41 pages 1 hour read

Frank McCourt

Angela's Ashes

Nonfiction | Autobiography / Memoir | Adult | Published in 1996

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Important Quotes

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“My mother’s troubles began the night she was born.”


(Chapter 1, Page 13)

Part of Frank’s coming-of-age story involves learning to recognize his own agency and working toward a better life. Angela, however, seems doomed from birth: She can never seem to break free from the cycle of failure that defines her life.

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“Why don’t you go to America where there’s room for all sorts of uselessness?”


(Chapter 1, Page 15)

There is an abundance of ethnocentrism in Limerick; this example comes from Angela’s mother. Grandma tends to view anyone not properly Irish, meaning Catholic, as lesser, and this includes Americans. Unlike Malachy and (later) Frank, she does not idealize America.

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“Ya father? Well, ya know, he’s got the problem, the Irish thing.”


(Chapter 1, Page 32)

An Italian shop owner speaks this line. His description of Malachy’s “problem” (i.e., drinking) as “the Irish thing” hints at the stereotype that Irish people are alcoholics and demonstrates how many Americans perceived Irish immigrants in the early 20th century.

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By Frank McCourt

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Teacher Man

Frank McCourt

Teacher Man

Frank McCourt