His father, whose job as fireman kept him away too often and oblivious to the severity of the abuse that Dave was incurring, was his only source of optimism. He wished that his father would one day realize what was happening and save him. But instead, his father walks out on the family, leaving Dave alone and helpless. .
After years of useless prayers, I knew it had finally happened - Father left. I hated him so much for running out on his family. But perhaps, even more, I was jealous of him, for he had escaped and I had not. I wanted nothing more than to escape far, far away from my Mother and that hell-hole of a home. (Pelzer 151).
The life of misery he had been living, day after day dealing with affliction and pain, makes him want to run away and flee. Eventually, he does. He overcomes the fear of his mother's rage and tells the school nurse the truth about his bruises, scars and other injuries. After years of lying and making up excuses like "I ran into the hall door on accident-, or "I was playing baseball and got hit by the bat- (Pelzer 6), he realizes he has to get away and get over the fear of his mother, a fear that has been instilled in him for all 8 years of his life. .
Along these same lines, in Angela's Ashes, we get a real sense of Frankie's need to escape. Escape from the financial problems, the family troubles, the sickness, and all the pain in general that the McCourts go through in Limerick. In the end, Frankie actually does make an escape away from his family's difficulties. He saves each week's wages so that he can go to America when he turns twenty. Throughout the film, he expresses an eager desire to leave it all behind and go to America, and become a yank' and send home hundreds of dollars. It's his childhood dream. Being an American myself, it's hard for me to put myself in Frankie's position and view America as any sort of paradise to escape to. I certainly do see it as a prosperous country with endless opportunities, but I also detect the problems and inconsistencies in American culture.