“On the Golden Porch” and “Angela’s Ashes”: The Lives of a Minority

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Table of Contents

Introduction
Similarities between the stories
Differences between the books
Conclusion

Introduction

The life of minority groups cannot possibly be deemed as easy. It is a controversial theme for discussions, and a constant theme in literature, as many writers endured similar circumstances. This paper will compare and analyze two books that depict minorities: On the Golden Porch by Tolstaya and Angela’s Ashes by McCourt. The narration of both stories is set around the financial condition, class, and how characters manage or do not manage to get through it. That is why the analogy can be made between them.

Similarities between the stories

The narration of On the Golden Porch is presented in the first person. Rather than telling a story in a linear narrative, the author creates a series of short chronicles that capture some fragments from the lives of different people in Russia during the Soviet era. The character, however, is not introduced. She is an unidentified young girl who is trying to recall her childhood memories, which were spent in a small Russian town. The main events are shown through her childish perspective. This is why the style of stories is not completely rational and transparent. It is rather a combination of realistic narrative and lyrical prose, with many metaphors and references to classical Russian fairytales.

The scene of the book is placed in the Soviet Union not long before the end of communism, which was not an easy time, especially for families with lower incomes. They desperately try to make their dreams come true by working hard; however, due to outside circumstances, they are incapable of accomplishing their goals. Unfortunately, for those reasons, characters in Tolstaya’s book often face an unfair and pathetic end. For example, in a story under the name of “Peters”, a small, chubby, and overall plain librarian dreams about the love of his life that he will meet someday. The only thing he needs to accomplish his goal is to learn the German language, which was the idea that his family encouraged.

The narration implies that the reader should believe in the librarian. However, his dreams a crushed when the attractive lady that Peter was in love with rudely rejects him. Moreover, the other character in the book, uncle Pasha, who always worked tirelessly for his wife and his simple dreams, passed away all alone and did not even get a proper funeral. This piece of the story demonstrates how uncaring some people can be, even if they are family. This lack of sympathy is often the source of misery for the characters.

In the narration, the authors use symbolism pretty often in various instances. The name of the book itself is a reference to a famous Russian nursery rhyme, which is popular among kids. One of the characters, Veronika, who was the wife of uncle Pasha, is compared to a character from Pushkin’s fairytale – an old woman who constantly abused and belittled her husband. The situation between Pasha and Veronica is similar to that fairytale.

Moreover, Tolstaya also covers the problem of women who struggle in families with no help from their husbands. For instance, Rimma, in Fire and Dust, still is an ambitious young woman at the beginning of the story. Nevertheless, she has already experienced some losses and breakings of promises. Her husband is a lazy good-for-nothing who wastes his time watching TV, while Rimma desperately tries to earn money for the family. Despite the universality of this story, it has aspects and symbols that are unique to Russian culture. These symbols are her ugly clothes, which represent the low income, and the dead-end jobs that represent the pitiful future.

One cannot help but say that the set of stories by Tolstaya is an image of what daily life in Soviet Russia was like for women and men, from working to make both ends meet to standing in lines for hours to buy food. There could be no doubt that this topic is very special for the author as she once experienced a similar event in her life. In her stories, Tolstaya provided an insight into the ordinary lives of the Soviet people. The narration features characters that can be seen everywhere, which makes the themes of the book relatable to everyone.

In this matter, Angela’s Ashes, which was written by Frank McCourt, is similar to On the Golden Porch. His book is a memoir, which describes the events of the author’s life from the backstory of his parents’ marriage until Frank was nineteen. The main character was born in the USA during the Great Depression; his parents could not provide for the family in such critical economic conditions. In an attempt to solve the family’s economic crisis, they had to return to Ireland when Frank was only four. Throughout the story, McCourt describes his childhood and teen years that were also connected with tragic episodes caused by poverty. He recalls several incidents of his early life that transformed him as he develops from a child into a young man.

Throughout his memories, Frank is deprived of many opportunities, even though he is smart, motivated, and willing to work hard. Unfortunately, his family does not manage to make ends meet on the low income of his alcoholic father, who cannot keep a stable job.

That is why the main character has to work several humble jobs to earn a living. His house is infested with fleas, rats, mild, flies, and lice. In Angela’s Ashes, poverty is a circumstance that is beyond any control even though he tries to climb out of it. It is also a driving force for a series of unfortunate events in Frank’s life. It causes the death of his family members; it brings sickness and makes life in Limerick miserable. Even though his parents, especially his mom, express love for their children and mourn their deaths, they still cannot do enough to provide food and good education.

As was said earlier, a lot of hardships occur in the McCourts’ lives, including the death of Frank’s siblings. His twin brothers Eugene and Oliver died of cold and pneumonia, and baby Margaret passed away at seven weeks old. Frank’s mother, Angela, cannot afford to feed or care for the children because her husband cannot manage to keep any job. Even if he succeeds, he quickly drinks his wages away. Angela endures a lot of difficulties, facing the death of her children, a miscarriage, which makes her spiral into depression. Moreover, the narrator tells her personal story, where the reader finds out that she was coerced into marriage by her family.

That fact makes the reader sympathize with Angela since she is presented as the victim of the circumstances. It is surprising how Frank managed to survive until adulthood while suffering from illnesses, the deaths of his siblings, and a drunken father.

Moreover, Frank also watches his mother consistently try to manage the household finances, so her children could eat. In addition, the theme of death is also very frequent in this memoir as the main character, and his parents have to suffer from the death of family members. Nevertheless, Frank is hopeful, believing that escaping to America is his way out as it is the land of endless opportunities. Due to his circumstances, Frank gets a generally bad education; however, he gets support from the teacher, who encourages him to pursue higher education.

In the finale of the book, Frank achieves his goal of moving to America. It demonstrates how the financial discrimination that Frank endures throughout his life plays a big role in motivating him to pursue a better life. Without this experience, he might not have been as stimulated to strive for success. Moreover, poverty teaches Frank McCourt adaptability and perseverance, which later become the key factors that helped him to eventually achieve prosperity in America.

The whole meaning of his memoir is to show the story of his success and how to continue to carry on life despite many obstacles. Angela’s Ashes presents a good example of someone who sticks with his goals, even when being constantly limited by different factors. The reader watches the main character stay by his dreams and eventually make them come true in the end.

Angela’s Ashes brilliantly portrays relentless poverty and the dreadful consequences that it can cause for families. Despite this, the main character shows that anyone can find something good in life, regardless of how desperate the situation is. Moreover, the finale of the book is optimistic, as Frank is full of hope that stimulates him to seek a better life in the USA

There are quite a lot of similarities that can be found between the two books. The first one is that both narrators recall the memories of their childhood, which were spent in poor living conditions. The stories overall illustrate several problems that concern not only the main characters but other people around the world as well, who struggle with the same difficulties nowadays. While exploring such relatable issues, the authors try to make sense out of everything that happens around characters. In other words, both books cover themes of poverty and class. These two factors have a big influence on the lives of Tolstaya’s and McCourt’s protagonists.

They are from the same economic class, despite differences in countries. Another similarity is the tone of both books, which is dark and depressing. This stems from the fact that the theme of death is present in both books, for example, the pathetic death of uncle Pasha and the deaths of Frank’s siblings.

The list of resembling elements continues by the fact that both protagonists are children who have an innocent view of the world despite the circumstances. Due to this, their consciousness is selective, grabbing from their miserable lives only the most interesting and memorable events, even the saddest ones. Interestingly, the authors give not just a description of childhood, but the narrative itself is conducted through the eyes of the child. This allows the reader to look at what is happening unusually and relate to it more. The final similarity is that both books depict the misery of women’s lives, where they have to endure challenges with no help from their husbands who lack ambition, just like Rimma in On the Golden Porch and Angela from Angela’s Ashes.

Differences between the books

At the same time, several differences between those books can be found as well. For example, the set of short stories On the Golden Porch describes the lives of different people, while Angela’s Ashes mostly concentrate on the stories of Frank and his mother, Angela. The narration of the first book is set in USSR, while the narration of the second book is set in Ireland, which creates discrepancies in a cultural context. The genders of protagonists are different as well. Moreover, On the Golden Porch is a set of short stories that have little in common, while Angela’s Ashes is a linear memoir.

It was said earlier that the narration of the first book takes inspiration from the Russian culture. Her description is enriched by various references to Russian literature, which underlines the author’s appreciation for it. Tolstaya’s story describes the lives of ordinary people with such creative images that allow the reader to enjoy stories despite their overall dark themes. At the same time, the narration in Angela’s Ashes is more realistic.

Despite the family’s struggles, Angela’s Ashes is a memoir filled with Irish humor, folklore, and music. For example, the main character is entertained by his father’s stories. They are filled with fantastical heroes and seem to be the only redemptive factor of his father. These fictions and dreams helped Frank to move forward and not give up hope. Literature was something that gave the main character ease and happiness. Perhaps, those fairytales helped Frank’s not to go bitter in his tough circumstances and to still love his father despite his inability to provide for the family. Wearing rags for clothes, begging on the streets for food, working odd jobs, Frank survives poverty, hunger, and sometimes even the death of relatives. Still, he grows up to tell his tale of success to the world.

Conclusion

In conclusion, it would appear that both writers, despite several differences, managed to represent the lives of a minority creatively. All the events are seen through protagonists’ innocent eyes, which makes their narration relatable. Not only that, but all the issues that were brought up in those books may raise a heated discussion even nowadays. After all, economic barriers and their consequences on families are quite controversial problems that are still not resolved even in developed countries of the 21st century. It can be said that the latter story is more intense in its treatment of the theme of poverty. One must conclude that the endings of both stories are different as well.

The final of stories in On the Golden Porch are more depressing; the characters never see the resolution of their problems and face sorrows and misery. However, in Angela’s Ashes, Frank is more positive and full of determination to make his life better. That goal he achieves at the end of the novel when he moves to America.

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“On the Golden Porch” and “Angela’s Ashes”: The Lives of a Minority

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