Christy Mondesir
Mrs. Shah
English 11
6 April 2015 Learning to let go of mommy’s hand:
Nothing is more special than the relationship between a mother and a daughter, but nothing is more tragic than when that relationship falls apart. Jamaica Kincaid’s “Annie John” is about the relationship between a mother and a daughter that slowly breaks apart in postcolonial Antigua. Their relationship deteriorates, because Annie (Miss Annie Victoria John's daughter) is coming of age and is exposed to death at a young age, which causes her to become distant from her mother since she does not tell Annie much about death and Annie is eager to know. Kincaid shows that death, coming of age, and post colonialism are important themes that are explored throughout …show more content…
Annie John is a young girl that resides in postcolonial Antigua. Growing up she cherishes the relationship that she has with her mother, but she becomes curious about death when she spots figures in the distance inside of a nearby cemetery from her home. She questions her mother about death on several occasions and she learns that even children die. She becomes more accustomed with death when people around her begin to die such the little girl that died in her mother’s arms, her neighbor, and the humpback girl. As Annie approaches her adolescence she must learn to become her own woman without her mother's supervision or care. She realizes this when she is swimming in the ocean alone and her mother ignores her. Mrs. John and Mr. John are Annie's parents. Mrs. John traveled to Antigua when she left Dominica with only a trunk. As the story progresses Mrs. John stops nurturing her daughter in order for Annie to mature into a young woman rather than remain the dependent young girl. Mr. John does not play a significant role in the story, because he is more distant to Annie. It is made evident that he has hurt and somewhat lost the trust of his family since he has had several other women in his life and is allegedly fathers other children. The Red Girl is a younger girl that Annie meets, while in school. The Red Girl is whom Annie would like to be without her mother's control. The reason being is that the Red Girl bathes and fixes her hair when she pleases (except …show more content…
Death is a major topic that is explored throughout the book. At a young age Annie became curious about death and questioned her mother about it .When Annie felt as if she did not receive the answers she was looking for, she took it upon herself to explore death on her own. Annie travels to the cemetery and funeral parlors. This not only shows Annie's ambitious character, but how she also helped to ruin her relationship with her mother since she was so curious to know about death. As a child Annie should not have been exposed to the concept of death, because it not only changed her view of the world, but also her view of her mother since her mother tried to keep it away from her. A second topic Kincaid explored in "Annie John” was post colonialism. This topic is present throughout the book in the setting, the characters and their mindset, and the Antiguan culture. Post colonialism plays a large role in the storyline, because it is though this setting that Annie struggles to find her identity as a postcolonial subject. Annie is a postcolonial subject, because she is born in Antigua where she is exposed to the aftermath of the colonial powers destruction to her culture. Annie learns to accept that the British are also a part of her culture, despite the corruption the British have caused in her once strong Antiguan culture. In chapter five Annie struggled to find herself while