Scared and Angry

Paper Summary:

The paper describes "Lucy" by Jamaica Kincaid, a novel about an angry young woman who moved to the United States as an au pair and experienced culture shock. The paper examines Lucy's fear in the feelings when she first arrived, with the killer in the subway and the devil-possessed girl. The paper explores her responses to her mother's letters and discusses why she left Jamaica and estranged herself from her mother. The paper illustrates Lucy's general fearfulness throughout the book but shows how she learns to distract herself from the fear. The paper demonstrates Lucy's final confidence that came from surviving difficulties and solving problems.

From the Paper:

"Lucy describes the little "maid's room" where she sleeps when she first arrives in the new country and the homesickness she experiences at first. She is uncomfortable because everything is so new and unfamiliar, the weather, the people, even the house itself. She has no sense of belonging. She describes her lack of patience with women she had read about in literature who were homesick, "But now I, too, felt that I wanted to be back where I came from. I understood it. I knew where I stood there." This sense of alienation, of not knowing what is going to happen, is scary with a future she describes as "black, blacker, blackest" (p. 6)."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Kincaid, J. (1965-1990). Lucy. New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux.

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