Angela’s Ashes as well as The Street deal with the theme that people are struggling to survive. These survival-themed stories, unlike others, are focused on urban poor. McCourt as well as Petry use characters and events to help develop this theme within their stories.
The Street is an excerpt that introduces a unstoppable force of nature into people’s lives. The North wind is the antagonist of The Street’s ferociousness. The wind “set the bits to dancing high, so that an barrage of papers swirled in the faces people walking on the street… It did every thing it could for them to be discouraged.” In reality, the wind acts as a bully in the neighborhood, inflicting damage on everyone it encounters. This is a very lame antagonist. The wind is a minor detail in any other location. The wind picked up all the dirt and grime from the sidewalk on 116th Street and lifted it upwards so that it got into their nostrils. The wind wrapped newspaper around them, binding them to the ground until the people cursed deeply in their throats. It blew back and forth until the wind forced them to bend down and pull it away with their hands. Evidently, the streets are filthy and haven’t been paved for years. Even worse, residents of the streets don’t care about where their trash goes. The wind uses the litter to whip anyone who walks by. This is how decrepit a street looks. It speaks volumes about the state of Lutie. We are then introduced to our protagonist. This passage focuses on Lutie’s struggle against the weak force of nature. But they serve to make Lutie more real and enable the reader sympathize. Wind blew her eyelashes off so her eyes were covered in coldness. She had to blink to read the sign, which was swaying back-and-forth over her head. The wind pushed her sign away every time she thought it was in focus.
McCourt’s Angela’s Ashes is a theme that McCourt has built using a village of support characters. There’s so much going on, there’s no time to give the most important details. McCourt does not give any details about his mother. Instead, McCourt uses the whirlwind events at the beginning to build his character. For example, “Mam is sitting by the fire, freezing, and we suspect something is wrong when her movements are slow and erratic.” And, “The mattress creaks all day with her twistings & turnings, and then she stays in bed, still cold.” It is obvious that the mother is slowly dying. There isn’t enough money to buy bread or food for the next day. His grandmother won’t help them, as she is an old bitter zealot. Mam would learn a lesson from this man, who is a North-born man with sallow skin and an odd appearance. This also shows that the boys do not have any family to support them. The author is driven to steal food and lemonade and goes out to beg for it. It is clear that the family is miserable from events such as washing down the food with cold water and then mixing it with hot tea.
McCourt’s relatives are described as miserable, which contrasts with the many other families he meets while he is desperately searching for food. McCourt says McCourt sits there “digging in” and smiles at his mother. McCourt washed everyone’s aprons. It is here that McCourt describes a particular setting. This enhances McCourts character and widens his rift from McCourt.
A story is incomplete without characters, events, or settings. If a writer wants to convey the hardships that characters face, these elements are essential.
