Abstract This paper examines the protagonist in JamaicaKincaid's "Lucy", especially the way her anger affects her relationships with the people who love her. The author points out that these relationships are hindered both by Lucy's uncertainty of what she wants and by the anger that constantly seems to be bubbling under the surface. The paper discusses the relationships between Lucy and her mother, Lucy and Mariah, and Lucy and Peggy.
From the Paper "When Lucy comes to the United States, her life takes a dramatic turn. All of the things that she once understood and had taken for granted have changed. On the morning of her first day in the United States, that point is illustrated quite clearly for her. The simple assumption that the shining sun equals warmth no longer has any validity. She is forced to acknowledge that she no longer lives in a tropical zone. This realization comes upon her: like a flow of water dividing formerly dry and solid ground, creating two banks, one of which was my past--as familiar and predictable that even my unhappiness then made me happy now just to think of it--the other my future, a gray black and overcast seascape on which rain was falling and no boats were in sight."
Abstract The paper examines the relationship between the mother and daughter in the short one-sentence story "Girl", by JamaicaKincaid. The paper looks at the the destructiveness of the relationship between them, and the negative attitude of the mother and the elements of the relationship that are evidenced in the short story.
From the Paper "There are several important themes to the short story "Girl" by Jamaica Kincaid, the most significant being the relationship between the mother and the daughter. It is not immediately clear who is narrating this story, which is actually a single-sentence list. The rhythm and cadence form a large part of the story's power, which has been said to induce a sort of "hypnosis," both on the part of the reader, and the daughter (Simmons 467). This rhythm, according to Simmons, reflects the lulling nature of the mother in the early part of the story. At first the words of wisdom that the mother gives to her daughter, whether told in the mother's voice or in the form of the daughter's repetition of what her mother has said, is practical, "simple, benevolent, and appropriately maternal" involving such mundane things as laundry, sewing, cooking (Simmons 467)."
Abstract This paper explains how Jamaica's tourist industry after 1960 reproduced colonial forms of oppression in an industry controlled by colonial elite investors and beneficiaries that capitalize on cheap labor supplies; explanation of results of mass tourism as pursued by various Third World countries, and in Jamaica's example; note higher basic costs, low industrial or other development, cultural decay; reinforcement of colonial/postcolonial elites in a dual economy and dual society of much poverty. Itwaru, Fanon, CLR James, plus other refs.
From the Paper "Jamaica is the third largest island in the Caribbean, discovered by Christopher Columbus in 1494, named earlier by the Arawak Indians, 'Xaymaca' or the 'land of wood and water'. The Spanish introduced slaves from Africa after 1513, as labourers in a new sugarcane industry. In 1655, Jamaica became a British colony, continuing on till its independence in 1962. Just before independence, economic development began that centered on cultivating tourism, in keeping with other emerging colonies of the British Commonwealth Caribbean. This paper shows that tourism involves a carrying on of colonial phenomenon in independent Jamaica, including the class gaps of a colonial society. The moneyed classes were those to invest directly..."
Abstract This paper is about the customary business, management and negotiation practices in Jamaica. It discusses the fundamental shift from a socialized to a market driven economy. The paper looks at the dependency of the Jamaican economy on services and the long term problems of the economy.
From the Paper "The reforms embraced measures that have been implemented in many other developing countries in the past two decades including removal of price controls, privatization of state assets and enterprises, liberalization of financial markets and international trade and reform of public administration..."
Abstract This paper examines how the two young women who are the subjects of the coming of age novels "Lucy", by JamaicaKincaid, and "Small Island", by Andrea Levy are complicated characters. The paper compares the main protagonists in the stories and explains that JamaicaKincaid's novel is told from the perspective of Lucy, the main character in the novel, and focuses only on Lucy's, as seen from her own perspective. The paper then looks at how in "Small Island", the character of Hortense is contextualized more fully, with the perspective and history of her husband, her landlady and her landlady's husband also being represented--and giving more perspective to her own, by surrounding it. The paper then points out that the background of race and post-colonial features strongly in these insights about difference, but the impact of these two novels is even further-reaching -- it is an impact which has everything to do with what it means to be human.
From the Paper "Both Hortense and Lucy are highly unpleasant people. Spoiled, selfish, self-absorbed, with a sense of entitlement that confounds belief, they are supremely uninterested in anyone other than themselves, and unable to see the suffering of others with any empathy. Hortense is convinced that she is special because of her golden skin and her well-known father. She has completely absorbed the colonial indoctrination of her education and believes herself to be truly English, and therefore above her home country and its people. In fact, upon arriving in England it becomes clear that she considers herself more English than the English."
Abstract The paper reviews JamaicaKincaid's novel "Annie John" in terms of the culture and history that helped produce it. The paper describes the "Coming of Age" theme. The paper also explains the family heritage, the mother/daughter relationship and the difficulty of resolving family problems.
From the Paper "Mothers and Daughters in Kincaid's "Annie John." "Annie John" by Jamaica Kincaid is a novel that focuses on the process of growing up, of coming to terms with one's family and heritage and developing an autonomous identity. In a review of the book, Barbara Williamson stated that the stories contained in the novel are distinguished by their minute examination of Annie's relationship to her mother being in her mother's grace, being banished from her mother's protection, finally exiling herself."
Abstract This paper discusses the ways in which the authors Sandra Cisneros and JamaicaKincaid both use a first person narrative that is constructed to define a feminist point of view within a racially charged patriarchal society. Although Miss Annie and Esperanza reflect different cultural views of both Caribbean and Latino perspectives, the paper describes how both women reflect an inward and intelligent first person view of a developing feminist identity within the novels.
From the Paper "Feminist Identity in the First Person Narrative Styles of Sandra Cisneros and Jamaica Kincaid This literary study will examine the use of the first person narrative to bring forth a feminist identity in the works of Sandra Cisneros and Jamaica Kincaid. By analyzing The House on Mango Street by Cisneros and Annie John by Kincaid, one can utilize the problems of race and the feminist search for identity within a male dominated society. In essence, the first person narrative of these novels reflect a struggle for a racially motivated feminist identity, which is reflected through the idiom of race, family and "coming of age" issues. The quest for female identity in the character Esperanza in The House on Mango Street is the main source of first person narrative that defines a woman's point of view."
Abstract This paper describes Kincaid's more cynical view of "Alice in Wonderland" in which he talks about the subversive and brutal elements of the classic story. The paper also compares Kincaid's reading of "Alice in Wonderland" to more traditional readings of the story.
From the Paper "Yet another traditional reading which Kincaid references is that which says Alice is ?the reader's surrogate on a frightful journey into meaningless night [where] practically all pattern, save the consistency of chaos, is annihilated." (92) Kincaid says that in this reading, Alice learns to reject chaos and the darkness of unlimited imagination and return to the ?sane madness of ordinary existence.? (92) This is the sort of reading which might suggest the story to be not only about children learning to navigate a foreign and nonsensical adult world, but also about the way in which children filter out the nonsense of their own fantasy lives and learn how to grow up and
chooses to reject chaos and also imagination and take part in the "ordinary existence" of adult life. These first two readings can be reconciled by saying that Wonderland represents the fantasy of a very young child's nonsensical imagination transposed over a sort of archetypal structure that is adult life (hence making adults seem absurd) -- and that what Alice is doing is rejecting the fantasy aspects while learning to make sense of the reality-based adult aspects."
An in-depth study which compares the manufacturing sector of Jamaica with the manufacturing sector in Trinidad and Tobago and why one is more successful than the other.
Abstract This paper compares, through the application of appropriate economic models, the development of the manufacturing sub-sector in Jamaica with the manufacturing sub-sector in Trinidad in order to identify those factors that have led to higher levels of growth in Trinidadian manufacturing than those prevailing in Jamaican manufacturing. The paper asks if the differences between Jamaica and Trinidad in the effectiveness of the transmission of export gains, have contributed to differences in the growth of the manufacturing sub-sector in the two countries. It also questions whether the differences between Jamaica and Trinidad, in relation to the development of internal obstacles emanating from governmental economic policy, have led to differences in the levels of foreign direct investment (FDI) in the two countries.
From the Paper "Throughout the decade of the 1980s, Jamaica experienced economic growth. The nation's mean growth rate for the decade was 2.2 percent, and the Jamaican economy recorded its highest growth rate, 4.1 percent, in 1990. Subsequently to 1990, Jamaican economy performed somewhat erratically through 1994 while maintaining growth. The economy was flat in 1995 and fell into recession in 1996, where it has since remained (World Bank, 1999). Gross domestic product (GDP) in Jamaica declined 0.7 percent in 1998 (Thomas, 1999). By the spring of 1999, Jamaica's economy was described as being in a state of "shambles" after recording its third consecutive year of recession in 1998 (Gibbings, 1999, p. 1).
The Trinidadian economy, by contrast with that in Jamaica, was in recession throughout the 1980s, experiencing mean negative growth of 2.9 percent across the decade. Trinidad experienced two years of economic growth in 1990 and 1991 before falling back into recession in both 1992 and 1993. From 1994 through 1998, however, Trinidad recorded strong economic growth, although the rate of growth steadily declined from 3.8 percent in 1994 to 3.1 percent in 1998 (World Bank, 1999). By the spring of 1999, however, Trinidad's economy was described as being in "rapid decline" (Gibbings, 1999, p. 1). GDP growth in the first quarter of 1999 slipped to two-percent (International Monetary Fund, 1999)."
Abstract Jamaica and Haiti share a common history of British and American influence. The writer explains that while both countries have been subject to a degree of political and economic instability, Haiti has a lengthy history of political oppression and economic chaos that continues today. The paper also states that while both countries have ongoing relationships with the United States, Jamaica's relationship is much more stable. Today, Haiti's economic and political future seems uncertain, while Jamaica is a relatively stable and prosperous nation.
From the Paper "In the 19th and 20th centuries, Jamaica's history was dominated by the English, the slave trade and democratic socialism. At the beginning of the 1800s, Jamaican slaves were subject to terrible treatment, and a slave revolts were common. During the largest of these revolts, the 1831 Christmas Rebellion, over 20,000 slaves murdered planters and destroyed plantations. As retribution, over 400 slaves were hanged, and the resulting outcry in England forced the Jamaican parliament to end slavery in 1834 (Lonely Planet, Jamaica).
The resulting economic transition to wage labor was largely chaotic, as former slaves chose to leave poor wages on plantation estates. White plantation owners were the only people with voting power. Conditions on the island remained poor and naval blockades during the American Civil War cut off vital supplies and made conditions even worse. The Morant Bay Rebellion resulted in public executions, hangings, and destruction that forced England to send more "enlightened" governors to Jamaica (Lonely Planet, Jamaica)."
This paper explains that the national identity of Jamaica and Bermuda is complicated and troubled by a history of colonialism, race, sugar and slavery.
Abstract This paper explains that, from a legacy of colonialism, Jamaica and Bermuda have carved out a more independent path through which they are better able to express an authentic local culture and identity. The author points out that, while Jamaica is the island with actual independence, Bermuda appears to be developing the more versatile and durable society. The paper states that the education system of Jamaica is still hampered by colonialism insofar as external imagery and tourist considerations actually determine what is taught to Jamaican school children so a citizenry is created, which will behave appropriately in the presence of white tourists. The author underscores that the Bermudans are moving towards eradicating the island's over-dependence upon tourist dollars although its education system and no doubt its society remains not wholly dissimilar to the systems of Great Britain.
From the Paper "Continuing onward, the racial legacy of colonialism manifests itself in many ways. For one thing, there is evidence (at least in the popular press) that racial identification has grown stronger in Bermuda in recent years; unfortunately, the pyramidal arrangement of historic Bermudan society (one in which certain groups are associated with power) has lingered: as one example, it is noteworthy that a Caucasian British subject was chosen to head Bermuda's judiciary over many other qualified candidates - at least some of whom were non-white Bermudans."
Tags: independent, education, tourist, britain, power
Abstract This essay is a study of the island of Jamaica. It gives an historical overview of its discovery. It details Jamaica's social, political, and economic situation and describes the main factors that effect its situation. This paper also examines the adjacent Caribbean islands and their present day situations. It gives an historical overview of the discovery of the Caribbean and the part the British and Japanese have played in the Caribbean's history.
From the Paper "Early in the sixteenth century, Spaniards landed on, and claimed, the island of Jamaica. Previously inhabited only by Arawak Indians, the island, located along the ocean route connecting the Old World to the New World, soon became a way station for Spanish galleons and a marketplace for slaves and goods from many countries. Along with the Spaniards, it was home to British citizens as well as multinational buccaneers and entrepreneurs.
"According to Daniel J. Seyler, in his contribution to Countries of the World, "Jamaica's story is one of independence that began in the seventeenth century with the Maroons, runaway slaves who resisted the British colonizers by carrying out hit-and run attacks from the interior. Their 7,000 descendants in the Cockpit Country have symbolized the fervent, sometimes belligerent, love of freedom that is ingrained in the Jamaican people as a result of both their British tutelage and their history of slavery. Independence came quietly, however, without a revolutionary struggle, apparently reflecting the lasting imprint of the British parliamentary legacy on Jamaican society" (Seyler 1991)."
Abstract The writer of this paper discusses the plot and main characters of Daphne du Maurier's romantic novel, "Jamaica Inn," which is the story of a young woman named Mary Yellen, who was raised in the peaceful village, Helford. This paper follows the story of Mary, who after the death of mother is sent to live with her aunt Patience at the Jamaica Inn. This paper also details the evolving romance between Mary and Jem, a horse thief.
From the Paper "Mary meets up with Jem on Christmas Eve and watches him sell the newly colored pony back to its original owner, who does not recognize it. Later, Jem questions her about her appearance, worried that the light has gone from her eyes. She tells Jem what Joss has told her. Mary and Jem have a great day together and Jem tries to kiss her. She pushes him away and tells him she wants to go home. He leaves to get the jingle but fails to come back. Eventually, Mary decides to venture home alone. She meets the vicar on the way, accepts a ride from him, and once again spills her guts to him. He comforts her by saying that the government will soon patrol the coast and wreckers will be arrested and outlawed. Mary's evening gets worse. She arrives home only to be forced to accompany Joss and his gang on a wrecking trip."
Abstract This paper examines how Jamaica gained full independence in 1962 within the British Commonwealth and how it has had since much political and economic trouble. It looks at various pieces of demographic information about the country as well as the structure of it government, foreign policy and its economy. In particular it discusses its relationship with the United States since the U.S. provides economic aid and it is the biggest trading partner and main source for tourists.
Outline
Background
National Interest
National Purpose
Ideology
International Relations
Foreign relations
Threats
Domestic
American Military Involvement
From the Paper "The US began to give particular attention to Jamaica after Fidel Castro took power in Cuba. Jamaica's geographical location and its borders to both Cuba and US increased Jamaica's importance in the region and the US increased its economic interest in Jamaica because of the political interest. Though in the 1970s Jamaica tried to shift its reliance on US and Commonwealth Nations, the new government meanwhile in 1972 established diplomatic relations with Cuba. This has been a bold move keeping in mind that Jamaica was a member of OAS. In addition the relation between Jamaica and US also was hampered when Prime Minister Manley used anti-US rhetoric in Third World Forums and his support for Cuban interventionism in Africa. In the 1980s however after Manley was ousted, the Jamaican foreign policy was changed and it again began to have close and cooperative relations with United States."
Abstract This paper will discuss the phonology of the British influence of language on the native peoples of Jamaica. This will uncover the root pronunciations that exist in a linguistic format in the island peoples. By realizing the influence of this English language on the natives, we can see how a distinct form of English has been created fro both cultures. By studying the Creole language, we can see the British roots that gave it birth.
