Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt, the traditional housewife, portrays the lives of poor and rich mothers. It shows the struggle that many mothers have faced, regardless of their economic status. Frank's mother, being on the lower end of the spectrum, has many difficulties, such as taking on both parental roles of mother and father in the home. Sometimes Angela has to worry about how her children will eat and where they will get their food from. While other mothers like Fintan's don't have to worry about these things and can afford the luxury of having food. Fintan's mother also has the luxury of having a child. Although all the mothers in the book face some type of struggle, the poor mothers suffer the worst encounter since having to take care of both themselves and their children. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Over the course of the entire memoir Angela had a total of six children, not including the miscarriages she had. Poor mothers usually had many more children than a wealthy mother because they could not afford the doctor's visits and medicines needed for their sickly children “Dr. Troy came and said the baby died of pneumonia and why wasn't he in the hospital for a long time? doctors for the survival of their child. Angela not only has to deal with the death of her children but she has to deal with an alcoholic husband. Many times Angela will have to play the role of the father and provide for the needs of the family "Mom takes me and Malachi to the Society of St. Vincent de Paul to stand in line and see if there is any chance of receiving something for Christmas dinner."(118 ) While it's not ideal, especially with Malachi, someone has to go out and get food to provide for the family. Angela is usually the at-home parent while Malachy drinks the money, disciplining the children and teaching them how to survive. She plays the role of not only the mother but also the father. One of the big differences between rich mothers and poor mothers is the fact that poor mothers were more likely to have a larger family due to the high rate of immortality among the children of the home. Angela has lost a total of three children, not including miscarriages “She sits up straight and shakes her head. She is gone." (36) During this time they lost so many children, if it were not for the fact that their children were dying so quickly and at such a young age their families would be smaller. It is possible that poor families could even have enough to provide for their family if there weren't so many children During the memoir it was never said that Fintan's mother had difficulties and this is because she only has one child. Poor mothers and rich mothers do not they ever had a tendency to associate with each other, perhaps the fact that they lived and led different lives and the rich mothers had no reason to bond with another woman in the same boat as them. Angela's best friend is in the same position. She is poor and with children, she also has to go to St. Vincent to get food and clothes, just like Angela's mother and Fintan never spend of time together. Please note: this is just an example. Get a custom paper from our expert writers now. Get a Custom Essay There are many differences between poor mothers and rich mothers. Poor mothers face many difficult tasks such as the death of many of their children and lack of food at home. Angela is the best example of.