Annie John By Jamaica Kincaid: An Autobiographical Fiction Novel

This Autobiographical Fiction novel is based on the 6-year span of a girl’s life that lives in British Colonized Antigua. The people of Antigua are descendants of African Slaves brought there to work sugar plantations. Annie is almost obsessed with the thought of death because of her religion, but she has been fortunate to not see many. Annie is considered a privileged young girl because her parents are married, and she attends school. Although parent- child relationships are key in this community, Annie has a different experience than she would like or expect causing rebellion and need for replacement. In the novel Annie John by Jamaica Kincaid, the protagonist Annie grows and acts out creating a passive aggressive relationship between her

While Annie begins to cry about the absence of her mom she says, “I could not wipe out of my mind the feeling I had had when I couldn’t find her”(44). This shows how Annie can feel so lost after a short moment without her mother, and it could have been a moment for her to cope with independence. Annie needs to learn how to grow up and make good decisions on her own. Annie experienced the absence of her mom in an unintentional way the first time, but the next time she feels unwanted it is clearly intentional and straightforward. Annie’s mother is focused on breaking this tight bond and says, “You just cannot go around the rest of your life looking like a little me”(26). As all young girls would react, Annie feels offended. She has grown up her whole life following in her mom’s footsteps and now she has to accept the change. Annie’s mother tries to return love to Annie and steer her in the right path, but some of her ways of doing it create problems and feelings of

Annie thinks that the things she does are okay because of her close relationship with her parents, and when she finds out they are not she says, “What a new thing this was for me: my mother’s back turned on me in disgust”(28). Annie’s rebellion causes her mother to take a step back and realize that she is growing up faster than she expected. Annie never knew that her mom could respond to her change in behavior in a negative way. Although she has already created trouble, her mom starts to show a new side that can react in a harsh and verbal manor. It is shortly realized that her mother knows how to treat a teenager when she says, “A person I did not recognize answered in a voice I did not recognize”(27). Some of Annie’s friends have mothers that to do not care about what they do, but Annie is starting to realize that hers does. Her actions she commits with her new partner in crime and bad influence, The Red Girl, blow away the goodness in Annie’s innocent heart and cause her mom to react in this sort of