Angela's Ashes

Nonfiction | Autobiography / Memoir | Adult | Published in 1996

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Summary

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapters 1-3

Chapters 4-6

Chapters 7-9

Chapters 10-11

Chapters 12-13

Chapters 14-15

Chapters 16-19

Key Figures

Themes

Index of Terms

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

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Chapters 10-11Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapter 10 Summary

Angela is sick and delirious, and she calls out for lemonade. In her illness, she has eschewed cigarettes, which Frank finds disconcerting. On his way to O’Connell’s shop to beg for bread, Frank passes by a pub and notices that a delivery has arrived that includes some lemonade. He steals some of it to satisfy Angela’s craving and thirst. As he arrives at O’Connell’s, there is a fresh delivery of bread that Frank also steals, promising to make up for the action by revealing it during confession.

With Angela still severely ill, Frank and his brothers decide to beg at the homes of rich people. They have no success in receiving charity, so they decide to steal whenever they can, including as much coal as they can stuff into the pram they have brought Alphie along in. Finally, Guard Dennehey learns of the situation and arrives at the McCourt home, where he is shocked by the conditions he discovers.

Angela is taken to the hospital with pneumonia, and the boys go to Aunt Aggie’s, where they will stay until Angela recovers. The time spent at Aunt Aggie’s house is horrendous for the boys. Aggie is angry, resentful, and intolerably cruel to the boys, quick to hurl insults at Frank anytime she can. At long last, Malachy reappears just in time for Angela’s discharge from the hospital. He tells the boys and Angela that he must return to Coventry and promises to send money. Predictably, he does not. After several weeks of waiting, Frank sees Angela outside the Redemptorist church begging for food and feels ashamed that his mother is a beggar.

Chapter 11 Summary

To make soccer uniforms for a team he and Billy are piecing together, Frank raids “the trunk,” which is a collection of artifacts and important documents that Angela keeps. Frank cuts seven red hearts out of an old dress of Angela’s, and the team becomes “The Red Hearts of Limerick” (252). Frank also reads his parents’ marriage certificate and realizes that the dates do not align with his birth date. Frank seeks the counsel of Mikey Molloy, who tells him that he is a “bastard” (i.e., conceived out of wedlock) and explains the religious consequences of being such. The soccer club challenges another group to a match, and Frank scores the winning goal in the scrimmage—something he is certain that he will remember for the rest of his life.

Frank gets a one-off job helping a man named Mr. Hannon deliver coal, as Mr. Hannon’s legs have become so sore that he can no longer do it himself. Frank earns a shilling for the work, which turns into a part-time job. Frank learns how to drive the horse, and one Thursday, Mr. Hannon picks up Frank at school with the horse and the float and allows Frank to hop up and take the reins. Frank shouts out to the horse the commands he learned from Mr. Hannon—“G’up ower that” (263)—making all his schoolmates envious. It is the best day of Frank’s life to this point.

Frank’s eyes become progressively worse, and Angela decides that the money he is bringing in is not worth the risk of blindness, so she tells him the job with Mr. Hannon is over. Simultaneously, Mr. Hannon’s legs become so bad that he is taken to the hospital as a precautionary measure against gangrene. The chapter concludes with a heartfelt discussion between Mrs. Hannon and Frank, during which Mrs. Hannon tells Frank that her husband regards Frank as the son he never had.

Chapters 10-11 Analysis

Without the means to secure food the ethical way, Frank steals to survive. He is on the cusp of puberty in this section, and because his father is absent, Frank feels a heightened sense of obligation. When his mother is ill and crying out for lemonade, Frank sees it as an imperative. He knows stealing is wrong, but he can justify it if it brings relief to his mother. He also justifies it by promising to confess the sin in confession, again demonstrating that Frank understands his faith to a large extent as a system by which he can negotiate and make exchanges for what he wants. Frank’s stealing in this section is just the beginning of what will become a habit, but he does not steal for the thrill of it; rather, he continues to steal as a means of survival.

Frank also secures odd jobs and part-time work to help himself and his family. The job with Mr. Hannon, in which he helps the man deliver coal by horse-drawn flats, is demanding work. Mr. Hannon, like many of the working class, is physically beaten down. His legs are constantly sore, and his wife must bandage them every day. Despite his suffering, he cannot retire; working-class men in Limerick do not have this luxury. Instead, they work until they can no longer physically do the job.

Like Mr. Timoney earlier, Mr. Hannon shows Frank what dignity is by example. His manner is gentle, and he teaches Frank and treats him with respect, giving him responsibility that makes Frank feel proud. Mr. Hannon recognizes a strong character in the boy and a desire to fill his absent father’s shoes. Hannon even becomes a father figure himself, with Mrs. Hannon telling Angela that her husband saw Frank as a son. It is a subtle but heartwarming story in stark contrast to the otherwise gloomy and ugly world the book portrays.