Analyzing Jamaica Kincaid's Lucy

Analyzing “Lucy” In Jamaica Kincaid’s Lucy, we enter a novel that is narrated by the protagonist Lucy Josephine Potter. In this fictional work of art I think that Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s ideas in “The Danger of a Single Story” comes through very clearly. I think both of these works are parallel to one another because this novel develops in the same way that Adichie tells her autobiography. Throughout this story we get supporting material of direct acknowledgement of the danger of the single story through formal structure, plot development and the narrative as well. Between these three elements there are varying levels of emphasis of the same type of danger Adichie talks about. Looking back at the general structure of Lucy we can see a
trend that begins to occur in the first half of the novel. That is, the Protagonist (Lucy) leaves her childhood home in The Caribbean to escape colonial influence and pursue her dreams that her mother, a meaningful figure in her life, are opposed to. Lucy moves to a large American city where she works as an au pair. We then find out that she develops a relationship with her employers. She struggles with the burden of her resenting her mother for neglecting her when her brothers were born. She continuously is reminded of the love her and her mother once shared and how she keeps encountering lost or undeveloped connections in her personal life. This is a brief summary of how the beginning of the story develops.
Throughout the second half and without going into any specific detail on this matter, we see that Lucy starts to struggle with the connections that she has made with her employers and her friends. She continuously compares these relationships to the most important one she has ever had, which is her and her mother’s. The second half brings about more dramatic parts of the story as well. Lucy witnesses an affair, a corrupt marriage, multiple sexual encounters, and more in depth thoughts about the expectations she had of her “fresh start.” Adichie is shining though here because she herself has encountered some of these same struggles in her life.
Another idea that readers should pay attention to, is the idea of Lucy making a number of assumptions at the beginning of the story.
This goes along with the idea of the danger of a single story because we find out early on that she is from a different country where everyday things can be very different than being in a large northern American city. In the text Lucy says “The sun was shining but the air was cold.” This simple statement can be viewed as Lucy being reminded of the bright warm sunny days from her homeland and how when the sun was out it meant the day would be warm. On the contrary, many American tourist’s idea of The Caribbean or “the islands” as always being a hot tropical vacation spot. However, she is not in her place of origin, the place she knows like the back of her hand. No, she was in a chipper crowded city and even though the sun was shining and the sky looked blue, it was still cold.
Next, Lucy begins her long journey to America for a “fresh start” like we discussed earlier. When she arrives she begins employment with a family that superficially has it all. They are a well privileged white family, but that does not bother her. In fact, she grows quite fond of being around them. She talks about developing a relationship with the mother Mariah and the father Lewis. Most of all she found an unconditional type of love in her heart for Miriam, the youngest daughter. Mostly because Miriam reminded her a lot of herself as a
child.
Mariah begins to talk to Lucy more and as their relationship continues Lucy is repeatedly reminded how much Mariah acts like her mother. I think that this is one of many motifs in the story because these mental and emotional encounters happen for better and for worse in the novel. During one of their conversations regarding Lucy’s new friend Peggy, Mariah says “I guess you like Peggy a lot, and, you know, you really should have a friend.” Immediately after this statement Lucy compares Mariah to her mother saying, “This was a way in which Mariah was superior to my mother, for my mother would never come to see that perhaps my needs were more important than her wishes.” I think this exchange speaks loud because Lucy is taking a moment to acknowledge that in some ways Mariah is better than her mother. However, through the entire story we see Lucy have more negative than positive recollections. Lucy causes herself added pain by continuing to not read her mother’s unopened letters. She writes back only one time for the occasion of her father’s death to send money but she makes up a fake address so her mother will never contact her again. So rather than facing her mother and making an attempt to heal from the neglect she refers to. She chooses to forever burden herself with the constant thought of never again having the unconditional love that she once had with her mother. And perhaps the most important words in the book, “’I wish I could love someone so much that I would die from it.’ And then a great wave of shame came over me and I wept and wept so much that the tears fell on the page and caused all the words to become one great big blur.” In the end, Lucy is describing the overwhelming shame she had from putting herself in isolation.

Lastly, I think that this novel has many examples that shout out at the danger in a single story and anybody that reads this novel should understand the reasoning behind why a single story, even your own story, could be dangerous. I believe that life in other parts of the world can give different views about the meaning of life. The relationship between this novel and Adichie’s work is incredible. Furthermore, Jamaica Kincaid is one of the few literary artists that does not let her work be defined by societal categories.