Summary
The master says it’s a glorious thing
to die for the Faith and Dad says it’s a glorious thing to die for
Ireland and I wonder if there’s anyone in the world who would like us
to live.
(See Important Quotations Explained)
Crossed-eyed Mikey Molloy, who is eleven years old, lives
in Frank’s neighborhood. He knows about the female body and “Dirty Things
in General.” Mikey’s mother, Nora, is often admitted to the lunatic
asylum because her husband frequently drinks away all of the money,
leaving her frantic about how to feed her family. Before she is
taken away, Nora obsessively bakes bread to ensure that her children
do not starve while she is gone. It is unclear to what degree Nora
is actually crazed and to what degree she enjoys getting some peace
and quiet at the asylum.
Frank’s First Communion, the first time he eats the Communion wafer,
is about to take place. Mikey is not a “proper” Catholic because
he could never swallow the Communion wafer. Mikey tells Frank that
the best things about your First Communion day are that you receive
money from your neighbors and you get to go to the movies and eat
sweets.
Frank’s new schoolmaster is called Mr. Benson. Mr. Benson teaches
his pupils the catechism. He is an enthusiastic Catholic, but he
dislikes answering questions. One boy, Brendan “Question” Quigley,
is constantly in trouble for asking too many of them. Another boy
in Frank’s class is Paddy Clohessy, who is impoverished and wears
no shoes. Frank recalls the day he found a raisin in his pastry
at school. Everyone begged him for the treat, but he saw Paddy looking
dogged and hungry, and gave it to him.
McCourt places scenes of the schoolboys learning their
catechism by rote alongside a scene of his friends and him sitting
under the streetlights, reading their own books. Mikey tells his
friends about the great Cuchulain’s wife, Emer, who was the “champion woman
pisser of Ireland” and won her husband in a pissing contest. Frank
worries that he has committed a terrible sin by listening to this
tale and asks the Angel on the Seventh Step what to do. Frank’s seraph
tells him not to be afraid, that he should confess his sin to the priest
and he will be forgiven. Frank asks his father what he should do,
and Malachy reassures him that listening to a rude tale is not a sin,
but that he can confess to it if it will make him feel better.
Things go smoothly for Frank at his First Confession:
the priest is secretly amused by the Cuchulain story and absolves
the boy of his sins, although he warns Frank that books can be “dangerous
for children.” However, the next day Angela and Grandma bring Frank to
the church late. He has trouble swallowing the Communion wafer.
When he returns to his grandmother’s house, he eats breakfast and
then throws it up in her backyard. Grandma frets that she has “God
in me backyard” and drags Frank back to church to confess and to
find out what she should do. The amused priest tells Frank to wash
away the mess with a little water, but he gets annoyed when Frank’s
grandmother makes Frank ask whether she should use holy or ordinary
water. Due to these events, Frank misses his Collection (the money-collecting
ritual of First Communion) and does not have any money to go to
the movies. However, Mikey pretends to have a fit, and while the
ticket man is attending to him, Frank sneaks into the cinema.
Analysis
We get a bit of comic relief in this chapter. Nothing
dire happens to the McCourt family, and the descriptions of poverty
and despair center on the Molloy family. Frank can see humor in
his neighbors’ problems that he can’t see in his own.
