Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Lucy

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. “In a day dream I used to have, all these places were points of happiness to me; all these places were lifeboats to my small drowning soul, for I would imagine myself entering and leaving them, and just that –entering and leaving over and over again –would see me through a bad feeling I did not know have a name for. I only knew it felt a little like sadness but heavier than that.” Lucy had longed to come to America, nothing would make her happier. She knew she would be better off here for living matters. Kincaid is showing how immigrants depend on coming to America. They come with hopes and dreams, that they will be fulfilled. Lucy’s 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. The more she observed and experienced everything she saw how dirty and ordinary it was. It was not a luxurious place or even admirable place to live.
The culture and ways of America are different from what Lucy is used to. She compares these experiences to wearing new under garments. It isn’t always comfortable at first. Everything takes time to get used to. Lucy also observes the family and the way they take to her. “It was at dinner time one night not long after I began to live with them that they began to call me visitor. They said I seemed not to be part of things, as if I didn’t live in their house with them, as if they weren’t like a family to me, as if I were just passing through, just saying one long hallo! And soon would be saying a quick goodbye! So long! It was very nice! For look at the way I stared at them as they ate.” They family had Lucy as a nanny for the kids. She walks with them to school and takes care of them, yet they call her a visitor. Lucy has moved to America to stay. She attends school and works for this family. But they don’t want her to be part of their family. They try to make her seem like an outsider and say she isn’t part of them, she is a visitor they say, which like keeping her out. The power is held within the family. They are Lucy’s employers and they don’t seem to have much respect for her on account that she is an immigrant. There have been other times where her employer Mariah has tried to down grade her by saying she doesn’t know about a season or she isn’t capable of dancing. This might have been Mariah’s way of learning things about Lucy, but she says it plain that she also doesn’t like Lucy. The power relationship here is that Americans will always have the upper hand over someone new and will judge them.
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 that America to the world may be an escape for them, some sort of hope in their life. But America can’t live up to everyone’s expectations.

1 comment:

  1. Hi Sophia - You have a lot of good ideas to work with here - one thing I notice is how much more general and short your last paragraph is from the rest - think about how you can bring in details and examples to this part of the argument - think about who you mean when you say 'they' and 'you.'

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