Question 5:What hardships do the characters endure as they make a new life?

Page Number: 41

Quote: “The garbage bins by the kitchen are overflowing and I don’t know how I’m going to find a small piece of paper in all that waste, coffee grounds, bits of toast, fish bones, eggshells, grapefruit skins. I’m on my knees poking and separating with a fork from the kitchen where the Puerto Ricans are singing and laughing and banging on pot and that makes me wonder what I’m doing on my knees.”

Said By: Frank McCourt

Explanation of Quote: This quote occurs in the storyline where Frank is working at the Biltmore Hotel as a lobby cleaning lackey, and he has cleaned up after a few college students. As it turns out, one of the college boys wrote his phone number on a coffee stained napkin, and gave it to a girl. Frank threw out the napkin not noticing the phone number and its importance. Sometime later, the girl who the napkin was given to notices that the napkin it gone. She cries to the maitre d’ and tells him that her napkin is missing. The maitre d’ suspects that Frank had thrown it away. He beacons for Frank, and tells him the predicament. He ask Frank whether or not he threw it away. Franks says he did. The maitre d’ orders frank to search the trash bins for it. When he is searching the trash bins for the napkin, he thinks to himself the quote above.

Response: The quote above is significant for several reasons. One of these reason is, that this quote is just a taste of how bad his job is at the Biltmore Hotel. Frank is degraded to cleaning up people garbage, disposing of it, and then searching through the trash disposal for a single, insignificant napkin. This is an example of all the horrid careers in America. He has struggled to get a decent job. This is most certainly not a decent job if it involves searching through the garbage.

Character Judgment: I feel for Frank because he has had the degrading, horrid jobs. But, to me his situation is very understandable. He is a nineteen year old man, who doesn’t have a High School education, let alone a college degree. But, it is not just Frank McCourt’s fault. His family from the begging wasn’t wealthy and he wealthier you are, the better the education you can get. So, considering Frank came from poverty, and couldn’t even afford to go to high school, his situation is very understandable .

Question: Do you think that education in America should be free, and it be mandatory for a child to graduate High School? If not or so, why?


Question 3: What was the life/role of the characters in their home country?

Quote: “Jesus, is that you, Frankie McCourt?”

Page Number: 106

Said By: Frank McCourt

Explanation: This quote was though by Frank McCourt. He though to himself that people would admire him wearing his G.I. uniform, and walking down the street. He though someone would say, “Jesus, is that you, Frankie McCourt?”, and then they would realize that it wasn’t a famed American hero they could all admire in the street, not, it taws just Frankie McCourt. This is the scenario he was thinking in when he though the quote listed above.

Response: This quote, or thought, is significant because Frank McCourt implies that from his precious living experience in Limerick Ireland, he was not a glamorous citizen. The novel never actually said specifically was he did previous to his migration to America, so this quote tells us some of what the people of Limerick though of him. From this though we can deduce that he was a well-known citizen. Apparently he wasn’t some to admire. I would think Frank McCourt was an average citizen struggling to make it through everyday life of Limerick. Living with a poor family, trying to help support it. Frank McCourt was just a well known local in Limerick, most likely nothing more previous to his migration to America.

Personal Connection: I am not very well known in San Diego, let alone any other city. I also didn’t migrate to America, so I cant relate to him there. But from his experience, I can deduce that migrating to America on your own, and trying to make a life for yourself here while supporting your family back in Ireland, is a nearly impossible task. So I may not be able to relate to Frank McCourt easily, but I can acknowledge that he struggled to make a life in America.

Question: Do you think that Frank McCourt struggled making a life in America? If so, what in particular?