for three months and he has to loose his job. He, then, has to start to find another job and must be more determined than ever so that he can help his mother and his
brothers though it means that he has to start from the bottom line. In this story, Frank faces many problems. First, his father drinking habit
that grows serious even after the family moves to Ireland. Second, his family’s economic condition that is poor and miserable. Third, the society’s treatment
toward his family that is rude. Frank has to struggle for life because many conflicts appear continuously in his life.
The novel is interesting to discuss because it shows how a person has to struggle for life in order to achieve a better one. We can also learn many lessons for
life from this novel.
B. Problem Formulation
Based on the background of the study, there are two problems that can be formulated as follows:
1. How is Frank, the main character, portrayed in the novel? 2. How does Frank manage to survive in his struggle for life?
C. Objectives of the Study
The objectives of the study are to answer the questions stated in the problem formulation. First is to find out how Frank is portrayed in the novel.
Second is to find out the things that causes Frank to struggle for life and to find out how Frank manages to survive.
D. Benefits of the Study
There are some benefits of this study. Firstly, I hope that this study will be useful for readers in broadening their knowledge about life as well as about
literature, especially the knowledge of Irish-American writers and their works. Secondly, for future researchers who intend to conduct the study of the
same novel, I hope that this study can provide information on Frank McCourt’s Angela’s Ashes: A Memoir of a Childhood and also offer some beneficial
information about the main character, the causes of the struggle for life and how he manages to survive. Hopefully, this thesis can be a start for further studies on Frank
McCourt and his works. Finally, for myself, by studying this novel I learn about life and how each person has to survive for life in every condition.
E. Definition of Study
This part clarifies some important terms in order to avoid misunderstanding about the content of the thesis.
1. Struggle In Merriam Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary struggle means to proceed with
difficulty of with great effort 1167. 2. Life
Collins Cobuild English Dictionary for Advanced Learners defines life as a state of being alive, especially, when there is a risk or danger 893. On the other hand,
Google.com defines life as an account of human events and activities that making up someone’s life where it becomes the experience of being alive. Thus, in my
opinion struggle for life can be defined as an effort made by someone in order to
live where it becomes the experience of being alive. 3. Motivation
Morris defines that motives are “an inner direct force of a need or want that arouses the organism and directs behaviour toward a goal” 408. So it means that a motive
is a power that enables someone to fulfil or reach his goal. 4. Character
Abrams states that character means “the person in a dramatic or narrative work, who is interpreted by the reader as being endowed with moral and disposition
qualities that are expressed in what they say and by what they do” 20. Thus, in my opinion character is an individual that has qualities and moral values that are
expressed in his dialogue and his action.
CHAPTER II REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
