Annie John by Jamaica Kincaid is about a girl from the island of Antigua and Barbuda who is raised in a household with both of her parents. Throughout the text, they show Annie’s coming of age, including issues at home and conflicting influences. One could say that the relationship between Annie and her mother is a parallel between a colonizer country and a colonized country. Through the lens of Annie John, Jamaica Kincaid portrays how the colonizer(Annie’s Mom) influences or tries to influence the colonized(Annie). Early on in the text, you can see how Mrs.John puts forth effort to instill her morals and ideology into a young Annie John. This is a point in the text where Annie is severely dependent on her mother just as a colonized country is dependent on it’s colonizer. In chapter two of the text, Annie is speaking about just another summer day that she spends with her mother. She talks about the daily regiment her mother had for her which consisted of bathing and eating. What catches my attention the most is when they go into town with each other. “I spent the day following my mother around and observing the way she did everything. When we went to the grocer’s, she would point out to me the reason she bought each thing.” Instead of …show more content…
John, or the Colonizer, influences or tries to influence Annie, or the colonized. I used textual support to show this parallel. When Annie is being influenced by her mother early on, when she begins to feel grateful for having her mother, and when she and her mother are at their darkest point and she’s having mixed emotions about her mother. From my point of view, the text ultimately shows how Annie is influenced early on, she notices that she has different morals than her mother, and in a way she bends her morals but eventually is still colonized in the end. Not as severe as some others but still
Helen comes from a very low class family and community. Helen’s family is known as what is called “the ghetto”, although they may not have riches they have a great heart that unites them happily. Helen depended so much on a believed love who failed her. Helen never really came far on her education due to having everything with Charles. Charles lost interest on Helen, but she was blindfolded to see that her happiness didn’t exist. Charles has had an affair during their matrimony with a light complected woman who is mother of his two children. The woman had more power over Helen’s feelings because Charles realized his children needed him. Charles left Helen without much to do, kicking her out o...
Jamaica Kincaid wrote “A Small Place” after she visited Antigua after twenty years. When she visited her hometown, she was disappointed. Her tone in the book is tense consist angry and sad. As she said “I wrote with a kind of recklessness in that book. I didn’t know what I would say ahead of time. Once I wrote it, I felt much radicalized
Her life seems like it has been so long when in reality it has only been a short twenty-three years. The book ends with Annie on a bus with other, young protesters singing. "We shall overcome, We shall overcome, We shall overcome some day. I WONDER. I really WONDER." (Moody, 1968, p. 424). While Annie is still determined to close the racial gap, she ponders whether or not if blacks really will overcome racism. I believe the youth and enthusiasm of the other passengers represent the hope for the future, that one day they will overcome.
Seeing Helen from the beginning,and the way she dresses, and the house she lived in, you would think she came from a wealthy family and has been raised to dress very elegant like, when in reality it’s the total opposite. Before Charles, Helen was raised in what you call a “ghetto” neighborhood. Her mother is a christian lady but her grandmother would not be scared to run over a human being. They have a two story frame home and associate with many people regardless of who they are and where they come from. You can assume Helen has a high school education seeing that she can read, write and spell. Helen has no work experience because she has been dependant on Charles. Because Charles pampered her with what she wanted, abused her and treated her with disrespect, she has changed her ways. Helen learns to work for what she wants, stand up for herself, keep her guard up even when not needed and not put up with any disrespect.
Kincaid, Jamaica. The autobiography of my mother . New York: Farrar, Straus, Giroux, 1996. Print.
Unlike in her novel Annie John, however, Kincaid does not specify which West Indian Island Lucy hails from. It also seems to be set in the post colonial period and there is evidence that this island was a colony of England. Evidence of the topic of the mother-daughter relationship is interspersed within the plot of Lucy. Much like Annie John, Lucy has an ambivalent relationship with her mother; one that has moved from a very intimate and loving one to one full of deception and contempt as Lucy’s mother tries impose her way of life on her daughter, being “mystified as to how someone that came from inside her would want to be anyone different from her:”
Rick Moody's "Boys" and Jamaica Kincaid's "Girl" are both written I a stream-of-consciousness style of writing. They both offer an inside glimpse into the feelings of a parent as they watch their children grow into adulthood. While they are similar in style the point of view of the narrators differs greatly. In “Boys” the narrator is simple writing an account of what is happening in the life of the boys. There is no judgment or personal opinions expressed just a running tally of events in the boys’ lives. In “Girl” the narrator inputs her feelings about how her daughter is growing. It is an account of all the things the girl is doing wrong, and how she should go about fixing those mistakes. In some ways the poems collectively represent a strong
The character of the husband, John, in “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman is introduced as a respected physician and a caring husband who strives to improve the mental health of his wife, the narrator, who is diagnosed with temporary nervous condition. John tries throughout the story to apply professional treatment methods and medications in his approach to helping his wife gain strength. However, his patient, his wife, seems to disregard John’s professional opinions and act as if she is following his advices only during his awakening presence with her. The narrator seems to be in need of John’s positive opinion about the status of her mental condition in order to avoid the criticism even though she disagrees with his treatment methodology. John, without doubt, cares for his wife and her wellbeing, but he does not realize how his treatment method negatively impacts their relationship his wife’s progress towards gaining strength. Although John was portrayed as a caring and a loving physician and husband to the narrator through out most of the story, he was also suggested as being intrusive and directive to a provoking level in the mind of the narrator.
Even with the advancement of women in society, their roles and societal expectations have not changed. Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour” and Jamaica Kincaid’s “Girl” are two stories with varied elements set in different periods in history, that show the role society has deemed as belonging to women. "The Story of an Hour" was written in the year 1894, almost a century before Kincaid wrote "Girl". However, despite the large gap in the times of the authors, a common theme emerges and that is the theme of the oppression of women and the role they are expected to assume in society.
...her and daughter goes deeper than the surface, where mother daughter banter seems normal in this day and age. In actuality, during this oppressive state between Britain and the Caribbean, the mother favored British lifestyle and all that was affiliated with it, yet in opposition, the girl was anti- imperialism, therefore causing conflict among each other. In what seems to be a sort of monologue, “Girl” goes onto contain a theme involving political overtones less apparent and contrary to that of “A&P.”
This scene really gives a visualization of Annie and Helen’s competitive relationship and with competition you are highly assertive and uncooperative. Having an entire relationship that is uncooperative but at the same time assertive is the definition of a really rough relationship and it definitely won’t last long. Relationships need balance and Annie’s relationship with Helen is solely negative with no positive to gain and when you are faced with that much negativity it will impact your self-concept as well as how you are views by
Through the use of emotional arguments and social appeal the author, Kincaid, gets the feeling across that she was a victim of England. To get you to feel like the victim she uses lots of metaphors. In the first paragraph she uses the one, “England was a special jewel all right and only special people got to wear it”(p.61). It is right here that the author sets the tone of the essay. She gives you the idea that she was not special enough to put on this gem of England. In doing this she makes a social appeal to anyone looking for a view of colonization. In using descriptive language she make you feel sorry for her in the how she had to “Draw a map of England”(p.63), at the end of every test.
In Daisy Miller, Henry James slowly reveals the nature of Daisy"s character through her interactions with other characters, especially Winterbourne, the main character." The author uses third person narration; however, Winterbourne"s thoughts and point of view dominate." Thus, the audience knows no more about Daisy than Winterbourne." This technique helps maintain the ambiguity of Daisy"s character and draws the audience into the story.
In the short story, “Girl,” the narrator describes certain tasks a woman should be responsible for based on the narrator’s culture, time period, and social standing. This story also reflects the coming of age of this girl, her transition into a lady, and shows the age gap between the mother and the daughter. The mother has certain beliefs that she is trying to pass to her daughter for her well-being, but the daughter is confused by this regimented life style. The author, Jamaica Kincaid, uses various tones to show a second person point of view and repetition to demonstrate what these responsibilities felt like, how she had to behave based on her social standing, and how to follow traditional customs.
In the short story “Girl” by Jamaica Kincaid is a story that everyone can related to. The story is about a mother telling her daughter what to do, what not to do and how to do things. Kind of like society or parents or a friends of what to do. There has also been always been expectations of what to do and how to do things in life regards of gender, nationality or religion. The male has he’s duties and the female has different duties. However, in the typical society today, a person is supposed to graduate from high school and go straight in to an Ivy League university, to get a degree in a field of study that makes lot of money. While working a person must save money for that dream big house with the white picket fence. At the same time, you have to look for that perfect spouse so you can have the big beautiful dream wedding. After the wedding it’s the romantic honeymoon to Bora Bora. After a couple years the baby comes, and you are a happy family. Typically, that is what parents teach their children of what is what is expected of them.