What is America seen as? Jamaica Kincaid’s novel Lucy reveals the view of America through the eyes of this young woman named Lucy. Her deepest thoughts and emotions take us into a new reality. Her search for a better life in terms of living wasn’t what she expected. Lucky gives us her view of the U.S. and a view as an outsider.
As she arrives she already starts to judge and examine everything. She can’t see much as the plane descends because of all the fog. As she leaves the airport and is being driven to where she will live, people point out important buildings, Parks, benches, and street names, etc. Then she reveals her response to how she feels about all of these wondrous places. She says “They used to be points of happiness to her, life boats in her small drowning soul. Now they give her a feeling like sadness, but heavier than that”. This response is mind blowing because that one place that was a “life boat” for her soul now gives her a heavier feeling than sadness! She was disappointed upon arrival; America did not live up to her expectations.
Lucy goes on to compare being somewhere new as wearing new undergarments. It isn’t comfortable at first; you have to give yourself time to adjust. From Lucy’s response we get the feeling that she isn’t happy being here, maybe she even regrets coming. Through her views we see how much she dreamed of being here. When she was being showed famous buildings she revealed that she imagined herself walking in and out of those building and everyone would admire her, but now she see that it isn’t a luxurious place at all. Everywhere looked dirty and worn down. Before she came all she could think about was how she can have a better life and now that she is in a place where she can, she isn’t sure she wants it anymore. She even said the first night she slept soundly because she didn’t want to wake up and experience anymore.
The view of the U.S. from Lucy’s responses is that we live in a country where you can have anything you want and be anything you want. They believe that everything over here is perfect and you will be happy all the time. I think from this text Kincaid is describing America to the world as an escape for them, some sort of hope in their life. But America can’t live up to everyone’s expectations.
Hi Sophia - This is a good start - you write well and clearly. You want to work to expand and flesh out your ideas. Remember to use at least two direct citations and talk about them in detail. Look at the follow up questions from the assignment to take your ideas further: what about the United States to Lucy's observations suggest?
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