Jamaica Kincaid's The Autobiography Of My Mother

In the novel The Autobiography of My Mother (1996), Jamaica Kincaid reveals the psychological impacts of female subordination by characterizing a siren who drowns an autocratic male. Kincaid explores the influences of patriarchal and imperialistic governance on the lives of post-colonial inhabitants (Bahee and Sahar 170). The novel’s protagonist, Xuela, exerts defiance towards her oppressors to refuse the vulnerability of acquiring a subaltern identity. The British patriarchs assume superiority over the Dominican inhabitants by promoting conformity to western ideology (Bahee and Sahar 171). Xuela refuses to assimilate to western culture by rejecting the relevance of her cultural and familial background; she cultivates an authentic identity

While Xuela and her classmates are traveling to school, they encounter an enchanting woman in a river who was “beautiful in a way that made sense to [them], not a European way” (Kincaid 35). The woman is distinctively African and reflects Homer’s depiction of a siren when she “open[s] her mouth and a strange yet sweet sound [comes] out” (Kincaid 35). The Siren’s African heritage directly contradicts European culture; she displays antithetical physical characteristics to the masculine colonizer. Furthermore, the location of the siren in the water identifies her as a symbol of African culture. The children locate her at the nexus of the river and the ocean. In African religions, the nexus is the setting where the goddesses Oshun and Yemaya join together (Monaghan 42). Oshun is the goddess of sensuality and passion, while Yemaya is the goddess of intelligence and motherhood (Monaghan 42, 44). The goddesses’ encouragement of female empowerment directly contradicts patriarchal, imperialistic ideologies of oppression. The siren actively encourages the child that has a “male mask of heedlessness and boastfulness” to follow her into the depths of the water (Kincaid 35). The male inherits a post-colonial identity that values patriarchy and imperialism, which the siren seeks to destroy. Although Xuela