Highwayman

In “Typhoid Fever,” Seamus says that there is a similarity between what happens to Frankie and what happened to the highwayman. What is the similarity? Do you agree with Seamus’s conclusion? Why or why not? Explain how Frankie’s situation might be compared to a romantic story, and how it is different.

• Yes, I agree with Seamus's statement that there is similarity between what happened to Frankie and what happened to the highwayman. Now, let us think about it. In the excerpt that we read from Angela's Ashes, Typhoid Fever, we learn that Frankie was moved to another room because he kept on talking with Patricia, and because they were reciting English, non-secular poems and even reading the history of England, though it was the English that made them suffer like that. So to make it simple, Frankie was moved to another room because of a girl, Patricia. In the poem about the highwayman, the Highwayman gets killed by the Red Coats also because of a girl, the landlord's daughter, Bess. Bess was killed, and when the Highwayman found out about Bess's death, he was in rage and went back to avenge Bess, but in the end he was shot and he died. To make this simple, the Highwayman gets killed by Red Coats because of a girl, Bess. When you compare the two generalizations, you will realize that they are very similar. 
• When I compare Frankie's situation with a romantic story, the connection that I think about is Romeo and Juliet. Kind of weird, I know, but when you compare the two stories, you will find the similarity. Even though Frankie and Patricia are not in love, they are being separated, and one of them is going to die (even though it's the girl, Patricia, who dies.)