Annie John. A Journey of Self-Realization
ENGL 103, Section Q Paul Garcia
Instructor: John Labella pagarci2@illinois.edu
A Journey of Self-Realization Somewhere in the Caribbean, the narrator tells a story which describes her psychological changeover and talks about relationships of mother-daughter, racism, and education. ‘Annie John’ is an emotive story of a growing girl in Antigua. The novel was authored by Jamaica Kincaid in the year 1985. The story talks about issues like clinical depression and struggle for the supremacy between medical science and native superstitious are also covered by the author in her novel. This paper discusses the novel, Annie John and talks about the coming-of-age of Annie John. Annie John is the main character as well as the narrator in this story. She used to share a beautiful and very close relationship with her mother. She is a growing child and has developed her own understanding of different things. Once Annie John saw her mother participating in a burial of a child of her age and Annie developed a feeling of hatred against her mother. This incident affected her psyche, she, as a child could not digest that children die. Annie started hating her mother’s touch because it was not that soothing touch anymore. She started seeking other things to dislike in her mother which she found very soon. When Annie was merely twelve years old, she was told by her mother that she is a young lady and their paths are about to be separated very soon. Annie was unable to understand the idea of separation and imagination of being separated filled Annie’s mind with abhorrence, she considers this changed behavior as betrayal by her mother. The young girl finds herself in an isolated world and a number of questions come into her mind regarding her existence and her future. Annie seems to be a
Instructor: John Labella pagarci2@illinois.edu
A Journey of Self-Realization Somewhere in the Caribbean, the narrator tells a story which describes her psychological changeover and talks about relationships of mother-daughter, racism, and education. ‘Annie John’ is an emotive story of a growing girl in Antigua. The novel was authored by Jamaica Kincaid in the year 1985. The story talks about issues like clinical depression and struggle for the supremacy between medical science and native superstitious are also covered by the author in her novel. This paper discusses the novel, Annie John and talks about the coming-of-age of Annie John. Annie John is the main character as well as the narrator in this story. She used to share a beautiful and very close relationship with her mother. She is a growing child and has developed her own understanding of different things. Once Annie John saw her mother participating in a burial of a child of her age and Annie developed a feeling of hatred against her mother. This incident affected her psyche, she, as a child could not digest that children die. Annie started hating her mother’s touch because it was not that soothing touch anymore. She started seeking other things to dislike in her mother which she found very soon. When Annie was merely twelve years old, she was told by her mother that she is a young lady and their paths are about to be separated very soon. Annie was unable to understand the idea of separation and imagination of being separated filled Annie’s mind with abhorrence, she considers this changed behavior as betrayal by her mother. The young girl finds herself in an isolated world and a number of questions come into her mind regarding her existence and her future. Annie seems to be a