Thanksgiving

I am thankful, for my parents, who despite their efforts make me very angry at times. They mean well, ecspecially with all this college stuff, but it's so stressful sometimes and I take my anger out at them. I feel pretty bad for doing this, but I am thankful for everything that they do for me, from taking me to see colleges far, far away, to just taking care of me. So now, I can only try to show some appreciation for everything that they have done for me. I am also thankful that I got into the college that was my first choice, this is great for not just me, but also for my parents who will no longer have to deal with my anger and frustration and will see the kindness they deserve.

Drive to Succeed

Drive to Succeed

Do you think that people who drive themselves out of poverty and into the world to work and try to provide for themselves and their family end up becoming more successful then people who inherit their money and place in the world? In my oppinion people like Frank McCourt who come out of poverty and are able to dream and achieve that dream are more driven to leave poverty because they have that to run from, they work and work because they dont want to return to where they once were. People who have never experienced poverty tend to take things for granted and sometimes chose that they like were they are and there isnt a point to work to better themselves or their familys. Poor people who manage to escape poverty seem to build momentum in their drive. Even Jeanette Walls's family is now doing well in the world because they do not want to go back to the way they once lived. Frank escapes with a dream of America and as we don't know what happens next in Angela's Ashes he seems now to be very, very successful due to his poor chldhood.

Memoir

I think that McCourt relied mostly on his childish views of how things were. He never onced said how awful his father was for spending needed money on alcohol, even though he has every right to. He has repeated his mothers words but never really formed an opinion of him himself since after all it was the father who told him storys of cuchalain by the fire and that is really how a child views a father or any family member with a problem, they seem to overlook their downfalls and never really put their suffering together with that person. He seems to show the guilt and confusion that chldren around Franks age really do experience and if you were to look back you would say, that was irrational and stupid, but Frank shows genuine guilt for his actions.

"Clohessy, do you know what you are an omadhaun. Do you know what an omadhaun is?
I don't sir.
It's the Irish. Clohessy, your native tongue, Clohessy. An omadhaun is a fool."(p.155)

All of Franks life, him and other boys his age are being put down and told they are fools useless.
Alcoholism is usually brought about by a feeling of uselessness and a lifetime of being put down by and authorative figure.
This seems to me like the older Irish generation fuels the younger Irish into becoming alcoholics like themselves and this vicous cycle is really the downfall of the Irish community.

Leaving Ireland

If Frank had stayed in Ireland do you think that things would have been okay, if he had became a mailman and provided for his family or would he have fallen into the alcoholism that took his father? In my opinion I think that Frank would have became sick of Limerkick and started drinking like Malachy, this is were you know he has been smart and taken steps to ensure a future that did not involve poverty. Even people like Aunt Aggie know this because they show resentment at the Frank because he has taken himself from a terrible and hopeless life in Limerick. I want to know if Frank knows about his family now and how they are and if he kept in touch with them as a young man finding his way in America.

superstition

Dobbins and his girlfriends pantyhouse represents a faith that the soldiers believed in. The religion that they all followed, that sometype of faith that may help them through the war. At first Dobbins says that the stockings remind him of home, the smell and feel but then his girlfriend breaks up with him and he still keeps the stockings because there was still a feeling of protection over evil. Dobbins survives the war even after tripping a land mine, but maybe things like stockings and superstition gave the soldiers something to live for, something to believe might be keeping them safe.

Mary Anne

The story about Mary Anne and Mark Fossy is extremly powerful in the same way I think the story about the patrol in the mountains is. It contains mystery and danger, but it is the kind that makes you want more, that you become addicted to. It is even described as a drug by O'Brien. I don't understand what it is in this young girl that falls in love with the danger of vietnam though. The men understand its horrors but Mary Anne says it's "Not bad". I believe it may be her opposite self, the person that is inside her that was never able to come out being a highschool cheerleader in a rural town. War must bring out sides of people that aren't present anywhere else. The stress and terror are beyond anything we can know as civilians and these factors brought out a person hidden deep inside Mary Anne.

Opera in the Mountains

This story is incredibly fascinating, in a horrifying way. With wars like vietnam, and any situation of extreme terror a certain mystery is felt about the situation, something beyond what humans normally feel and see. The mountan story about the troops who were sent there to record sound and report anything strange gives off this feeling, being far far away from home, in a strange jungle of death, these young men go crazy hearing an opera, and band playing right above them in the mountains. This shows what war does to people, it drives them away from reason and what they think is real and true. It brings them to the edge of the human mind and what it can contain. To me that is what this story conveys, the incredible capacity of fear and stress that the mind can contain.

Baby water buffalo

This scene was shocking, very in fact. It is a metaphor for Rat Kiley and his young self, and the unbelievable pain he is put through. Not just one shot to the head, or something to concentrate on, to heal, his wounds are a mess. The young water buffalo is like Rat because they are young, so many possibilities for a future but it is taken from them by incredible pain. The war has ruined Rat from what he could have been. He is physically, emotionally, and mentally broken. To display this he has to destroy the Buffalo beyond repair. Not just kill him which would have been simple and to the point, Rat's pain is neither of these, his hurt is complex and it will linger for years and years.

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