Frank McCourt--> Why I Write

There was no single motivation behind my choosing to write, no one force that demanded my attention; more a collaboration of emotions. I knew since I was a kid that I wanted to tell my story one day for others to grow and learn from, but Ireland in those times didn't give a poor kid much leeway in breaking the ranks of societal prejudices. America was different, much different, and I was able to move much more freely toward my goals. I wanted the world to understand that out of poverty and hunger do not automatically arise misery and sadness. We can learn from that which challenges us and I hope that my presentation of my story has conveyed some sense of perspective to those who read it. My writing parallels my growth from a niave child to a mature adult.


As a young child I didn't comprehend the full extent of my family's dire situation. When you are born into a life filled with hunger and poverty, you know nothing else and you make due with what you're given. You have no reason to think that things are better elsewhere when most of those around you are living in similar conditions. Overall, I was a happy kid. People tend not to understand that, they think for some reason that I must have been in constant misery, but again I was more grateful for the little I did have than most.


Having experienced the confusion of growing up, made all the more wonderful by Catholic Ireland, I understand the difficulties of finding balance. As a kid I was plagued by the smallest of incidences that I believed may be considered a sin. The old Irish "guilt-trick" is one that I am beyond familiar with. Guilt and worry were key players in my childhood and, when taken from a more grounded perspective, the things I concerned myself with were quite ridiculous. Of course as I entered my adolescent years things changed dramatically for by that point I was tired of the worry and wary of the Catholic hypocrasy.


Life becomes more clear only as we grow. By writing very factually and portraying my growth as an individual through my early years, I hope that most can take a greater appreciation of life. Don't sweat the small stuff; in any situation there can be found some light, regardless of how small. Take advantage of the things you have, look more to that than to what you wish you had. Through incorporating some humor, at least I hope most readers found some humor, I meant to lighten the mood of the story; to lessen the depression and bring forth the fact that things are never as bad as they seem if we can only allow ourselves to look at the positive. In everything I try to find humor because nothing is as out-of-control as we sometimes find ourselves viewing it. Just take a step back.


It's easy to make mistakes in life but it is what we do with those mistakes that makes the difference. Mam, bless her soul, failed to see the light in her life. One mistake will only dictate your future if you let it and Mam, as hard as she tried not to, let her mistakes cloud her view of the light. We live in a country where socioeconomic class does not have to hinder your ability to persevere and find success. In Ireland, I probably never would have conquered the perceived notion of "nothing but another poor kid" which usually raised prejudiced questions of my integrity. I was rejected by even the church, the oh so pious church, in two of my early attempts to push forward. To break class status, and thus to break poverty, were, to say the least, not encouraged.


Overall, I write to prove a point: where you came from doesn't determine where you're going, and from everything we experience in life, we can learn. Not everything is the end of the world, in fact nothing is, and if we would all lessen our burdens of worry and anguish, we could move forward.