Inglese 2 - il film "Angela's ashes"

• POINT OF RESISTANCE, SITES OF STRUGGLE, AND CONFLICTS IN

RELATION TO SUBORDINATION:

Several major conflicts of the movie involve struggles between the classes. Many also

occur within the main character Frank, as he struggles to identify with his perception of how life

should be lived and the reality of how he is currently living it.

After many and many hopes, promises and consequent delusions created by his irresponsible

father, Frank, although is only a young child, decided that is coming the time to do something for

his life, his family: he realizes he has to go to work to help the rest of the family doing the worst

job he finds. He becomes the helper of a coalman. Unfortunately he has to give up his job

because of a bad conjunctivitis provoked by coal dust. He finally found a new job: he was a

mailman. He has the chance to meet the money lander of the village that gave him the task to

write threatening letters to those who still haven't paid their debts.

The relationship of power displayed through the interactions between Angela, her family,

and between other characters in the movie may be explained in terms of class hierarchy. The

class hierarchy in Ireland in this time period was characterized by a contrast between the poor,

the rich, and at the top Church priests, brothers, sisters, and nuns. As Angela´s family was poor,

it was often subject to the whims of those in power or who had money. They are constantly

struggling to survive with resources they don´t have--money, food, or adequate housing. In order

to provide, Angela must sacrifice what Frank considers her human dignity; she begs for scraps

from the Church after meals and sleeps with Laman Griffin, her cousin for a place to stay.

The first situation is the worst of all,decayed by his husband that due to his pride, couldn't

never ask something in order to be helped. So Angela,frustrated, has to beg for food and other

needs in an international Roman Catholic Roman Catholic Roman Catholic Roman Catholic

voluntary organization (The St Vincent de Paul Society) that has the role to help poor by

providing concrete assistance to anyone in need. But the way they treat her is inadmissible.

Being an association managed by wealthy people, they didn't really care about the others and

their needs. They show an evident racism towards who is not from there: this is what happens to

Angela when she has to say that her husband, which comes from the North, went to London to

find a job, but he didn't send any money back.

The second situation is a consequence of the continous needs to change house due to the

absence of money to pay the rent. This big family does not really have a home, even if this

appears to be the most important place for them. The first one they lived was maybe the best they

had, but they had to leave because they could not afford it. New York was too expensive.

They had to move to Ireland and Angela decided to ask her family to help them find a place

where they could stay. Her mother and her sister did not seem to like her husband and her family

at all. Angela's mother found a small room for them but the first night they had been woken up

by the fleas. In that same room Oliver and Eugene died because of the bad conditions of their

health. The family has to move again. The neighbourhood looks like it's abandoned despite the

amount of people that live there. It's squalid, it doesn't have road surface pavement, it's dirty, full

of rain water everywhere. This is why they had to move upstairs. Since Malachy did not have a

great spirit of adaptation and he could not find a job, the family had to move once again.

After Angela and Malachy's argument, he left to go to London. The woman with his children

went to his uncle's house provided that she would have been his "servant" and "partner". Even if

this house seems to be better than the others, it is nothing compared to those that Frank had the

priviledge to visit, like the local money lander's house and the girl's he felt in love with. This way

of showing great differences between Riches and Poors let us realize that the social gap between

classes has always been really harsh.

In these two situations the provider of whatever resource that Angela needs has the power

to subjugate or subordinate her in order to help her sons. She is the character that must struggle

to have a better life.

Also present but more obscure might be the relationship of power between Catholics and

Protestants in the movie. Between the two social states there is no general hierarchy: being

Catholic or Protestant does not place one in better social circumstances than if one were the

other. However, in Ireland it does, depending on where one lives. In Frank´s case, he must deal

with the "lowly" occupation of delivering protestant newspapers, a burden for him, since he is

Catholic. In General, Southern Ireland, where the movie takes places, is predominantly Catholic;

thus giving Catholics better social standing, and placing Protestants under relative class

subordination.

Besides class conflicts that Frank may or may not be aware of, he clearly disagrees with the

actions his mother takes in order for them to have a home and food. He feels ashamed, and thinks

that it is undignified to beg for scraps from the Church or sleep with Laman Griffin to have a

house. Being poor he sees no other way himself to provide until he can begin working.

• CONTEXT OF DIFFERENCE AND POINT OF VIEW AHD HOW THEY

CHALLENGE IDENTITY:

The main contexts of difference in the movie come from Angela´s point of view and the

point of view of both Frank the protagonist and narrator. Viewers may derive the context of the

characters´ actions through an examination of what events they focus on in telling their story and

how they react to them.

In the movie Frank often struggles with the decisions his mother makes in order to

provide for their family. His struggle to reconcile her actions with his sense of dignity challenges

the identity he thinks his mothers should have in contrast to the one he perceives of her, and it

also challenges his own identity and how he views shame. In class he feels ashamed for his lack

of adequate clothing and his classmates make fun of him for that, immediately excluding him

from friend groups. Along with this he feels ashamed that his father is a drunk and "drinks the

dole," leaving the family constantly hungry. While Frank struggles to be accepted in class, the

hardship which surrounds him makes him acutely aware of the needs of his family. His father

eventually leaves, but even before this Frank has had to become a father figure for his younger

brother. Eventually he takes on the role of the family patriarch and begins working to help his

family. He constantly struggles with shame throughout the movie, and until he frees himself

through confession, he is unable to leave his family and go back to America where he thinks life

will be easier.

Viewers can sympathize both with Angela and Frank as they try to live under difficult

circumstances. The constant struggle forms Frank into a compassionate person as he eventually

understands his mother and the decisions she made.

Another division of thought can be seen represented by the behavior of 2 different

characters: Angela’s husband, Frank, and her mother. They represent 2 different entities and

even if they belong to the same country, Angela's mother (a widow) and sister refused to help her

because they disapproved of her husband, as he was not from Limerick but “from the North”.

He’s not accepted also because he’s unable to find and keep a real job.

He should represent the patriarch of the family, the one that should provide food and a good

place to stay for his family is the character that, in this movie, does not show any sense of

adaptation because of his proudness. He's a squanderer, he wastes all his money for the beer and

doesn't care if his sons are starving. Even when we think he has got himself sorted out going to

London to get a job, he's not going to keep his promise and he won't send any money.

The contrast between Malachy,Angela and Frank too could consider as raised from

different points of views: Frank,Angela's husband is her "antagonist". While she tries with all her

strenght to improve the situation, Malachy seems not to understand her demands. He does not

understand what's overriding. He looks like a yob, even if we believe he does that just because

of a question of proud. He escapes problems rather than confront or solve them. Frank, despite

his young age, decides to take it upon himself and look for a job in order to help his family.

• HOW THE AWARENESS OF SIGNIFYNG PRACTICES HELP EXPLAIN

IDENTITY AND REPRESENTATION:

Some signifying practices present in the movie are the conjugation of beggars around the

church to receive the scraps of whatever the priests have eaten, when Frank has his first pint,

when he goes into confession, and when he throws the debter´s ledger into the river Shannon.

Geographical difference can also be reflected on these religious believes. In addition to

Catholicism, the people of Limerick exhibit a narrow provincialism, in which Protestants and

anyone who comes from the north of Ireland are despised, and an Irish nationalism that is fueled

by hate of the English. Frank’s family never showed any interest towards religion and this is

something that really bothers Angela’s mother. She can not believe those kids were grown up

without knowing God.

The awareness of these practices often helps explain identity and representation in the

movie. The conjugation of scrap beggars outside the church is a practice which represents the

relationship of power and subordination in Irish society as well as being ironic. The clergy,

members of a church which published the beatitudes, the bible, and Jesus´ words of compassion,

are relatively wealthy. They can afford to eat their fill and give whatever is left to the poor, those

who do not have enough to eat. It is a symbol of the relationship the church has over all the

people, because they also control the system of education and define social norms.

Frank´s first pint is also a practice and symbol for his identity and also the identity of the

Irish working class. The class is represented constantly as a struggling group of people, working

long hours in difficult, dirty, and dangerous conditions for low pay, and what unifies them and

gives them vigor at the end of the day is a pint at the bar. After Frank´s first day of work in the

coal mines, he drinks his first pint and becomes drunk. This represents Frank´s step into his

father´s role as father figure of the family, sacrificing his safety and well-being to provide for his

family better means. The event also represents Frank´s separation from his father as well, since

he chooses after that night to never be like his father and drink away the resources of his family.

It is a turning point in the stor