Growing Up In Limerick, A Marxist Analysis

Growing up in Limerick, being poor while seeing wealth gives Frank the motivation to make his life better. I will use the Marxist lens to show how social class influences affect Frank and the decisions he makes. The way Frank and his family are treated by the church inspires him. His family relies on the money from the church. He is upset because of how difficult it is to get the money his family needs for survival. Frank is so poor that he begs and steals to get food for him and his brothers. Frank and his family are often at the mercy of others in order to stay alive. Frank is really bothered by the fact that certain people have so much and he has so little. This drives him to overcome the social class obstacles facing him in Limerick. Frank …show more content…
Finton eats lunch and does not share with Frank or Paddy. They get to the school gate. Paddy and Frank refuse to enter, “I’m not going in, Finton. You had your lunch. We had nothing.” (160). Frank is used to be mistreated and hungry by now. At this moment he realizes it is not about age it is about wealth. Finton’s family has money therefore Finton has food. Since Frank has no money and no lunch he and Paddy go out and steal lunch. Since both him and Paddy have no money they are forced to steal or go hungry. As Frank is robbing the orchard he says, “I don’t want to rob orchards and milk cows forever and I’ll always try to win Dotty’s apple peel so that I can go and tell Dad how I answered the hard question.” (161). After stealing from the farm we see that Frank has motivation to make his life better. He wants to be successful, and he wants to please his family. He is realizing the power certain people have and how the decisions these people make affect him because he does not have the power to make decisions for himself. He has bigger goals for himself then to grow up and fall into the cycle of poverty because of the way society is …show more content…
The church controls everything, they have the power and they use it control the social classes of Limerick. This is shown when Malachy tries to take Frank to become an altar boy, “This is my son, Frank, who knows Latin and is ready to be an altar boy. Stephen Carey looks at him, then me. He says, We don’t have room for him, and closes the door.”(149). Frank has been raised in a good Catholic home he is well prepared and more than capable of becoming an altar boy but because of his class he is not allowed to become one. Frank’s mother even says, “They don’t want boys from lanes on the altar. They want the nice boys with hair oil and new shoes that have fathers with suits and ties and steady jobs.”(149). The church has the power to pick and choose who they want to be altar boys. They use this power to only choose wealthy boys. This is showing Frank that he is being mistreated because of his social class. This power of choice that the church holds is shown once again when Frank tries to go to secondary school. “She knocks on the door at the Christian Brothers and says she wants to see the superior, brother Murray. He comes to the door, looks at my mother and me and says the do not have any room for him.” (289). This is the second time that the Church has slammed a door in Frank’s face and his mother is quick to point that out. This is another example of the power the church has to choose who it