Angela's Ashes

Nonfiction | Autobiography / Memoir | Adult | Published in 1996

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Summary

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapters 1-3

Chapters 4-6

Chapters 7-9

Chapters 10-11

Chapters 12-13

Chapters 14-15

Chapters 16-19

Key Figures

Themes

Index of Terms

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

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Discussion Questions

Chapters 12-13Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapter 12 Summary

Malachy reappears again before Christmas, albeit a day later than expected, and brings a box of chocolates along. He tells Angela that he has to go see someone, and Angela tells him not to get drunk, which he does anyway. The next day, Malachy announces that he is returning to England; when asked about his wages, he claims that times are hard. None of the family buys the excuse, and they all accuse him of drinking away the wages.

Angela has a habit of bringing strangers who are down on their luck to her home for tea and a place to stay. Because of this, the family now has an infestation of lice. Meanwhile, Frank has been spending time outside the home of his grandmother’s neighbor, Mrs. Purcell, listening to the BBC on the radio. Mrs. Purcell realizes that Frank likes listening to Shakespeare performances and invites him in to listen to Macbeth.

The family’s situation becomes increasingly desperate. They are behind on the rent and start pulling at the boards that form the wall between two rooms so that they can have fire. They burn all the wood from the wall, and one day Frank chops at the beams. The landlord discovers what has happened and evicts the family from the premises.

Grandma mentions to Angela that her (Angela’s) cousin, Gerard Griffin, might have extra space where the family can live. The family lives rent-free with Gerard “Laman” Griffin in a building that used to be a store operated by his mother. Eventually, Laman tasks Frank with running to the library to get books for him because his legs hurt frequently. Angela also joins in and requests a book. Laman allows Frank to get a book of his choosing as well. Grandma dies from pneumonia, which she caught about the time the family was evicted.

Chapter 13 Summary

In order to join his classmates on a trip to Killaloe, Frank asks Laman to use his bicycle. Laman agrees to loan him the bike on the condition that Frank empty Laman’s chamber pot from his bedroom loft. This involves carefully lifting and moving the pot to the ground floor without the aid of a staircase.

On one of his trips to the library, the librarian, Catherine O’Riordan, orders Frank to stay inside the library until it stops raining. While waiting, Frank reads The Lives of the Saints and is mesmerized by the graphic narrative, especially that of St. Christina the Astonishing. He also finds himself continuously having to look up definitions of various words. The librarian is so impressed that she sends home a note praising Frank’s commitment to educating himself on the saints. The headmaster, Mr. O'Halloran, at Frank’s school also notices him. O’Halloran tells Angela that Frank should attend the Christian Brothers for secondary school and insists that she take him there to apply. When she does, the directors scoff at Angela’s request and slam the door in their faces. Angela tells Frank to never let someone slam the door in his face again.

It is implied that Angela and Laman are having sexual relations, which Frank refers to euphemistically as “the excitement.” As the trip to Killaloe approaches, Frank reminds Laman of the promise to use the bike. Laman asks if Frank emptied the chamber pot, which he has not yet done that day. This agitates Laman, and he refuses Frank use of the bike. Frank confronts Laman and the situation escalates into a physical confrontation which ends with Laman shoving Frank and telling him to get out of the house. As the chapter concludes, Angela can be heard gently pleading with Laman to allow Frank to continue to stay at the house, which in turn leads to them having intercourse.

Chapters 12-13 Analysis

The introduction of Laman Griffin is a turning point. In previous chapters, Frank has been fortunate to have met a few older men who have treated him kindly and with dignity, teaching him valuable lessons. The absence of Frank’s father is a tremendous strain on the family, and on Frank in particular, but until now he has managed to overcome the absence through the generosity of others. This is not the case with Laman Griffin. Laman embodies the spite that arises when a man cannot escape from a life that he feels is beneath him. Laman is educated and is a former military man, but he is still part of the Limerick working class. He squeezes out a living, and when Frank arrives with his family, Laman sees them as leeches. He does not sympathize with their situation, nor does he really care about their well-being. Because of his own ill health, Laman uses Frank and gets him to do the dirtiest jobs, such as cleaning the chamber pot, for token rewards. This is completely justifiable in Laman’s eyes because the family lives at his home rent-free.

Things come to a head when Frank confronts Laman over the broken promise to borrow Laman’s bicycle. The confrontation becomes physical, and leads to Frank’s expulsion from the house. He is 13 years old, and his standing up to Laman is a coming-of-age milestone. The fight with Laman is traumatic, but the fallout—especially Angela’s attempts at reconciliation with Laman—causes a larger rift. Frank is old enough now to realize the noises that he hears in the loft where Laman sleeps are those of two people engaging in sex. He realizes that Angela is committing adultery, and this changes how he views his mother. He is immediately resentful, although the implication is that Angela uses sex as payment. The exchange between Laman and Angela does not take place on equal footing. Laman likely accepts sex in exchange for rent. When Frank does leave the house, what takes place in the loft haunts him, and he never looks at Angela the same. From this point forward in the narrative, he is much more critical of Angela than of his father, who abandoned the family and left them all helpless.