Chapters 16-19
The last bit of the book in my opinion was well written. Frank has his first drink at age sixteen with his uncle. His actions turn out to be interesting once he goes home. He confronts his mother of all the things shes done and esp. sleeping with Laman. I felt bad for her but I think she deserved it from all the years previous. Frank starts to question his faith after all the bad that has happened to him. He has prayed and prayed and still bad things come to him. I would probably start to think like Frank as well. The side job he has with Mrs. Finucane ends right before his nineteenth birthday. She passes on and Frank takes a total of fifty seven pounds from her which is enough in addition to his saving to get him to America. Frank announces he is leaving and his mother is saddened. Once he gets on the boat he has that home sick feeling, which I think is normal for anyone leaving home. Family is family. He ends the book with one word, Tis', which I found neat because it is simple and to the point and a good choice. The reader can assume what happens from there.
Jonathan Taylor
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I think the whole story has been intresting and at this point, Frank understands his situation more than before. He knows what to do in order to be succesful. Although he uses inapropriate means e.g writting threatning letters for Mrs Finucane, and stealing her money after she dies, Frank looks focused to coming to the U.S.A and would do anything it takes. I think he is a smart kid from the love of reading and the letters he wrote. Although the story ends without saying how his life changed here, one can tell that he will achieve more than living in Limerick. He thinks about his family when he was leaving Ireland, and how he misses them. I think there is a possibility of them joining him later or he could send them money. The ending with 'Tis, summarizes all.
ReplyDeleteI agree that the whole story has been very interesting. The book ends with Frank arriving in the United States with a one word chapter “Tis”. That was rather clever of him. In these last chapters, I see the continuous growth in Frank. He got his first pint with his uncle at the age of 16, got drunk, and hit his mother. I understand why he got mad at his mother, as they have gone through so much misery, but I didn’t think that it was necessary for that to happen. He questions his faith towards god too, and I thought that it was a time of realization for him. He realized that the real world is not that naïve and simple, where god can solve everything for you.
ReplyDeleteHe did some questionable things through the course of saving his fund to go to America such as writing threatening letters but I did not feel disgust or dislike while I was reading about those incidents. I guess after reading about Frank for so long, I feel like I know Frank enough to know why he is doing it and hence feel sympathy towards him. I was glad when Frank left for America. It felt like he would not be paralyzed like how some of his family and relatives were. It was a good ending.
I liked Angela's Ashes much better than The Dubliners. I thought that James joyce was a good writer, but his stories were very depressing. Though Angela's Ashes is sad as well, there comes hope at the end. Frank finally gets out of Ireland and gets to America, where he then becomes sucessful. I could understand why Frank would feel sad about leaving his home, even though it was awful. He had a life there, and his Mother is still there. I do not think I could ever go that far away from my mother forever without taking her with me.
ReplyDeleteI thought that the last couple chapters of the book ended quite suddenly compared to the rest of the book, but I still thought it was a good read. I was happy to find out that Frank has written two more books about the rest of his life. I will probably read them this summer. Overall I have learned a lot about Ireland and the living condition there.
Compared to The Dubliners, Angelas Ashes was an outstanding book. I was surprised about him getting drunk and physically harming his mother. It's hard to say but she deserved it. If you noticed after Frank did that she straightened out and acted like a mother. It's kinda sad that it took alcohol for Frank to stand up for himself. The only thing I didnt like was the ending. In that aspect it's the same as The Dubliners, crappy endings. I would've liked to have known how Frank did in America. You kn ow like where did the boat finally land, the sights he saw, the food he ate and all together just his first couple days in America. It's pretty pathetic that he talks about America throughout the whole book and doesn't even include America in the ending really.
ReplyDeleteFrank finally begins to feel like he is growing up and out of his desperate situation and at the ripe old age of fourteen he heads to the post office to get a job as a telegram boy. His exuberance is short lasted when he shows up for work a few days early and is turned away until Monday, all the while the other boys and even the two ladies that work there are picking on him for this dirty clothes. Over the weekend Aunt Aggie has a moment of generosity and buys Frank a new outfit for work and the ladies even give him slack for his new dress clothes. Upon earning his first pound he wants everyone to recognize him as a real man about town and realizes that he can begin saving for his escape to America. His experiences with the excitement with Theresa are very sad but hearing his description of the events I couldn’t help but laugh
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