Why Is Angela's Ashes Unreliable?

Throughout our lives, we explore and delve into the most intricate components of our identity and the world that surrounds us; however, is our perception of such events completely accurate and the same to that of other people? Good morning people of the literary conference. Today, I will pose a question; a question that will arguably force you to reconsider the accuracy and authenticity of life writing. Have you ever once read an autobiographical text and thought that it is simply too far fetched? Are there certain elements of the author’s writing that can be perceived as unreliable? Well, this couldn’t be more true than in Frank McCourt's famously renowned novel, Angela’s Ashes. Through certain manipulative techniques such as the ‘unreliable

As such, McCourt has successfully utilized this process in Angela’s Ashes in the likes of his childhood memories. Towards the end of the novel, McCourt describes his first sexual experience as a teenager quite vividly; almost too vividly. “I’m crying for I don’t know what’s happening to me if I’m killing myself catching the consumption from her mouth I’m riding to heaven I’m falling off a cliff and if this is a sin I don’t give a fiddler’s fart”. Well, as a 17 year old, I can certainly assure you that I would not have such intricately devised thoughts circling my mind during intercourse. It is very likely that McCourt did not either, and solidifies that he has used a refracted adult lens to reinvent this experience - unless he was exceedingly mature for his age, which I highly doubt. What furthers this concept is McCourt’s view of the Catholic Church as a child, saying that “Outside the Catholic Church there is no salvation. Outside the Catholic Church there is nothing but doom.” For one, Frank would only have been twelve years old at this point in the novel; and, to have this opinion would require a discerning understanding of the Church. No reasonably minded child would so much as know the outer layers of religion, so I don’t see why McCourt is an exception. Rather, it would have been specific experiences Frank had over time that equated to such an ideological view. For instance, being rejected as an altar boy may have been the basis of this opinion; that this fuelled his hatred for the church. As this continued to manifest, his adult self then implemented this into every event in the novel that related to Catholic religion. So, what does this mean? Well, it means that certain retellings involving the church, his sexual experiences, or anything for that matter, is potentially false and presents the