Emotional Reaction

When McCourt’s family lived in New York, they experienced many struggles. Not only were they poor and barely had anything to eat, but they also suffered a major loss. While still in America, McCourt’s little sister Margaret was born. She was clearly the favorite child, being the only girl. McCourt’s parents cherished her and gave her a lot of attention. However, she becomes sick when she is seven weeks old, and dies in the middle of the night. As McCourt holds his mother’s hand to comfort her she says, “Your lovely little sister is dead, Frankie. Dead. And where is your father... Drinking… There isn’t a penny in the house but he finds the money for the drink” (37). After Margaret dies, McCourt's mother is not the same. This section of the novel was really depressing to read, because it is awful to think about losing a child or sibling. Also things must have been really stressful for McCourt. At four years old he had to take on the loss of his baby sister, his mother’s mind being in another place, and his father absent from his life because he is always drinking. He must have felt neglected and unimportant to his family during this time, because as a child he needs attention and love to properly mature.  At this time, McCourt even wishes that he were in a different family. As a neighbor assists the family after Margaret’s death a thought occurred to McCourt: ”My mother never makes soup like this and I wonder if there’s any chance Mrs. Leibowitz could ever be my mother. Freddie could be me and have my mother and my father…Malachy and the twins for brothers. He can’t have Margaret anymore because she’s like the dog in the street that was taken away” (38).
Word Count:299