Independent Reading Log #9

12/9/12

Angela’s Ashes by Frank McCourt

Pages 98-118

Summary of what I read: In this passage it is Christmas time. The McCourt family has yet again moved and now live in a big house. They like this house except for it is right at the end of a long line of houses so it is right next to the outhouse that everyone uses. It gets really smelly and they find out that the house leaks. Because of the leaking the family moves upstairs and they end up living up there until the downstairs is no longer flooded. They call it "Italy." Even though it is Christmas time Malachy has no job which means the family has no money. They end up having to eat a pig’s head instead of a ham. Shortly after Christmas Angela has another baby. It is another boy and they name it Michael.

Important quote from the text: “Women stand with their arms folded, chatting. They don’t sit because all they do is stay at home, take care of the children, clean the house and cook a bit and the men need the chairs. The men sit because they’re worn out from walking to the Labour Exchange every morning to sign for the dole, discussing the world’s problems and wondering what to do with the rest of the day” (McCourt 107). I think that this is an important quote because it describes perfectly how unappreciated women were back then. This is said by the child Francis, and even he realizes it. All of the mothers work at home all day doing their best to make up for and create what the father can’t provide. The men can’t find jobs and when they do many of them just drink their profits away and leave their wife at home to figure out how to feed and clothe their children. Many of the men don’t seem to care or even realize how much the women do.

Connections to the text: I connected this text to the lives of some families living in this day in age. Right now we are in a recession and many people are having a hard time finding a job. Though they have a hard time finding a job many still find the money to spend on things that they do not really need such as alcohol, gambling, junk food and many other things. Many times they put these things that they consider their needs in front of what their family actually really needs.