description and explanation of the major themes…. Retrieved on November 7, 2009 Read More