Jamaica Kincaid's novel, Lucy, is a first-person narrative of a young woman coming to
America from Antigua and does not latch onto anything in its path. Lucy herself absorbs
only small details of her new home, never trying to take in the place as a whole, not
looking beyond what is in front of her and truly tries to forget her past. Her first day in
America she reacts only to a few new experiences, i.e.,., her first elevator ride and food
from the refrigerator. She was taken out of school and forced to come to America to
work and help support her family. Her life here in America is filled with explorations,
especially in friendships and sexual encounters, however, her past and the life she left
behind in Antigua haunts her. The constant letters, which remain unopened, that she
receives from her mother, is a constant reminder of what she left behind upon her arrival
here in the states. Lucy was very depressed when she was forced to come to America
because she wanted to continue her education in the University in order to become a
teacher and have power. I believe that her ambition for power dealt with the way she felt
about the political rule of the English over Antigua. She wanted to break free and
become a leader in a sense, a "leader in disguise." She explains that these educated
women had authority and could just "sort of push everyone around" and "these wonderful
people who could run the world in a snap." The reader can get a sense of the kind of
person Kincaid wanted to be which was a leader. One who could be a black female
teacher, with a sense of authority and power was not common because 'black' meant
Jamaica Kincaid was born Elaine Potter Richardson in 1949 in the island of
Antigua. At seventeen she was sent to Westchester, New York, to work as an au pair, to
help support her family. Later on she studied photography at the ...