Frank McCourt’s memoir, Angela’s Ashes, tells the story of his life, including his experiences of horrid poverty, mind-numbing starvation, and devastating loss. Frank is born into a poor, Irish family living in America. His mother, Angela, although she tries her hardest, has trouble supporting her family especially because Frank’s father puts his earnings towards drinks at the pub rather than to his family. As their situation continues to decline, his family eventually returns to Ireland where they would face additional starvation and loss. Even in such conditions Angela has more children, however, the majority of loss in the novel comes from the deaths of three of Frank’s siblings because they were not healthy and Angela did not have access to medication that could help them. Frank McCourt is known for his uplifting and triumphant memoir, despite the fact that it is a story of poverty and loss, because he focuses on hope and humor, does not pity himself, and stays motivated to achieve the life he wants for himself, inspiring others to do the same. …show more content…
Frank remains innocent and happy during his life despite the horrible conditions he lives in. Frank is constantly hopeful for his future including the hopes he holds for America and becoming a writer. Humor is also included in the novel in order to lift the tone. For instance, Frank’s home is flooded and when the family moves upstairs they named it Italy to make it less serious for the children where as it was truly because the family could not afford to fix such conditions on the first