Through a Child's Eyes : Memory in Angela's Ashes

This paper analyzes the reconstruction of childhood memory in Frank McCourt’s Angela’s Ashes, focusing on narrative strategies that blend the child’s immediate perspective with the adult’s reflective voice. Using a structuralist approach and drawing on the theories of Wayne C. Booth, Gérard Genette, and William Edmiston, the paper explores how McCourt’s manipulation of focalization, narrating ‘I’ and narrated ‘I’, and shifts between immediacy and reflection creates a nuanced portrayal of memory, identity, and the memoir genre. By examining the fluid boundaries between memory and imagination, the study demonstrates how Angela’s Ashes challenges conventional notions of autobiographical truth, illustrating the complex interplay between lived experience and retrospective storytelling.