When people experience different situations in life, they learn from them and grow as a person. This is effectively illustrated in Frank McCourt's memoir, Angela's Ashes. During his childhood, McCourt undergoes many experiences that cause him to lose his innocence and lead him to be more mature in making decisions. Through his memoirs, Frank McCourt demonstrates his personal growth through the different experiences he faces. McCourt matures as he gradually loses his innocence through the experiences he goes through and, as a result, he becomes more aware of the environment he finds himself in. a naive boy who idolizes his father and blindly follows his orders, to a young man who begins to question his father's authority. After his father spends the money on baby Alphie, McCourt realizes that "it's bad enough to drink the allowance or the salary, but a man who drinks the money for a new baby is au- beyond the beyonds” (186). He realizes that his father is not the perfect person he respects and admires, and that his father's actions are absolutely unacceptable; McCourt's understanding of what is right and what is wrong has developed to the point where he can judge for himself the character of his own father, and the realization that his father is not not the one he thought he was deprives McCourt of his childish adoration for his father. . Additionally, when his mother is sick and his brothers are starving, McCourt goes out alone to steal food from them. When McCourt sees "cases of beer and lemonade outside and there's no one on the street[,] in one second [he has] two bottles of lemonade under [his] jersey and [he] walks away." going trying trying. to look innocent” (236). After his father leaves, McCourt begins to assume the role...... middle of paper...... that he can go to America, where there are more opportunities to support his family and escape poverty. Through the experiences he faces, McCourt becomes a forward-thinker who plans and considers the impacts of his decisions; as a result, he makes more mature and thoughtful decisions that help him achieve future goals that will benefit more people. Throughout his childhood, Frank McCourt underwent many experiences that shaped him as a person and caused him to mature. Through these experiences, he loses his innocence and becomes a more mature decision-maker. In life, it is important to expose yourself to as many different experiences as possible in order to have more opportunities to grow and develop as a person; life becomes much more enjoyable when this happens. Works Cited McCourt, Frank. Angela's Ashes: A Memoir. New York: Scribner, 1996. Print.