Angela's Ashes IRA #3

Angela's Ashes


Setting:  Limerick, Ireland


Vocabulary:
Perfidious- deliberately faithless, treacherous


Terms to know:


St. Vincent de Paul Society--voluntary Catholic Christian organization that helps out people who are living in poverty. It has been an organization since 1844 and has networks of 9500 volunteers who here to help.


Themes:


Alcoholism
Poverty
Apprehension


Plot Summary: Chapter 3


Angela is having trouble coping with the loss of her third child. After a few months, Angela and Malachy are blessed with a new baby boy named Michael.  Mom is starting to get extremely worried that she might lose her new baby. They have thought about moving, but not when Francis and little Malachy are starting school. The mom goes to the Saint Vincent Society in order to pick up some furniture and so other necessary items. The father starts looking for work, but there is a pattern where he finds a job, and then hangs around the bar, spending his money earned on a job's work. Therefore the themes are Poverty and Alcoholism. 


Since the McCourts are so poor they must be evaluated by the St. Vincent Society. They are surprised by the society, and they do not like what they see. The horrible living conditions and the shortage of supplies are a huge surprise to them. Francis and Malachy need new boots, but their father doesn't believe in charity. Malachy Sr. tries to fix the boots by cutting up a tire and gluing it on the thread of the shoe. There was lots of bulling about the boys shoes, even though everyone is penniless in Ireland and they just don't want to show it.  The father finally gets a job at the cement factory, and the family is so excited.  They hope to see him at home for dinner, but he comes home late and he is drunk. (Big Surprise)


Journal Friday January 20, 2012


The themes are Apprehension, Alcoholism and Poverty. The term apprehension refers to the worried mother (Angela). She has this terrible feeling that her baby won't survive. Angela is not the only one who is scared. The entire family is scared something terrible is going to happen. For example the father is out of a job, but when he does find employment they are worried that his temper and smart aleck attitude will cost him his job. That is why when you are working at a job, you need to make sure you listen and do everything your boss tells you to because they can fire you in a split second.


The theme Alcoholism comes to mind because Malachy Sr. has this compulsion to drink. This theme connects with Poverty because as we all know when you are in poverty you are most likely to become depressed. Which brings to a question. What is the most common depressant in the United States? Alcohol! Booze! What ever you call it.  Malachy was thinking more about how to ease his depression than come home to his family "bringing home the bacon" (except on Fridays). While reading I  have discovered that Alcoholism and Poverty are the highlighted themes of this memoir. They are never going to change because Malachy will always be the alcoholic father leaving his family and himself in poverty. Nothing is going to change in this novel.


Now lets elaborate more on poverty and how it affects others. We know that people don't want to be poor, so that is why they try to forget about it. They pretend it doesn't exist. The perfect example is when Francis and Malachy go to school and they are bullied because of their improper footwear. I find this ironic considering that a majority of the children come to school barefoot. The truth is that these children who are bulling others, are also poor. Isn't that a huge contradiction?