Annie John is the protagonist of the novel “Annie John”, a bildungsroman, written by Jamaica Kincaid in 1985. Annie’s sexual development, which is the part of growing up, changes her as a person and her stepping into adulthood is monitored. Her life in a small city becomes boring and unfulfilling as she grows up. At the beginning of the novel, Annie John is ten years old and she has a strong relationship with her mother. However, the situation changes when she enters puberty and gets her period and other female characteristics. As she reaches the age of fourteen, she becomes miserable and is in conflict with her family because she believes that only her peers can understand her. At the age of seventeen, she decides to become an adult and make decisions about her future on her own. Annie John is a powerful female character who needs become independent and to find her place in the world and live her own life without relying on her mother.
There are contradictory feelings involved in the period of adolescence and that is why Annie’s behavior seems to be strange. However, the final outcome which shapes the personality depends on Annie’s relationship with the closest family members. Annie’s own sexuality is influenced by the sexuality of her mother because her mother is her role model. The story takes place in Antigua and the main topic is the love between a mother and a daughter which changes through time. Annie’s identity as a young girl is shaped by the relationship she has with her mother. She has a strong connection with her mother, which involves feelings of love, hate and anger. All her actions are influenced by the relationship which she has with her mother.
When in search of her identity, Annie relies on her mother because it is her connection with the world. Her mother is an experienced woman even in the situation when the two of them are not best friends. Annie’s coming of age is fostered by her mother although Annie does not understand the change in her mother’s behavior. Mrs. John is an old-fashioned woman who wants her daughter to become a lady as soon as she is twelve years old. Annie cannot accept the fact that the mother she worships so much changes her attitude towards her so quickly and suddenly. The mother wants Annie to become like her and to have a household of her own one day. That is why she is raising her to be a good housewife and a lady who is capable of taking care of her family. Annie is the narrator in the novel and she is not objective. However, it is evident that her mother is a stabile woman who only wants what is best for her daughter. The fact that Annie is so similar to her mother makes their relationship difficult. Both of them are free-spirited and stubborn and want to be heard. Annie is a very intelligent girl and she cannot understand her mother’s sudden change in behavior. The mother is also guilty because she does not make Annie’s step into adulthood easier.
When she is not at school, Annie talks dirty which is related to her sexuality and she also resorts to lying and stealing. Annie is a unique and powerful person who skips grades at school which makes her feel dominant in life. She has strong intellect and she is a well-adjusted and well-developed adolescent who does not even have a problem with colonialism. She does not allow to be defined by others because she is a strong individual who has her own piece of mind and she values her integrity above all. Her sexuality is related to the fact that she wants to be in charge of everything in her life and sexuality is a dominant trait in the life of any person. Annie might seem to be arrogant at times, but that is but that is because she has a strong spirit and wants to impact in the world she lives in.
Annie’s mother is her role model in terms of sexuality as well and this also shapes Annie as a person. Mrs. John is seen from Annie’s perspective and Annie feels hatred for her for a long time. However, Mrs. John is a good mother, and attractive woman and an influential person who has many capabilities. The mother knows much about things that involve nature, life and death and this is important for Annie because she has strong feelings about death. Annie is fascinated by the fact that her mother is not afraid of death and that she deals with it in a proper way. Annie’s anger towards her mother is initiated by the fact that her mother insists on the fact that the two of them are different people who have unique personalities. The mother is a sexual person and Annie resents that especially because Mrs. John does think that it is something natural. She is even depicted during a sexual intercourse with her husband and it is also suggested that she was promiscuous since her teenage days. Her parents were disappointed with her behavior back then. Annie is envious about the sexuality that connects her parents but it also pushes her forwards to find her own sexuality.
Her body is going through a change and her mother becomes distant by not kissing her regularly anymore. Annie thought that she would be her mother’s baby for a long time, but adolescence changes everything and she is infuriated because of this. Her mother says: “You just cannot go around the rest of your life looking like a little me." To say that I felt the earth swept away from under me would not be going too far” (Kincaid 26). At this time her relationship with her mother deteriorates and she starts hating her and her sexuality. Annie’s body is going through great changes and this happens all of a sudden. She is completely unprepared for that and she does not feel support from her mother. Annie’s goals in life are to become and independent woman and a person of integrity. That is why it is important for her to understand herself as a sexual being. She is not sure about how she should act as an adult woman who is feminine and sexual and she becomes close with the girls at school which helps her understand her own position in a better way.
When Annie was at school she felt at home and at peace because of the love she felt for her classmates who were all girls. These girls became the substitution for her mother, especially Gwen. Annie thinks about what she felt while being in the company of her peers: “I looked at these girls surrounding me, my heart filled with just sprung-up love, and I wished then and there to spend the rest of my life with them” (Kincaid 45). When talking about Gwen she mentions the fact that the two of them were very similar and that they would walk home holding hands. Annie says: “We separated ourselves from the other girls, and they, understanding everything, left us alone” (Kincaid 46). As the story progresses, this friendship ends because both of them change as people.
The whole story is set in Antigua where Annie’ sexuality develops in the surroundings in which she is supposed to figure everything out by herself. At the beginning of the novel, Annie is devoted to her mother and later on she feels rejected by her. As she reaches puberty her sexuality awakens and she also becomes aware of her mother’s sexuality. This is an important part of being a woman in a traditional environment. Annie’s development in the sexual sense is influenced by the death of the young girls her age and she admires the way her mother deals with this. The woman in the colonialized community is forced to have multiple roles in life which includes being a sexual being, a mother and a servant. After Annie idolizes the picture of her mother, she finds it difficult to accept that her mother is feminine and sexual and that she is supposed to find her own path in life which is similar to her mother’s, but not the same. Annie resorts to be comforted by her female friends after she loses the support of her mother. Gwen, as well as Red Girl, is the girl she looks up to because they have much in common and yearn for freedom. Annie develops her sexuality through her connection with these girls. Gwen and Annie even bare their breasts under the moonlight because they believe this will foster their growth. The girls are not ashamed to reveal their developing body parts to one another.
Annie John is a novel which deals with the growing up of one girl who seeks for her identity in a world in which she feels lost. However, she is a girl of great strength because she manages to be a top student. Annie finally deals with her sexuality in a proper way and channels it because of her great intellect and her emotional development reaches the heights of her intellectual development.
Works Cited
Kincaid, Jamaica. Annie John. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1997. Print.
