Jamaica Kincaid is one of the most acclaimed Caribbean authors of our time. She was born in Saint Johns, Antigua. Kincaid is praised for her work in short fiction, novels, and short essays. She explores the relationship between a mother and daughter and themes of anti colonialism. When Kincaid turned 17 she was sent to the US to work for a rich family in New York. The themes that are present within Kincaid’s life go hand in hand with what we have discussed in other stories we have examined in class. There have been many examples where other individuals have been misplaced however, they all turn it into something positive where their readers are able to see what they have experienced and apply it to their own lives. In this case, Kincaid can be considered the “other”. This is because she was sent away to a country that she was not familiar with where she was forced to adjust on her own.
Some of Kincaid’s work includes her first piece which is, At the Bottom of the River, which is a collection of short stories and reflections. Annie John and Lucy, are both novels but were also autobiographical in nature but so were most of her pieces. A Small Place, a three part essay, continued her depiction of Antigua and her rage towards its ultimate ruin. One of the other works I am going to talk about is Girl. This one stood out because of how powerful it was. When I was looking at this piece there were a lot of themes I noticed that relates to the mother and daughter relationship as mentioned before. The story opens up with a speaker that appears to be her mother telling her how to perform household chores. Another theme present is to be “feminine” which means to embrace modesty and to display good manners over honesty. The other theme present is sexuality. The mother figure in the story is constantly peppering the girl with constant warnings and accusations about the girl becoming a slut. From looking deeper into one of her works it is clear how her main themes reflect through her stories and how she feels about the way her relationship was with her own mother.
Her goal was to depict Caribbean culture in the way she saw fit and that’s exactly what she did. She ultimately enjoyed her life in the city and took advantage of all the opportunities that were given to her. She was sent to a completely new place and didn’t have any idea how to handle it. Kincaid had to work her way to the top but she knew that it would be worth it. The themes present in Kincaid’s work reflects how her life was before moving to New York. She exclaimed “My writing has been very autobiographical. The events are true to me. They may not be true to other people. I think it is fair for my mother to say, ‘This is not me’. It is only the mother in the books I’ve written It is only the mother as the person I used to be perceived her…. For me it was really an act of saving my life, so it had to be autobiographical” (Jamaica Kincaid). She used her writing as a way to heal from the past experiences that ultimately shaped the person she is today and that is what makes her such a prolific writer.
https://biography.yourdictionary.com/jamaica-kincaid