Annie John The Journey Into Adulthood
The Journey into Adulthood Becoming an adult is a difficult experience. ... Annie John, a novel by Jamaica Kincaid, gives insight about the difficulties of coming of age in Caribbean society as a female. Annie John is a young girl with emotional problems who has difficulty maturing into a woman and understanding her sexual identity. Annie is confused about her sexuality while maturing into adulthood because she has abnormal relationships with people who are close to her during a critical period of development in her life. Annie perceives people who are close to her to be sometimes threatening. ... The relationships Annie has with her mother, father, and friends make her confused about her sexual identity. Annie’s relationship with her mother creates uncertainties about her sexual identity. Jamaica Kincaid places many situations in the story to show that Annie’s relationship with her mother is troubled. ... These thoughts reveal that Annie enjoys her mother’s physical features more than the care and comfort that she gives Annie. Annie loves her mother’s womanly sexual appeal and is obsessed with it. The problem that creates difficulty in their relationship is the drastic change Annie’s mother makes when she feels it is time for Annie to become a woman. As soon as Annie turns twelve, her mother expects her to behave like a woman and forget about her childish habits immediately. This new discipline is the opposite of Annie’s early childhood life. When Annie is younger, Kincaid creates an atmosphere of a mother protecting her daughter through unconditional love. In the early stages of Annie’s life, her mother does many things with Annie. Despite her mother’s kindness in the past, Annie feels inadequate and believes her mother no longer loves her. When Annie’s mother takes on the responsibility of bringing her daughter into womanhood, Annie automatically thinks her mother is turning on her because she is not as attractive.