Angela’s Ashes: Chapter 15 Summary & Analysis

Frank wakes up early on his fourteenth birthday—his first day of work as a man. He reports for work, wearing his freshly dried clothes. A woman at the office laughs when Frank shows up, and she explains that he’s not due to start until Monday. Embarrassed, Frank leaves.

Frank returns to the telegram office on Monday morning. There, he’s greeted by the woman who laughed at him, whose name is Mrs. O’Connell. She makes fun of his clothing, which, despite his best efforts, is still old and cheap-looking. There’s a group of other telegram boys at the office. Frank notices that many of them have brought waterproof capes to keep them warm during the day—the office doesn’t provide raincoats. Frank is nervous, since he hasn’t brought a raincoat.

Mrs. O’Connell gives Frank a large pile of letters and telegrams to deliver to the city of Limerick. She explains that Frank will be walking—ordinarily, he’d have a bicycle, but there’s been a shortage lately. Frank decides to begin his day by delivering a telegram to Mrs. Clohessy, his friend Paddy’s mother. Frank goes to the Clohessy house, where Mrs. Clohessy greets him. She tells him that Paddy has moved to a pub in England, where he cooks for a living. Paddy sends his mother money every week. Dennis, her husband, has also gone off to England to work at a canteen. Mrs. Clohessy tells Frank that she has plenty of money, thanks to her son and husband’s new jobs. She’s happy to see Frank, and gives him money to buy candy.

At the end of his first week of work, Frank has earned one pound—“his first pound.” He realizes that for the first time in his life, he can do whatever he wants—he could buy fish and chips and see a film, for example. He and Michael have a meal of fish and chips, and afterwards, they go to see Yankee Doodle Dandy at the cinema. In the coming weeks, Frank adjusts to his new work schedule. He walks miles every day, delivering all sorts of telegrams. Some of the telegram recipients tip Frank for his trouble, and some don’t. The best tippers are widows, ministers’ wives, and, ironically, the poor. The best areas for deliveries are wealthy neighborhoods, while the worst area by far is Irishtown. Frank slowly gains a reputation for being the “telegram boy” in each neighborhood of the city.

Frank is under strict orders to deliver telegrams and do absolutely nothing else. But there are times when Frank is tempted to help the people to whom he delivers messages. There’s an old man who’s too old and feeble to get out of bed—he receives money orders via telegram, but he can’t cash them because he can’t even leave his home. Frank also pays visits to the Spillane house, where Mrs. Spillane tries to take care of her two small daughters. She receives money orders from her son, but the money isn’t enough to feed her daughters.

Michael begins spending more and more time with Frank, who is still living at Ab Sheehan’s place. Eventually, Michael comes to live with Ab and Frank full-time. Soon after, Angela begins to spend more time at Ab’s place, until eventually she’s moved out of Laman’s house too. Over time, it comes to the attention of the unemployment office that Angela’s son has a job. As a result, she’s cut off from her relief payments, and Frank has to give his weekly pound to his mother. Shortly afterwards, Malachy Jr. comes home from Dublin, claiming that he’s “fed up” with blowing a trumpet in the army. He sleeps on the same mattress as Frank, Alphie, and Michael.

At work, Frank bonds with the other telegram boys, such as Toby Mackey, by making fun of Mrs. O’Connell, a severe, humorless woman, and her equally cold colleague, Miss Barry. Toby is an ambitious boy—like Frank, he’s seen American films, and he aspires to move to America one day very soon. He keeps a long journal of “facts” that he’s learned—Frank admires him for being so attentive to details.

One day, Frank is given a bicycle and told that he’s responsible for delivering telegrams to a neighborhood of the city where he hasn’t gone yet. This neighborhood, Toby tells him, is home to the Carmody family—famous at the office for 1) having consumption and 2) giving big tips to telegram boys. Frank bicycles to the Carmody house, excited, but he falls off his bicycle and scrapes his back and shoulders. At the Carmody house, a young woman invites Frank inside to treat his scrapes. Frank is reluctant to walk inside, since he knows about the infamous Carmody consumption. In the end, however, he accepts the invitation.

Inside the house, the young woman, introducing herself as Theresa Carmody, tells Frank to take off his pants so that she can dry them. Theresa takes iodine to Frank’s cuts. As she treats them, Frank can’t help but feel aroused—Theresa is very pretty. Theresa notices Frank’s erection, and strokes it. It’s implied that Frank loses his virginity to Theresa that afternoon. Afterwards, Theresa cries—she’s bleeding, since she’s just lost her virginity, too. Frank is terrified that he’s going to catch consumption from Theresa, but he’s so excited that he doesn’t care.

Frank continues delivering telegrams to the Carmody house (and having sex with Theresa) for the next weeks. One day he shows up to the house and finds Theresa’s mother, Mrs. Carmody. Mrs. Carmody explains that Theresa has been sent to a hospital for her consumption. Frank rides his bicycle to the hospital, where he pretends to be Theresa’s cousin. The doctors, not fooled, turn Frank away. The next Saturday, when Frank delivers a telegram to the Carmody house, he sees that black blinds have been drawn over the windows.

On Sunday, Frank goes to church. He senses that he’s sent Theresa to hell—by taking her virginity, he made her sin. Furthermore, since Theresa had tuberculosis, she didn’t have a chance to confess her sins before death. Instead of confessing, Frank leaves the church, and the next day he proceeds with delivering telegrams as usual.