Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt

Young Frankie McCourt, born and raised in the United States, tells his tale of emigrating back to his parents homeland of Ireland when he was five. The details recounted, told from his perspective as a child, are saddening and as readers we feel sympathy towards him and his family. In America his family was poor, but in Ireland they were even less than that and Frank was made to grow up too soon in order to try and provide for his younger siblings and mother.

One thing that I noticed while reading the book was the difference between the neighbors that the

McCourts had in America compared to those in Ireland. In America the McCourt's neighbors, though they too were experiencing the effects of the depression, would help the poor family out as much as possible. They could see that the children were starving and running around with little to no clothes, that the father was a drunk and didn't bring home his wages, and that the mother, Angela, wasn't reacting well to the way her life was. The neighbors were friendly, giving the children food when they had enough and cleaning up Angela after her daughter had died. Their neighbors cared about the family and whether or not they were taken care of. But when the McCourts returned to Ireland nobody seemed to care whether or not they survived a single night. Even Angela's mother hesitated helping them when they really needed it. In Limerick the McCourts went without food for days sometimes and when the neighbors heard they didn't seem to care, they had their own families to provide for and take care of. But even when the men had started to go to England to get jobs during the war and were sending money home the McCourt's neighbors still didn't take the time to see if they could do anything to help out. Everyone in Limerick knew that Malachy McCourt was a drunk and didn't send his family any money when he got paid, but they all just went on with their lives even though their husbands and fathers were sending money home and they had enough to help.

I think that's what surprised me the most about the book,  that although their neighbors had enough they still didn't want to help. Whereas even when their neighbors in America had nothing, they still went out of their way to help the McCourts. Another thing that surprised me was how young Frank was when he had to steal and lie in order to provide for his family. He was only four years old when he first stole for his brothers. The twins were crying because they were so hungry and he stole bananas from a shop. But the more surprising thing was that he didn't turn to stealing for everything he needed, for instance he still wanted a job to support himself and his family in a respectable way so he could be considered a man. He could have resorted to stealing food and money for his family and his trip to America the entire time, he didn't have to go out and get a job but he did. 

I really enjoyed this book because it was a young boy who was determined to overcome adversity and situations that he had no control over. He dreamt of getting back to America so he could make a living and he made it happen. He didn't sit back and complain that what he was given in life was too hard to overcome, he made something happen with his life. He got out of the places that were harming and he made it to America. And I think that something that can be taken from this book is that if Frank McCourt could overcome the trials in his life, if he can make it out, then surely I can make it out too. Surely we can overcome adversity and make it out of the hard times in life.