AnNiE jOhN by Jamaica Kincaid

I found this novel very easy to read for a couple of reasons. First, because the language used was very common and the print was fairly big. But, the main reason Annie John was such an easy read is because I felt as if I had traveled back through time to when I was 10-17. This novel is so easy to relate to, especially for females, and it's very comforting knowing that someone else went through the same changes and awkwardness that I once did. Annie's John's relationship with her mother reflected my relationship with my mother when i was that age. At the beggining of the novel when Annie was about 10, she absolutely adored her mother and looked up to her. Annie stated "how important she felt to be with her mother" (15). She also said, "When my eyes rested on my mother, she was beautiful" (19). It was clear to the reader that Annie thought her mother was God's gift to the world, an infallible, gorgeous woman. When I was around 10, I also thought my mom was someone without flaws, who I could just admire and look up to. When Annie hit the age of 12, puberty started to kick in and she began to feel bitterness towards the whole world. She said, "I was never able to wear my own dress or see my mother in hers without feeling bitterness and hatred, directed not so much toward my mother as toward, I suppose, life in general"(26). At this point in her life, she was no longer at her mother's side all of the time, instead she was taught all about manners, how to play the piano, etc. Annie started to develop an attitude with her mother and talk back to her, which is something she never would have thought of doing before. I went through this same ordeal with my mother and it seemed as if everything she said I wanted to challenge and contradict. AFter Annie started her period, she almost felt empowered because she was one of the first girls to get it, and it helped her excel in sports. Along with getting her period and growing older, she felt as if she no longer loved her mother, as she stated on pg. 53. She wanted to do everything that her mother did not want her to do. By developing friendships with Gwen and the Red girl and also playing marbles, Annie was acting out against her mother because she did not want to become the person that her mother wanted her to. Annie felt as if her mother was keeping her away from the outside world. It was because of her strong feelings that she needed to escape her mother and her home that she made the decision to go to England and potentially stay there for good. As Annie was in her room for the last time she said, "As I was lying there my heart could have burst open with joy at the thought of never having to see any of it again"(132). I feel that she needed to leave in order to really appreciate her mother and father and her home. I know that Annie John kind of put up a tough front and said that she would not miss her home, in particular her mother, but I would like to believe that after Annie was away for awhile, she realized how important home and family really is, even though the people and the place are not idealistic as they used to be when she was young.