Frank McCourt Chapter 14 1

Planning: 1. Character list 2. Summary 3. Themes 2

1. Main character of this chapter: Frank McCourt: The protagonist and narrator. Ab Sheehan (The Abbot): Angela's mentally deficient brother. Frank calls him Uncle Pat. He´s simple and sells newspapers. Michael McCourt: Frank's younger brother whom, according to Frank, was left by a Angel on the Seventh Step. (Catherine) Miss O´Riordan The librarian that one day gives Frank a book called Butler’s Lives of the Saints. Kathleen Purcell: Neighbor´s grandma. Aunt Aggie: Angela's angry sister. Uncle Pa Keating: Aunt Aggie's gentle, kind and encouraging husband. 3

2. Summary 4

When? During the month of july when the school is over. 5

What? Angela sends Michael to The Abbot´s house with food and drink for Frank. 6

If I had money… I would buy … 7

How / Where ? Frank spends his days in Limerick: walking into the country. at the library. 8

Why is he ashamed? Because he is committing a sin by… 9

Virgin martyrs St. Brigid. February first. St. Wilgefortis. July twentieth. St. Agatha. February fifth. St. Ursula. October twenty first. 10

What does he discover? The shocking truth of the sexual intercourse. His father lied to him for years about The Angel on the Seventh Step. No! 11

What does she discover? Miss O´Riordan discovers that Frank has been reading a sex manual of Lin Yütang. SEX 12

The day before Frank´s birthday (I) Frank takes off his clothes, washing them under the tap with a bar of carbolic soap in the backyard. 13

The day before Frank´s birthday (II) He hangs them on Grandma´s clothesline. 14

What are you doing with my poor mother´s dress? Aunt Aggie finds Frank in his grandmother´s dress. 15

Kathleen Purcell discovers Frank in the black dress of his grandma 16

Frank explains why he lives there… He can´t tell about Laman Griffin and his mother relationship. He tries to explain to his aunt that he is living with uncle Ab because of the distance from Laman Griffin´s house to the post office. 17 Aunt Aggie accepts his apologies… “that´s more than your father would do”

3. Themes Hunger: Frank MacCourt is plagued by hunger throughout his childhood. Hunger is mentioned over and over again in the narrative of this book. 18 Guilt: Throughout his childhood, Frank feels guilty of his own sins, particularly of his sexual thoughts and behaviour. Doom: An unpleasant or disastrous destiny. The Last Judgment, at the end of the world. When you commit a mortal sin, you have been doomed. Religion: The book is full of references to religion. Particularly, in this chapter, Frank begins to read at the library “The lives of the Saints” and learns about saints.

THE END 19