"'Tis Hard to Dance with One Shoe": The Failure of the Fathers in Walker's <em>The Color Purple</em> and McCourt's <em>Angela's Ashes</em>.

<p>In his story, “The Commitments,” Roddy Doyle identifies the Irish as "the blacks of Europe" (148). This sentiment typifies the oppression of the two cultures. The overwhelmingly oppressive society of the two aforementioned groups creates an atmosphere of failure, particularly for the fathers, who, for the most part, are supposed to be the heads of their families. Through Alice Walker’s The Color Purple and Frank McCourt’s Angela’s Ashes, the reader discovers the effects of these failures of the fathers due to tyrannical societies that impose dominance over such groups as the African-Americans and the Irish. The main characters, Celie and Frank, are adversely affected by the absent or failing fathers, and must search for means to transcend the failure and oppression.</p>

Name thesis:degree_name

MA (Master of Arts)

Level thesis:degree_level

Thesis - unrestricted

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

English

Year dc:date.issued

2001

Author dc:creator

• Hale, Gwendolyn Nicole

• Irish
• Paternal Failures
• Oppression
• Walker
• McCourt
• African-American
• Arts and Humanities
• English Language and Literature

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright by the authors.

Repository record dc:identifier

https://dc.etsu.edu/etd/99

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dc.etsu.edu:etd-1149