Jamaica Kincaid's Lucy
Jamaica Kincaid’s Lucy
Coming of age is a popular topic for many fiction novels. Jamaica Kincaid is an author that excels at her craft. She envelops you in the plot, making you feel as if you yourself are a part of the tale. Lucy portrays the life of a young woman beginning her quest for freedom. Kincaid usually focuses on the West Indian culture and Lucy is no different. As Lucy finds her way in new surroundings, she meets friends and copes with personal issues in her life. Her determination to succeed inspires us all with the “sellable ‘underdog’ fight”. Jamaica Kincaid’s Lucy focuses on relationships with family, friends, and self. Jamaica Kincaid writes with a recurring theme of West Indian female development. (Hawthorne) Lucy is no different in that aspect but unprecedented in other ways. The main character is Lucy Josephine Potter, a spirited soul with a hunger for independence. (Hawthorne) Lucy is a young naïve young lady of 19 years old. (Hawthorne) Her mantra is freedom and independence in her “new” life in a big city. She works as an au pair. An au pair is a young foreigner who lives with a family in return for doing light housework. (Hawthorne) Lucy works for a wealthy white couple and their four young daughters. (Hawthorne) While being employed with the family, she develops feelings for the mother, Mariah, while comparing Mariah to her mother. An emigrant from Antigua, Lucy is accosted with the new surrounding of the United States, with its bright lights, boisterous crowds, and jaw-dropping sights. (Mahlis) Compared to earlier works, Jamaica Kincaid’s Lucy is involved in deeper, more emotional conflicts. (Hawthorne) Kincaid’s previous works ended as the characters would leave their home islands. Lucy begins the story where Kincaid’s other books left off. The story begins with Lucy arriving in the destination, in this case, New York. This gives the book an air of maturity and cynicism. (Oczkowicz) Lucy, being 19 in the story, engages in more
Coming of age is a popular topic for many fiction novels. Jamaica Kincaid is an author that excels at her craft. She envelops you in the plot, making you feel as if you yourself are a part of the tale. Lucy portrays the life of a young woman beginning her quest for freedom. Kincaid usually focuses on the West Indian culture and Lucy is no different. As Lucy finds her way in new surroundings, she meets friends and copes with personal issues in her life. Her determination to succeed inspires us all with the “sellable ‘underdog’ fight”. Jamaica Kincaid’s Lucy focuses on relationships with family, friends, and self. Jamaica Kincaid writes with a recurring theme of West Indian female development. (Hawthorne) Lucy is no different in that aspect but unprecedented in other ways. The main character is Lucy Josephine Potter, a spirited soul with a hunger for independence. (Hawthorne) Lucy is a young naïve young lady of 19 years old. (Hawthorne) Her mantra is freedom and independence in her “new” life in a big city. She works as an au pair. An au pair is a young foreigner who lives with a family in return for doing light housework. (Hawthorne) Lucy works for a wealthy white couple and their four young daughters. (Hawthorne) While being employed with the family, she develops feelings for the mother, Mariah, while comparing Mariah to her mother. An emigrant from Antigua, Lucy is accosted with the new surrounding of the United States, with its bright lights, boisterous crowds, and jaw-dropping sights. (Mahlis) Compared to earlier works, Jamaica Kincaid’s Lucy is involved in deeper, more emotional conflicts. (Hawthorne) Kincaid’s previous works ended as the characters would leave their home islands. Lucy begins the story where Kincaid’s other books left off. The story begins with Lucy arriving in the destination, in this case, New York. This gives the book an air of maturity and cynicism. (Oczkowicz) Lucy, being 19 in the story, engages in more
Cited: Hawthorne, Evelyn J. “Review of Lucy.” Contemporary Literary Criticism Select. Gale Group, Jan.-Feb. 2001. Web. 26 Nov. 2011. <http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CH1100034645&v=2.1&u=will19450&it=r&p=LitRC&sw=w>. Mahlis, Kristen. “Gender and Exile: Jamaica Kincaid’s Lucy.” Literature Resource Center. Gale Group, Jan.-Feb. 2001. Web. 26 Nov. 2011. <http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CH1100034660&v=2.1&u=will19450&it=r&p=LitRC&sw=w>. Oczkowicz, Edyta. “Jamaica Kincaid’s Lucy: Cultural Translation as a Case of Creative Exploration of the Past.” Contemporary Literary Criticism Select. Gale Group, Jan.-Feb. 2001. Web. 26 Nov. 2011. <http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CH1100034655&v=2.1&u=will19450&it=r&p=LitRC&sw=w>. Richardson, Elaine Potter. “Jamaica Kincaid.” Critical Survey of Long Fiction. Ed. Carl Rollyson. Vol. 4. Hackensack: Salem, 2000. 1780-1784. Print. Simmons, Diane. “The Rhythm of Reality in the Works of Jamaica Kincaid.” Literature Resource Center. Gale Group, Jan.-Feb. 2000. Web. 26 Nov. 2011. <http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CH1420031239&v=2.1&u=will19450&it=r&p=LitRC&sw=w>.