Literature Help: Annie John

By Students' Academy

“Annie John” by Jamaica Kincaid was first published in 1985. It is a coming-of-age novel that describes the growth of a girl in Antigua, an island in the Caribbean.

The novel deals with several significant issues such as mother-daughter relationships, racism, lesbianism, education, depression, and the conflict between the modern medicine and the medicine based on the native superstitious knowledge.

This growing up novels revolves around the life of a girl. It presents the moral, psychological, and intellectual development of the central character of the novel.

Literature Help: Annie John
Copyright
Chapter One: Introduction
Chapter Two: Plot Overview
Chapter Three: Characters
Chapter Four: Complete Summary
Chapter Five: Critical Analysis

• Language: English
• Publisher: Raja Sharma
• Release date: Feb 17, 2015
• ISBN: 9781310247064

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Literature Help: Annie John

Copyright

Literature Help: Annie John

Students' Academy

Copyright@2015 Students' Academy

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Chapter One: Introduction

Annie John by Jamaica Kincaid was first published in 1985. It is a coming-of-age novel that describes the growth of a girl in Antigua, an island in the Caribbean.

The novel deals with several significant issues such as mother-daughter relationships, racism, lesbianism, education, depression, and the conflict between the modern medicine and the medicine based on the native superstitious knowledge.

This growing up novels revolves around the life of a girl. It presents the moral, psychological, and intellectual development of the central character of the novel.

Annie John, the title character and the protagonist of the novel, can be considered as a Caribbean bildungsroman.

There are several other novels which present the growth of their central characters while comparing their experiences with the lives of the people of the West Indian colonies where they live.

Some of the famous bildungsromans include Abeng, Beka Lamb, and Crick Crack, Monkey.

All these novels, including Annie John describe the central character’s growth towards maturity, comparing it with the progress of the society which moves from colonialism to freedom.

Annie John happens to have a very problematic relationship with her mother. This tense relationship tells us a lot more about the society. Like the tense relationship between the mother and daughter, Antigua and its British protectorate had always been on conflicting terms.

After the publication of Annie John, Kincaid got six other novels published. She also wrote several sketches, and an essay on the politics of Antigua, A Small Place.

Her other famous works include Lucy, The Autobiography of my Mother, My Garden Book, and My Brother.

The major themes which the author explores in her novels include mother-daughter relationship, the complexities of colonization, and gardening.

Kincaid’s prose writing style has always been admired for its lyrical and incantatory characteristics. She presents very rich and colorful details of the life in the Caribbean. She very noticeably includes the names of places, local plants and edible things.

In the recent years, Kincaid’s work has also been analyzed in the light of post-colonial and feminist theorist. Many of her stories and novels have found their place in the literature studies at several schools and colleges around the world.

Both critics and literary scholars have always admired her as a writer with a unique style of writing.

Chapter Two: Plot Overview

Annie John is the central character and protagonist of the novel. She narrates the story of her life. The time period covered by her story is from the