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In life people learn from their mistakes and sometimes, like Frank McCourt, from hard times that, while painful, can be of the greatest benefit from among their experiences. It shapes them into the people they are and brands them, leading them to be high achievers in life. Moreover, their achievements are more remarkable than those whose childhood were happy; they were marked by adversity and their drive to overcome and exceed expectations. A good life was not handed to them, but rather earned.
Frank McCourt in Angela's Ashes described the hard times and pain in his life, pain that no person should have had to endure. After losing his baby sister Margaret and twin brothers Eugene and Oliver, to disease and bad parenting, McCourt went through terrible times himself. Regullary subject to malnutrition and neglect, he came down with the typhoid fever, spending weeks in the hospital, and an unrecognized, persistent eye infection that came close to blinding him.
McCourt grew up learning his life's ugly lessons as a child. From his birth, McCourt was left in an environment in which he had to learn everything himself, the only thing being taught to him was his religion, which, as a result of its hypocrisy, he would reject. Thus, it may be reasonable to say that McCourt mentally matured faster than most boys his age, eventually becoming the real male figure in the family, his alcoholic father being hopelessly irresponsible. As he grew older he learned to compensate, to help himself and his family with his father gone to England to work and drink up his earnings.
When McCourt was eleven years of age, he had already started to earn money by reading to Mr. Timoney and later helping Mr. Hannon delivering coal. This was how McCourt learned to pursue his life's intentions, through hard work (and an occasional act of deviousness). McCourt as a child that he could only depend on himself, when denied acceptance to a secondary school and by being denied acceptance as an altar boy, both by his church. His mother then gave him some wise words when she said,
You are to never let anyone slam the door in your face again. Do you hear me?
From that point on in McCourt's life, he never forgot those words. It was through this he had come to realize that the one thing being offered him as being an aid and a solace, his religion, that which had rejected him not once, but twice, had no real intent in its mission to help the poor like him and he was on his own.
McCandless was not the 'sit down and take it in stride' kind of person. If he saw something wrong, something he did not agree with, he would try to fix it, or help in any way that he could. He was inherently compassionate, a man of his principles; owned by the rules that he governed himself with. It is apparent that he had always been an idealistic dreamer, and had always believed himself capable of much, because as his friend shared: “He'd say 'Come on,...
Making the most out of life is hard, especially life as a poor child in Ireland would have kept most people from reaching their goals in life but not for Frank McCourt, did not play into the stereotypes of many poor Irish people of that time. In the Memoir Angela’s Ashes written by Frank McCourt Frank has to persevere through much adversity in his not so desirable life as a poor Irish boy with a drunk for a father who could not provide for Frank and his family. Frank must get a job at a young age in order to bring in the money that his father Malachy drinks away, when he finally has money and moves to America, and when he eventually becomes a teacher even with all of his bad experiences as a child in school.
Based on these writings and events in this chapter, what convinced McCandless that it was time to return to civilization? What did he learn from his time “in the wild”? Support your answer with specific details.
After reading Angela’s Ashes by Frank McCourt and The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls, I observed that both these texts share a few similarities in the way the authors portray the difficulties their characters have to face, in order to get to where they are now. After researching a few rags to riches stories and using Slumdog Millionaire and The Pursuit of Happyness as my primary sources, I found out that successful individuals from harsh backgrounds shared similar complications, yet they had the will and perseverance to get to where they are now. They faced difficulties such as dealing with poverty and hardships of everyday life, struggling to overcome the effects of addiction and abuse. They found ways to overcome these difficulties through things like having some form of education, and utilizing their knowledge, to manipulate opportunities to their advantage in order to bring about success.
Frank McCourt was born in depression-era Brooklyn and remained there until the age of four when he left with his family to his native country, Ireland. He came face too face with many hardships but managed to make it back to New York city at age nineteen. Upon his arrival Frank worked as a high school English teacher for forty-five years. After retiring from teaching, Frank, along with his brother, Malachy, performed a two man show called “A couple of Blaguards.” Frank won the Pulitzer Prize for his book Angela’s Ashes in 1997.
Chris McCandless had a reputation for being overly ambitious since grade school. His teachers noticed at young age he was abnormally strong-willed which he coupled with intense idealism and strong physical endurance. In high school, Chris served as the captain of his cross country team asking them to treat each race as a spiritual experience. After graduating high school Chris continued on to college where he would graduate with a bachelor’s degree, doub...
Chris McCandless, a young man with a self reliant, entrepreneurial spirit, was born in El Segundo, California, moved at age 8 with his parents across country to Virginia, and then later learned at 18 years of age of his father’s first family and six other half siblings. He discovered his father was raising another family at the same time, unknown to anyone, and cuts off any communication with his parents. Chris McCandless’ attitude of self reliance turned out to be his undoing. In fact most of his life he seems to show arrogance and examples of “winging it”, creating a domino effect resulting in his death - simply from not wanting to be advised. He was book smart, but chose not to take good advice, chose not to listen to others.
To begin with, McCandless’s decision to walk into the wild was acceptable because he wanted to become an inspiration and an individual. Emerson states, “There is a time in every man’s education when he arrives at the conviction that envy is ignorance: that imitation is suicide” (Emerson). Chris McCandless left to shun the conformist society that he could feel changing him. Chris wanted the chains that bound him to be broken. Society takes the individual and locks it up and destroys it. According to Emerson, “It is easy in the world to live after the world’s opinion: it is easy to in solitude to live after our own: but the great man is he who in the midst of the crow keeps with perfect sweetness the independence of solitude” (Emerson). McCandless left his materialistic family to be his own person ad to be unique. The world’s opinion does not make the man wh...
Christopher Johnson McCandless is a respectable man in so many ways but, yet such a foolish man in many others. Chris McCandless possessed a seemingly ever-lasting bravery that constantly shined through his unique and matchless character. He was very righteous in himself to the point in which he kept himself from any sin or evil, committing his life to what seemed like an idea of celibacy, not just in refraining from any desire of flesh but also in all lusts of life with his diligent power of will that constantly shined through his exterior. Onto the contrary of his good characteristics, McCandless remained to be very foolish in his decisions and under takings, whether it be by his arrogance of sheer narrow mindedness. Over all he was a boy of many talents and knowledge, with a bright soul and good heart but, still somewhere in the depths of his thoughts he lacked something that made him think things through, and in this his foolishness he would lose his life.
Angela’s Ashes - Frank McCourt's Love/Hate Relationship with his Father. Angela’s Ashes is a memoir of Frank McCourt’s childhood and the difficulties he faced whilst growing up. His family were very poor and moved from America to Limerick to try and live an easier life. Frank’s father was constantly out of a job and never had enough money to support his family and friends.
To him, all those people, like Franz, Westerberg, and even Jim Gallien, all seemed like his family. Some of them gave him a place to crash for the night, gave him a job, and even assisted him on his journey, like giving him a ride. McCandless being nice and appreciative to all those people who have helped him throughout his journey shows how “saintly” he can be. Works Cited Into the Wild. Dir.
... By the time he realized he, in fact, was able to forgive his parents and desired to have a family, it was too late. McCandless had become eternally fettered to his fancied freedom.
In Frank McCourt’s “Angela’s Ashes”, the McCourts take the decision of leaving North America and returning to their homeland in Ireland. This decision might be contradictory in certain terms and positive in others. Inquiring about the historical context of the country they were leaving behind and the one they were returning to, did the McCourts decide correctly?
In the life of McCandless, he went to college, and graduated with a GPA of 3.72. He was given a large amount of cash for college purposes, and he donated that. He had an offer of a new car for himself from his parents. He had a clear path for himself that was set by his lo...
People don't truly accept life for what it is until they've actually tasted adversity and went through those misfortunes and suffering. We are put through many hardships in life, and we learn to understand and deal with those issues along the way. We find that life isn't just about finding one's self, but about creating and learning from our experiences and background. Adversity shapes what we are and who we become as individuals. Yann Martel's Life of Pi shows us that adverse situations help shape a person's identity and play a significant role in one's lief by determining one's capabilities and potential, shaping one's beliefs and values, and defining the importance and meaning of one's self.