ECQs+Week+4

Dominant Theme: Parents behavior influences the behavior of the child "I get up early like Dad and go on long walks into the country" (McCourt 298).

Frankie is now older and his father is no longer around. Even though his father is gone, what he used to do still has the effect on Frankie. He leaves early in the morning just "like dad" to go on long walks in the country. When Frankie was younger, his father was always leaving to go on long walks and would be gone for hours. Frankie's father would do this during times of strife, to think and be by himself, which allowed him to go and drink, or to prepare himself for the worries of the future. Frankie, "like dad," takes these walks for the same reasons. At this point, he has moved from the home he had with his family and is living with his uncle, who hardly cares about what happens to Frankie. So, he is living with some strife, with people who could care less if he was alive or dead, and is trying to prepare himself for his future problems living there, like not having money for food or clothing. Moreover, he is having a troublesome time dealing with his sexual desires because they are a sin, which is "like dad" because he was troubled by the sin of drinking. Consequently,they went on walks, to be by them self, and end these desires without others knowing. So, for Frankie, it was to end sexual sins, and for Malachy, it was to end drinking sins. Therefore, even though Malachy left to England and never returned, Frankie was influenced by his father's behavior of taking walks and now does it himself. -Gabby McCormack

Dominant Theme: Parents behavior influences the behavior of the child “She doesn't know the money for my fare is growing in the post office and she'd die if she knew what I was earning from writing threatening letters” (McCourt 350).

Frankie is growing older and more independent. He brings in the money that supports his family; however, he hides most of his money from his family. “She doesn't know” that he is not putting his family before himself. "She" is Angela, Frankie's mother. This is alike to Frankie's father, who always put his needs before the needs of his family. Moreover, the situation is similar to Frankie because it is about money, which Frankie's father would take to drink with and which Frankie now takes to prepare to leave with. “She doesn't know” that, like his father, Frankie is planning on leaving his family soon. Frankie is engineering his return to America and is going to leave his family in Ireland with no one to take care of them and no money to support them. He is leaving in almost the same manner as his father. This is by telling them the week before he is set to go that he is leaving and by not providing money for them to live off of. Frankie will be leaving without even telling his family that he is. Hence, like his father, Frankie is unwilling to tell Angela important matters because he cares for himself and what he wishes to do. -Alex Bladwin
 * Both were rewritten by Leia Trice **