Annie JOHN Formal Paper PDF

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In the book “Annie John” by Jamaica Kincaid, The mother-daughter relationship drives the plot in Annie John as it is the primary theme....

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Gissel Rodriguez ENGL 101 March 19, 2021 Formal Paper on “Annie John” In the book “Annie John” by Jamaica Kincaid, The mother-daughter relationship drives the plot in Annie John as it is the primary theme. The difficulties and tensions Annie goes through with the incapacity to accept that she is living a separate life from her mother, Annie is her own self. Jamaica Kincaid describes the desires Annie has to stay tied up with her mother, a common emotion most girls her age share with their mother. Furthermore, when Annie ages, she finds herself trapped between both love and the hatred for her mother, which leads her to become the opposite of an “ideal child” going against her mothers beliefs. Annie becomes her own person, having her own life leading to loneliness and depression. She compares herself to a painting called Young Lucifer, which recalls Paradise Lost from the earlier chapter, reminding readers of Annie's isolation from her own personal paradise. Such comparison hurts Annie, especially by realizing the woman she became and the disgust she feels towards her own physical appearance. Annie's visit to town and her contemplation upon her reflection shows the extent to which she is falling apart. Kincaid wrote, “What I was really looking at was my own reflection in the glass, though it was a while before I knew that”,( Kincaid 94). Annie was so into her thoughts that she didn't even notice that the reflection she was looking at in the glass was herself. She looked so different that she didn't even notice how much she had changed since the last time she took notice of herself. Annie was falling apart, she wasn't feeling herself as she walked; she didn't even notice her surroundings nor herself.

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When Annie sees her face, she thinks that she is ugly and ragged. Kincaid states, “My whole head was so big, and my eyes, which were big, too, sat in my big head wide open, as if I had just had a sudden fright”, (Kincaid 94). Annie sees herself on the glass reflection and scares herself, she starts to notice all these imperfections on herself. This demonstrates that she thinks her physical appearance does not go along with her, she says her head is too big and so were her eyes they are not at a proportional size when being compared to “normal” people. In addition, “My skin was black in a way I had not noticed before, as if someone had thrown a lot of soot out of a window just when I was passing by and it had all fallen on me”, (Kincaid 94). Annie starts to notice imperfections in her skin tone, something she hadn't cared about before. She seems to hate her skin color at this point because she feels it is something that isn't meant for her as she describes that it's as if someone had thrown something on her making her this shade of black. Additionally, “On my forehead, on my cheeks were little bumps, each with a perfect, round white point. My plaits stuck out in every direction from under my hat; my long, thin neck stuck out from the blouse of my uniform”,(Kincaid 94). Annie starts to notice imperfections in her skin signaling her sadness over feeling ugly, unworthy. Annie compares herself to a painting of Young Lucifer. It states, “At heart, you could see, he was really lonely and miserable at the way things had turned out. I was standing there surprised at this change in myself, when all this came to mind, and suddenly I felt so sorry for myself”,(Kincaid 95). The comparison to Lucifer is consistent with the last chapter's reference to Paradise Lost in that it again marks her as a person, like Lucifer, who has been kicked out of paradise by a dominant figure and who is now bound to eternal loneliness and isolation due to such expulsion. Annie sees herself as Lucifer.

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Annie's feeling of dismay at her physical body and appearance prefigures her physical illness that follows in the next chapter. Her appearance is described as “Altogether, I looked old and miserable”,(Kincaid 94). Already by her obsessing over the “black ball” of sadness in her and by seeing her face with such deformity. Kincaid says, “I felt so sorry for myself that I was about to sit down on the sidewalk and weep, already tasting the salty bitterness of my tears'', (Kincaid 95). Annie appears to be on the cusp of a mental breakdown. A mental breakdown she can already foreshadow, she can already feel the outcome. In conclusion, it can be said that Annie has hate/anger towards her physical appearance. She compares herself to a painting called Young Lucifer, which recalls Paradise Lost from the earlier chapter, reminding readers of Annie's isolation from her own personal paradise. Why is Annie struck by the painting entitled The Young Lucifer? Annie sees herself in Lucifer due to the fact he is perceived as the devil and she has made some bad decisions that make her feel like the devil herself. What does she have in common with Lucifer? Just like Lucifer showed no remorse when doing such rebelling actions when expelled from heaven, Annie constantly showed bad behavior and actions showing no remorse, instead she continued to do so feeling in a way proud of herself. For example, when lying to her mother about the marbles that were in her possession. However, due to Lucifer's expulsion he is entitled to eternal loneliness just like Annie is feeling at the moment, depression and isolation. How does Lucifer’s expulsion from Paradise resemble her perception of her own life? Lucifer is expelled from Paradise because he rebelled against God and the plan that constructed Heaven. Annie has done bad actions and she rebelled against her mother and her beliefs, she has robbed objects and also constantly lied to her mother. Annie saw herself in Lucifer....