MAIN THEMES

Poverty and Class - McCourt does not hesitate to describe living conditions in detail. Readers can almost smell the stink from the lavatory, feel the bites of the fleas and lice, and hear the rats scurrying on the floor. McCourt focuses on the difficulties of growing up in such conditions, sinking deeper into poverty, and experiencing the shame connected with it. A long-established social hierarchy seems to prevent Frank and others like him from rising above their humble beginnings. Although Frank is clearly bright and willing to learn, doors slam in his face. The Church does not accept him as an altar boy or as a student, despite his teachers' support for his application.

Class consciousness extends even into religion. Tradition, background, and class rather than intelligence, education, and determination decide one's course of life. However, unlike most of the other residents in the lanes, Frank is unwilling to accept the destiny prescribed to him by the class system.

Education and Literature - Growing up in poverty as the son of an alcoholic father who repeatedly shatters all hope of a warm meal and a better future, Frank finds relief and a way out through reading and writing. Books open the world of history, culture, and literature to Frank, allowing him to escape from the dreary circumstance of his life into a world of imagination. And not only figuratively when he is in the hospital with typhoid, but literally as well. From the beginning his ability to read and later to write becomes a source of additional income, which he uses to save for fare to America, where he will become a teacher and ultimately a writer.

Guilt and Forgiveness - Frank grows up in Catholic Ireland and he has to go through the rites of passage prescribed by the Catholic faith: First Communion and Confirmation. Both rites are meant to welcome youngsters into the community of the church. An integral part is the confession of and repentance for sins. For adolescents the notion of sinfulness begins to focus on sexual transgression. Paradoxically, Catholicism instills the idea of the sinfulness of human sexuality at the same time as it offers confession as a way to relieve that guilt. The belief in a benevolent and merciful God encourages forgiveness and empathy.

Alcoholism - Malachy's drinking is a major source of the family's continuing poverty. He regularly spends his wages in the pub and loses his jobs because he fails to show up on time after a night of drinking. Being an addict, he disregards the repercussions his drinking has for his family. The problem was endemic in Ireland where drinking was an integral part of life, providing relief from hardship in a poor country. In fact, alcoholism is part of growing up, a rite of passage almost rivaling Confirmation. Drinking the first pint at age 16 turns a boy into a man. While criticizing his father's addiction and its devastating consequences, McCourt shows insight into the culture and circumstances that make drinking an acceptable vice and at the same time shows compassion for those too weak to resist.