Angela's Ashes Evolution

Angela’s Ashes is referred to as a “coming of age memoir” simply because the formation of Frank McCourt through each and every page. As he gets older, he begins to become wiser and understand the things around him-- as would most humans. Understanding the environment that surrounds one, discovering new things, and coming to terms with old things are all part of the process of the evolution of a person. The evolution of a person is how morals are developed, individual thoughts, and the one’s singular connection to the world around them. This transformation is kickstarted by all of things that are surrounding and is completed by who that person becomes. For McCourt, his evolution is solely based on the “teachers” that surround him-- society,

For McCourt, he is constantly put down and sought out to be stopped from attaining a better life than the one he has. For instance, “I’ll tell you what it is, she says. ‘Tis class distinction. They don’t want boys from lanes on the altar... ‘tis hard to hold on to Faith with the snobbery that’s in it.” (149) When attempting to get into a higher position of the Catholic Church, the door is, literally, slammed right in McCourt’s face. This serves as keeping McCourt down, and blatantly showing the intolerance the higher classes have of the lower classes. How this affected young McCourt is evident when he expressed that, “I’d like to be a Jesuit some day...who stick out their little fingers when they pick up their teacups.”(245) The class distinction pretty much demolishes McCourt’s hope of ever becoming something within that social ranking; from an early age he learns that no matter how hard he works, he will not be able to take that path in life. Another example is, “My mother is a beggar now and if...Jap.” (250) This is a prime example of how much society and its social classes affected the development of McCourt. Every example all had a part to play in the development of McCourt’s thoughts towards his own social standing, and the person he was forming into. Society and class were huge teachers when it came to educating Frank, they taught him to aspire for a better life, that America is where he could gain the opportunity to escape the lower class, and gave him motivation to succeed. Without these two, Frank might have not been driven towards creating a better life for