Thomas Sittler, 1S2

September 2012

DISCUSS THE ELEMENTS OF KINCAID'S USE OF NARRATIVE VOICE IN THE NOVEL AND HOW THESE "EFFECTS " CONVEY THEMATIC MEANING TO THE READER .
Annie John is a coming-of-age novel published in 1985 by the Caribbean writer Jamaica Kincaid. Kincaids use of the voice of a first person narrator adopting that of her younger self allows her to convey thematic meaning through subtle undertones. The limited field of vision of the young Annie, her lack of awareness about social rules, and the challenge that her subjectivity poses to the reader are powerful vehicles of meaning about the acquisition of knowledge and colonial power. The Annie John narrative voice has a limited perception of the world that evolves as she acquires knowledge. The extent of her perception of the world is often symbolized by her field of vision. At the beginning of the novel, the things she apprehends as parts of her world are small, mundane objects such as duck eggs, guinea fowl or piglets, which correspond to the eye level of a small child. Her interactions are limited almost exclusively to her mother and father. At this point, Annie has no knowledge of the world outside the family microcosm. The horizon of her vision does not extend more than 10 paces away from her then, but soon encompasses the figures of mourners in the distance. The first piece of adult knowledge that Annie acquires is about the mortality of children, and it is accompanied by the widening of her horizon to include the nearby cemetery and its burials. In this way, Kincaid makes use of Annies evolving outlook on the world (represented by the motif of vision) to subtly convey thematic meaning about her acquisition of knowledge. Kincaid uses Annies innocence (as in, lack of awareness) about social rules and political controversies to make ironic commentary about them. After the Red Girl leaves to Anguilla, Annie dreams about living alone with her on an island and sinking ships that approach the island. To young Annie, this dream has no political or historical significance. The use of this innocent narrative voice allows the reader herself, through her understanding of the dreams implications, to add a further layer of meaning to the text. The three boats Annie sees on page 43 are associated with Columbus fleet; thus the reader can understand the dream to be a representation of Antiguan rebellion against the colonizing power, a refusal to be discovered and colonized by European powers. In this way, Kincaid avoids transcribing her opinions directly, which

could sound flat and moralizing. Instead, she conveys meaning charged with the theme of colonial power by letting the reader fill the gap between the child narrators innocence and the suggested political comment. The most complex way in which thematic meaning is conveyed to the reader is through the challenge of Annies subjectivity. Throughout the novel, the young Annie John voice, the channel through which the audience is given information, presents the world to the reader in an obviously partial way. For example, she thinks the women whom her father abandoned lov*e+ him very much, or that Ruth is a dunce for not knowing Antiguan history. Because of this subjectivity, an adult reader will have to question all information he is given. He will thus be forced to personally re-live the childhood experience of realizing that anything one thinks one knows could be wrong. By making the reader experience this directly, Kincaid conveys meaning about the acquisition of knowledge (specifically, knowledge of ones own fallibility) in a very poignant way. In some ways, the reader embarks on the same personal journey as the older Annie does; looking back at the painful but essential realizations of adolescence. Annies acquisition of knowledge as she grows up is conveyed through the evolution of her own narrative voice and its limitations. The reader also has an important part to play in how such themes are conveyed because of his understanding of the events on a deeper level than Annie, including their political undertones.