Seen through the eyes of a developing Frank McCourt, his audience is toured from the shambled lanes of Ireland to the promising shores of America. By implementing literary strategies, McCourt forces his readers to overcome the same adversities and challenges he had to cope with as an adolescent, including alcoholism, death and unimaginable poverty. While his story is common among immigrants to America, he uniquely displays unparalleled strength and resilience.
One of the most prevalent themes throughout this story is that of addiction. Frank’s father left the family in pieces as he continuously spent all his earnings on alcohol. He, like many other Irish fathers at the time, could never manage to hold a job do to “the drink”. These drinking binges become a commonality in the family’s life. Not only do they cause emotional despair, but they leave the family without the means to properly feed, clothe, and shelter itself. In response to this, the dream of a better life and better food is always on Francis’ mind. While his father can’t set down the glass, Francis can’t shake this earning for a better future.
Francis is not the only one addicted to the notion of a different life. Literary subtleties depict old fantasies within Angela’s head. Dancing is a prime example. One of the reasons she still holds onto her trunk containing her red dancing dress is it’s all she has left, that and her Woodbine cigarettes. Cigarettes generally have a symbolic meaning behind them.  In Angela’s case, they represent her broken dreams. Limerick itself is described as “ashy and grey”, giving it a melancholy connotation. When she stares deeply into the fireplace, smoking cigarettes with friends, she is reminiscing on different aspects of her life. Her past is the nicotine she relies on for a quick fix.
In many ways his father shows the audience the importance of parental leadership. One could hypothesize he left more of an impact on Frank than the mother, which is interesting since the title is called “Angela’s Ashes”. While his father is fragmenting the family both monetarily and emotionally, there remains an awkward love-hate relationship. It is the father who tells stories of the whimsical Cuchulain. He is the one who sings songs and dances around the house, making a fool of himself to make everyone laugh. Many would consider this fatherly involvement good parenting, which makes the McCourt’s father-son relationship so strange.
This is a problem for many families, especially those living in urban settings. It becomes hard for a mother to dig her family out of a poverty cycle when she is juggling earning money and raising children at the same time. Without proper spousal support, it only adds to the difficulties. Though having a patriarchal figure has shown to have a positive impact on youths’ lives, there are certainly ways to bypass this. Frank’s arrival in America exemplifies this. He had a set vision of where he wanted to be and made it happen, with or without parental guidance.
Death is another theme which surrounds the McCourt’s lives. Because it is so prevalent throughout the narrative Frank, as well as the reader, becomes quasi-numb to its presence. When Mickey’s sister dies of consumption Frank admits, “There’s nothing like a wake for having a good time” (171), referring to the food present at the event. Most of the people in Limerick take on this attitude as a coping mechanism.
Tuberculosis, referred to as “Consumption” by Frank, is itself a literary symbol. By calling it Consumption, a figurative twist is added. The disease is, in effect, consuming Limerick altogether. People die everywhere from it, due mostly to unsanitary conditions. This slang term gives the disease a more casual connotation to it, displaying the commonality of it in their lives. Slang desensitizes the true meaning and severity of the disease.
While his the father may blame sickness on the “curse of the River Shannon”, the reality is much darker. Without proper nutrition and sanitation people fall ill everywhere. Alcoholic fathers only make the situation worse. One of the starkest images is after Eugene’s death. Francis describes his father with the newly bought coffin, “They’re not talking but staring straight ahead and their black pints are resting on a small white coffin on the seat between them” (86). This vivid description contrasts the sinful and pure nature of the two characters.
Much of Francis’ struggles with morality depict the quality of ethos. He wrestles with his morals by doing things he knows he shouldn’t. Mild theft, which generally includes things such as apples and fish and chips, is pretty common with him but he does it to feed his family. This doesn’t bother him as much as his affair with Theresa. In Francis’ eyes, she’s burning in hell because she died without being in a state of grace. For days he wandered in sorrow and guilt until finally coming into contact with a priest who forgave him. This shows how the church has a massive influence on those in the community and how this influence can be used for good.
With so much of Limerick subjected to unimaginable poverty, a darker theme is prevalent. Some of the only crutches the people of Ireland could rely on were the church and nationalism. On the first few pages, Frank describes the church as “…our refuge, our strength, our only dry place” but he concludes with, “Limerick gained a reputation for piety, but we knew it was only the rain” (12). Gradually through self-experience, the abuses and corruptions of the Catholic Church are exposed to Francis as he starts to think for himself.
The angel on the seventh step is someone who Francis relies on for support throughout his early years. It’s someone who he can talk to and who understands his problems. However it also represents his devotion to the church. As he gets older his perspective changes, “There are no stairs in this house and that means no angel on the seventh step. But I’m twelve going on thirteen and I might be too old for angels” (278). This shows his diversion away from the church and a more realistic view of the world, creating a more focused mindset.
Too often his family was turned away when they asked for assistance. The Church denied Francis the job of altar boy even after weeks of preparation. Angela finally voices her frustration, “Oh no they want the nice boys with hair oil and new shows that have fathers with suits and ties and steady jobs. That’s what it is and tis’ hard to hold onto the Faith with the snobbery that’s in it” (149). The second instance this happens is when Francis tries to apply to the school of Christian Brothers and they reject him. Angela once again warns Francis, “That’s the second time a door was slammed in your face by the church...You are never to let anybody slam the door in your face again” (289). These instances lead to Frank diverging away from a pious lifestyle and instead believing in the inner self.
Along with a religious upbringing, nationalistic sentiment is instilled into the children’s brains.  On his drunken rampages though the night, the father would line all the kids up and make them promise to die for Ireland. Patriotism becomes something the people can fight for and believe in. Francis condenses these feelings into a sage remark, “The master says it’s a glorious thing to die for the Faith and Dad says it’s a glorious thing to die for Ireland and I wonder if there’s anyone in the world who would like us to live” (113). This creates a severe divide between the Northern and Southern parts of Ireland to which Francis hints at. The priests would warn the boys of the “doomed Protestant girls”, while the masters reinforced they should hate Cromwell and all of England.
Though this is a story of extreme adversity, underlying themes leak through that reveal deeper meanings to the audience. It describes the effects of alcoholism on a family and how one can be trapped in a “poverty cycle”. It also exposes the corruptions and true two-faced nature of the Catholic Church; how they manipulate those in desperate situations to their benefit while, at the same time, possess the capacity to heal and comfort. By writing from a child’s perspective, it appeals to pathos in that it forms an emotional bond with the reader. Francis, who subtly changes his name to Frank as he matures, faces many tough choices that deal with morals such as stealing apples and sleeping with Theresa. These appeal to Ethos as they relate to ethics and morality. However, even with all of the hardship and loss he endured, Frank McCourt leaves the reader with a sense of hope and awareness as he catches his first glimpse of the American shore.