Angela’s Ashes: Chapter 11 Summary & Analysis

The chapter begins with a description of the old trunk that Angela keeps in the house. The trunk contains important birth papers, Malachy Sr.’s English passport, the children’s American passports, and a dress that Angela wore years ago when she enjoyed dancing. Frank looks at his parents’ marriage certificate, and is surprised to see that his parents were married less than nine months before his birth. He concludes that he must have been born after a pregnancy of less than nine months.

As the chapter begins, Frank is almost twelve years old, and Mikey Molloy is sixteen. Mikey is off to go to the pub—it’s a Limerick tradition that when a boy turns sixteen he goes to the pub to have his first beer. Mikey invites Frank along for the celebration, and he’s able to convince the bartender to let Frank in. At the bar, Mikey enjoys his beer while Frank sips lemonade. Frank asks Mikey about his parents’ marriage—how could he have been born less than nine months afterwards? Mikey laughs and explains to Frank that Frank was clearly “conceived” before his parents were married. Frank doesn’t know what this means, and Mikey has to explain the basics of the sperm and the egg to him.

In the weeks following his talk with Mikey, Frank begins working for a man named Mr. Hannon, who takes care of horses. Hannon teaches Frank how to harness the animals, and praises Frank for being a quick learner—this makes Frank happy. Hannon leads Frank through the streets of Limerick, using his horses to delivers heavy packages and coal bags to the houses. As they walk, Hannon explains that he’d like to be in England, where the work is better, but unfortunately he doesn’t have a “good pair of legs,” and couldn’t do enough manual labor.

After work, Mr. Hannon takes Frank to the pub, where Frank finds Bill Galvin and Pa Keating. Hannon buys Frank lemonade, and gets a beer for himself. Frank notices that his eyes are very irritated—being around coal bags all day has made his eyes red. Nevertheless, Frank wants a permanent job with Hannon. In his spare time, he invents “blinking exercises” for himself to ensure that his eyes won’t be destroyed by his work. Frank continues working alongside Mr. Hannon. He notices that Hannon was right about his legs—sometimes, he can barely walk.

Angela informs Frank that he must give up his job with Mr. Hannon, since the coal dust is destroying Frank’s eyes. Frank is furious—he’s been proud of himself for getting a decent job at a young age, and doesn’t seem to care that his eyes are weakening. Then, a few days later, Frank gets a surprise: Mr. Hannon has been taken off to the hospital—his legs have become infected. Frank goes to Mr. Hannon’s house, where he finds Mrs. Hannon. Mrs. Hannon tells Frank that Mr. Hannon will never be able to deliver coal bags again. She adds that he always enjoyed spending time with Frank, and even thought of him as a surrogate son.