There are obvious similarities between these to books. The themes all have to do with the downsides of Ireland. Already in just the first two chapters we see themes of alcoholism. Frank's father is an alcoholic. He sends the families money for food on his binge drinking but it is his only way to cope with them pain of his miserable life. There is also a theme of poverty. Frank and his family do not have enough money for food. The money that they did have the parents spent on cigarettes and alcohol. The family sleeps on the floor, they finally got one mattress that the whole family could share. It ended up having fleas on it though. Both books are very similar with these reoccurring themes.
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Chelsey Cresap week 5
Even though we have only read the first two chapters of "Angela's Ashes" I can honestly say I enjoy it much more than "The Dubliners." The Dubliners was full of hidden meanings and told stories through metaphors and similes. Joyce went about his stories n a round about way, he never got straight to the point. "Angela's Ashes" s much more entertaining. It is easy o follow and understand. It is more of what I am used to.
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This week we started reading "Angela's Ashes". I can already tell that I am going to enjoy this book much more then "The Dubliners". I thought "The Dubliners" was interesting but it was difficult to read and also very confusing most of the time. With Angela's Ashes I don't read a page or two and have to go back and re-read i because I could not remember one thing I read. I have really have enjoyed the humor in Angela's Ashes as well. Some of the things that Joyce had alluded to in "The Dubliners" has been a reoccurring theme in "Angela's Ashes". Things such as the alcoholism and the poverty that is found in Ireland at the time. For the first week we had to read the first two chapters. After the first two chapters I was already perturbed by the father. I could not believe that he could go and spend all his money on alcohol when his kids are at home starving. I also found it really interesting that the mother was fine with sending her kids out to play alone in new york city and she would get mad at them for coming back to early. In some ways I feel bad for the mother but in some respects I can't. Some of the things she does makes me think that she's not much better then the father. One of the other nice things about this book is the comic relief occasionally even though it is quite depressing.
ReplyDeleteJenn Phillips