Jamaica Kincaid: Bio (1) §Born Elaine Potter Richardson in St. Johns, Antigua in 1949 §father: a carpenter and cabinetmaker, §mother: a homemaker and political activist. §Left Antigua when she was 17.

Jamaica Kincaid: Bio (2) §As the eldest of four, and the only girl, she was apprenticed to a seamstress, then plucked from school, where she was excelling, and sent to the US as an au pair ("really a servant") §changed her name to Jamaica Kincaid because her family disapproved of her writing.

Antigua §A lot more blacks than white people; §No experience of “freedom apprenticeship” after Emancipation in “Freedom was immediate but total.” (Murdoch 99) §A British colony till 1967.

Kincaid and Antigua  Within the structure of the British educational system imposed upon Antiguans, Kincaid grew to "detest everything about England, except the literature" (Vorda 79). § Expressed the anger at the failure of Antigua independence in her novel A Small Place. § Strongly critical of colonialism

Kincaid about her mother § She "should never have had children."  “She loves us when we‘re dying - not when we’re thriving because then we don‘t need her.” §

Mother-Daughter Relationship in Annie John  Major Factors : § Caribbean society: a male-dominated society in which the men are allowed to be irresponsible about housework, and enjoy sexual relationships outside marriage. § Mother as a social institution § A young girl’s socialization: feminie Oedipus complex

Mother-Daughter Relationship in Annie John: Examples § “The Circling Hand” -- Forced to separate herself from the mother; sent to be educated, witnessing the parents’ sexual intercourse (primal scene). § “Columbus in Chain”: mother turned into a crocodile p. 84 § being called a slut by her mother after conversing with a boy -- “Well, …like mother like daughter” (p. 102)

Annie’s independence process §Pre-occupation with death; §Pre-Oedipal symbiosis with the mother §Girl friends (Gwen, Red Girl) §Resisting British education (Columbus in Chain) § Exploring her own sexuality § fascination for the father (112-13) § Illness; grandmother’s (Ma Chess) care- taking -- a substitute for the mother (pp ) §Leaving Antigua

“The Circling Hand”  1. The symbiotic state: (pp ) §Examples of the daughter’s complete identification with the mother. pp § What kind of gender model does the mother offer Annie? What role does the father take in this part? e.g. p ; 25 § What’s the significance of the trunk? P. 20

“The Circling Hand” (2)  Separation: the changes  in Annie’s body p. 25; p. 27 §her dresses p. 26 §her schooling -- p. 29 §the mother’s expectations of her: pp

“The Circling Hand” (3)  the primal scene § the importance of the circling hand? P. 30  What role does the father take after this scene?

“A Walk to the Jetty”  Contradictory signs of independence + signs of nostalgia in this chapter? § Name, address, her listing of what she “never wants to see”; joy at not having to see them. pp ; her attention at what’s “hers” and what’s on her p §remembering a lot; the moment of getting out of bed 133 § contradictory feelings at the wharf: 144; 145, 147

“A Walk to the Jetty” Annie’s views of her parents & marriage §What kind of family does Annie have? § P. 132 § How do they look at her day of departure? pp § Their interaction: p. 136 §Gwen 137

Walking away from the past (memories, education and transitional objects) §Ms. Dulcie the seamstress, p. 138 §first experience of buying things 139 §saving money §interests that she has outgrown: glasses, porcelain dog, §library

Indivuation through complete separation §Can you relate to her need to leave the place forever? pp §Are you sympathetic with her hatred of the mother? Pp. 133