Angela’s Ashes is a depressing and sad story. The family in the story is faced with poverty, mind-numbing starvation, and devastating losses. However McCourt was able to make the story at times an uplifting story. McCourt was able to achieve this through his humorous, hopeful, and childlike tone. In Chapter one it states “When I look back on my childhood I wonder how I managed to survive at all. It was of course a miserable childhood: the happy childhood is hardly worth your while. Worse than ordinary miserable childhood is the miserable Irish childhood, and the worse yet is the miserable Irish Catholic childhood”. McCourt’s Angela’s ashes gives the reader a sense of impecuniousness and conflicts at times. However, the text becomes interesting and uplifting because it focuses on humor and hope. The story shows the reader how the determination of the family living in terrible conditions was able to overcome conflicts in order to make their lives better. Most of the time the story is depressing, but it’s certainly is not. In the beginning Frank was a child of innocence. Frank was describing his life events without bitterness, hatred, or blame. The Hardships the family faces are treated as if it was normal, despite these conflicts, most of the text is filled with hilarious quotes that distract the reader from the depressing side of the story. There are plenty of quotes from the story that make the Angela’s ashes not depressing but something different. For example Frank wonders “Why anyone would give money for his head” because his father’s head has …show more content…
However, thanks to McCourt’s childish tone, it helps to create a less tragic and cynical story than it really is. His tone helps to distract the reader from the bleak and horrid situations the family faces. I was defiantly distracted from the harsh reality of the story thanks to his tone, which made for an excellent