Jamaica Kincaid’s SpeaksThrough her Writing

Jamaica Kincaid was born May 25, 1949 under the name Elaine Potter Richardson. She was born in St. John's, Antigua, which is part of the twin-island nation of Antigua and Barbuda. Kincaid’s mother was an at home mother and a political activist. Kincaid was very close to her mother. Her step father was a carpenter and a cabinetmaker, but she never knew her biological father. Kincaid’s parents felt that education was essential and they educated her under the British educational system. She was a very intelligent child and later was awarded a scholarship to the Princess Margaret School in St. John’s, Antigua. The emotional onset of her teenage years, as well as the rigid control of a British colonial education system, heightened Kincaid's sense of isolation.

Kincaid, while being considered brilliant by her teachers, was also labeled as troublesome and angry. It was at this instance in her young life when Kincaid started her retreat into reading and stealing books. She says: “When I was a child I liked to read. . . I didn't know anyone else who liked to read except my mother, and it got me in a lot of trouble because it made me into a thief and a liar. I stole books, and I stole money to buy them. . . Books brought me the greatest satisfaction. Just to be alone, reading, under the house with lizards and spiders running around."(Jamaica Kincaid)

Kincaid was the only child until she was nine but after the birth of her one of her three younger brothers her life changed forever. Once the center of her mother’s attention, Kincaid was now sidelined while her brothers became her parent’s main force. Not only did Kincaid feel neglected, but she felt as though her mother had betrayed her. At the age of 13, Jamaica’s mother pulled her...

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