Annie John

Annie John: A Bildungsroman?
Jamaica Kincaid’s story Annie John is often thought of as a “postcolonial coming-of-age novel.” To understand this, it must first be known what both terms, postcolonial and coming-of-age novel, mean. Postcolonial refers to the period of time after the establishment of independence in a colony. European countries, including England, France, Spain, Portugal, and the Netherlands, colonized other nations in order to benefit from things like resources or geographical locations for trading purposes. They colonized cultures in various countries including many African nations, the Caribbean, and Southern Asia. After a country becomes free from their colonizer, they are then considered to be in a post-colonial state.
The next part of the description, coming-of-age novel, refers to the way in which a text focuses on the growth of the main character from youth to adulthood. At first it displays the flaws of a character and then proceeds to show how the protagonist develops through experience as well as an understanding of the self. Themes of these novels often include, as they do in Annie John, maturation, wisdom, and loss of innocence. While many readers view Annie John as a post-colonial coming-of-age novel, because of Annie’s progression into maturity, the post-colonial setting of the novel challenges this interpretation through Annie’s unusually rebellious actions. Annie John is considered to be a bildungsroman, which is a subgenre of a coming-of-age novel.
It specifically focuses on Annie’s moral and psychological development and show how important her transformation of character is. This novel exemplifies the traditional bildungsroman is the way in which Annie views death. At the beginning of the novel she views it as contagious, which is shown when Annie expresses that she does not want her mother to touch her after her mother washes and prepares the body of a friend’s daughter after she passes. She fears death yet has many questions about it because she does not know anyone who has died. This curiosity shows her youth, as does her fantasy of her own death when she imagines how her father would be so sad that he will not even be able to build her coffin (12). As Annie begins to grow up, she worries less about death, which begins to show her moral and psychological advancement. This is apparent when Annie and her school girl friends sit on the tombstones during recess and sing dirty songs and show each other their bodies. If Annie were still in her earlier mindset she would most likely be obsessing over the fact that she is sitting a top of a dead body. Annie’s earlier view of death can also be seen as a connection to her fear of separation. This is particularly evident in Annie’s relationship with her mother. Kincaid begins the second chapter by talking about the physical and emotional closeness of Annie and her mother. "My mother
and I often took a bath together. Sometimes it was just a plain bath, which did not take very long. Other times it was a special bath in which the barks and flowers of many different trees, together with all sorts of oils, were boiled in the same large cauldron" (14). This shows Annie’s desire to stay connected with her mother, which displays her immaturity and innocence as a child. Kincaid devotes the majority of the book portraying how Annie is struggling with the idea that she and her mother are separate people.
This mother-daughter relationship begins to deteriorate as Annie enters adolescence. Annie realizes this when she catches sight of her parent’s intimacy and notices just how much her mother loves her father. “I was sure I could never let those hands touch me again; I was sure I could never let her kiss me again” (12). She feels as though her mother betrays her, and rightly begins believes their relationship will never be the same again. After this realization Annie begins to rebel against her mother. This shows her inability to accept the fact that she has to separate herself from her mother. Dissatisfaction is seen in Annie’s contradictory love and hate for her mother. She aims to please her mother with good grades, but is disobedient at home. This rebellion is the start of Annie’s loss of innocence, and eventually leads to her ultimate goal of leaving to go to England, when earlier in the novel she could not even imagine living in a separate house from her mother. The way in which Annie is finally able to separate herself from her family shows her coming-of-age.
Even though Annie John is customarily viewed as a bildungsroman, it can also be seen to challenge the traditional makings of a coming-of-age novel through its post-colonial era.
The atmosphere of the book’s setting, 1950’s Antigua post-colonization from Britain, plays a role in defining her character. The previous British rule is still evident, especially in Annie’s school. While it does allow her to become an exemplary student, it also brings out her arrogance. The British run institution tries to prevent students from engaging in rebellious activity through the teachings of English culture, history, and literature. The instructors teach the students not to question British history, which is apparent is Annie’s finding of the picture “Columbus in Chains,” which represents Columbus’ fight with the queen, which was previously unknown to Annie. After her discovery of this image, Annie writes underneath is that "the great man can no longer get up and go," and is consequently punished by her teacher (78). “How I loved this picture—to see the usually triumphant Columbus, brought so low, seated by the bottom of the boat watching things go by” (77). Annie finds this amusing because she did not expect to see Columbus like this because her teachers typically praised him for his help in colonizing Antigua, which they viewed as respectable. Annie’s comprehension of colonization is unusual for a student at her school because they are purposefully taught to praise Columbus and are not
exposed to the actual cruel history of Antigua.
Annie’s uncommonly rowdy charisma for an Antiguan in the post colonial era displays the challenges the novel has in sticking to its usual view of a coming-of-age novel. While the novel does show qualities of being a bildungsroman novel through Annie’s development into young adulthood, her rebellion against society goes against the norm. Her growth is shown in her adjusted understanding of death and separation from her mother, yet doubted in her unusual comprehension of the European colonization of her country.

Works Cited
Kincaid, Jamaica. Annie John. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1999.
3-148. Print.