Themes

Themes Engaged in the story:

1) **British colonialism**: The prize Annie wins in school is a book called //Roman Britain.// This shows that the sort of education the girls are getting in school is a British education, where teachers teach students to love towards the English culture. The celebration of Queen Victoria's birthday also displays a sense of cultural assimilation. Lastly, the teacher's reaction towards Annie's rebellious act (she writes in the bottom of Columbus' picture, "The Great Man Can No Longer Stand Up") also shows a superiority of cultures. - Kari Morales I agree with this statement throughout the excerpt you can see that the principal is attempting to influence their lives by adding british aspects to it and not allowing them to do what they want. For example dancing to calypso songs which was probably considered morally wrong. (Emilio)

(Sangay D.)
 * Jamaica Kincaid** aka Elaine Cynthia Potter Richardson. Born in Antigua, West Indies, in 1949. She is an short story writer, essayist, and novelist. Most of her writings were about west Indies. Jamaica left Antigua at the age of sixteen and moved to the United States. In the United States, she lived in New York and worked as a writer for //The New Yorker//. After her family’s disapprover of her writing, she changed her name to Jamaica Kincaid in 1973.


 * Abandonment:** You can see at the end of the chapter that Annie really wanted her mother to care for her as a mother should, but she is not really focused on her and her needs. Also, when her mother gives her the breadfruit, knowing that she doesn't like it and then lies to her telling her that it is not, Annie feels a level of hatred and sadness towards her mother. Saying that she "had turned into a crocodile." (Emilio)


 * Favoritism:** In this story, Annie is liked by all her teachers except Miss Edward. Miss Edward prefers Hilarene over Annie, as seen on pg. 3, "I had never been a favorite of hers. Her favorite was Hilarene, It must have pained Miss Edward that I so often beat out Hilarene." I feel that Miss Edward prefers Hilarene over Annie perhaps because of their ethnicity, or the way that Annie acts outside of school. Evidently, when Miss Edward caught Annie in the churchyard dancing and swearing, it didn't help her feelings towards Annie.


 * Competition:** There was always some sort of competition between the girls. Annie always wanted to be "the perfect" because she didnt want Hilarene to ever be in that spot light. Annie wanted to be known as "the perfect" despite what anyone thought of her, including Miss Edward, all she cared about was not letting Hilarene be victorious. Other girls would try to answer the questions the teacher asked so that they could rise up and be the perfect.


 * Resisting Authority:** Throughout the entire chapter, Annie is resisting authority. She is not only resisting the instructors at her school, but the beliefs and objectives of the entire school. She constantly acts on whatever she is feeling, such as writing underneath Christopher Columbus' picture, "The Great Man Can No Longer Just Get Up and Go". At her school, this statement would not be taken lightly, as it seemed to praise Columbus. Her entire aura was defiant of her surroundings (the fact that she wouldn't conform with the other children).- Courtney
 * Attempting to Define One's Identity Amongst Others Expectations:** She is attempting to define her identity sexually, emotionally, and mentally. Sexually, she is experimenting with other girls and develops an affinity for Gwen. She describes her typical Friday afternoon where she and other girls would travel to graveyard behind the churchyard, and would expose herself while watching other girls do the same. This simple act of sexual exploration was showing defiance against the central aim of the school, which was to culture polite women. - Courtney
 * Questioning the True Nature of Things:** Throughout the chapter, Jamaica questions the true nature of race, and how it really affects society. She was also able to accurately analyze Miss Edward's praise of Hilarene as opposed to her, in that Hilarene affirmed with the belief that women were lady-like and obsequious. Because she understood the true nature of many aspects of her life, she was able to make more conscious decisions as to how she wanted to LIVE IT. -Courtney


 * Exploration and Independence:** I feel that after seeing the girls show each other their bodies and rub knees in church that the independence found by Jamaica and Gwen was a touch of being lesbians. They would meet and show each other their body parts and to me this seems like a coming out of the closet experience as a young girl. I know a lot of people also feel this in the class. With the body parts shown to each other and the waiting for one another at secret places touch upon being a lesbian. The main character clearly had a thing for Gwen and for Ruth as well by mentioning them all the time and her subtle thoughts of their body and facial expressions. Maybe she became confused amongst her independence and questioned her friends sexuality. - James


 * Rebellion and Jealousy**-- Although Annie was known to be an exemplary student, she was the total opposite outside of her classes. It pained her mother to have to read those things so it was always buried where all the miscellaneous yet important documents go. Despite Jamaica's remarks that it didn't really bother her much, she had a hatred for Hilarene (the minister's daughter) and felt that Miss Edward was saddened that Hilarene was always second to Annie. I feel that deep down she was a little jealous of Hilarene being well liked by Miss Edward and possibly wanted to be in that position. Rebellion comes into full play when Annie and the other girls played band with each other, totally disregarding their teachers' and parents' warnings. While playing band they'd sing calypso songs with profane language which would be a shock to any adult who would pass them by. Through playing band with each other, the girls formed a bond and were able to connect on a level that was outside of academic standings. -- Shante.


 * Education**- I know its not such a powerful theme. (you guys took all the good ones lol) But I do question it. How is it in Antigua, do they teach the Columbian period? Do the textbooks in the Islands tell the true story of Christopher Columbus' arrival? I dont think that theres enough information in the excerpt to answer these questions, but they're pretty good questions to think about. Do the teachers in Jamaica's story feel the same way about the English as the narrator does?


 * Feminism** - it seems as though Jamaica Kincaid attends an all-girls school. Never once does it mention any boys in her class. There are male teachers but no male boys mentioned. I think becuase of the fact that there were no boys, the girls seemed really okay with their feminism. They played games, danced, and sang songs that were "unladylike". They exposed themselves without resistance. To add to this, it seems that Jamaica had an affinity with Gwen.


 * Patriarchy:**This term refers to the idea that the fathers have primary responsibility for the welfare of their families giving them a lot of the authority. The concept of //patriarchy// is often used to refer to the expectation that men take primary responsibility for the welfare of the community as a whole. Throughout the story Annie mentions her father as this figure with high control, in contrast to her mother. Even when she is finding herself to find problems her mother brushes them away as if everything is okay when her father is around.


 * Hate-** Annie feels such a connection to her past and she is still mad at everything that happened. She hates the fact that many of her ancestors were slaves and feels hatred towards Christopher Columbus. She sees as he is truly admired by everyone in her class, but she feels different towards him. When she sees him in chains in the textbook, she feels happy because she remembered how her ancestors were once treated. (Melissa)


 * Viewpoint** -

. -I think that Annie has a special power and can control a lot of what happens in the school. She holds a lot of power with the teachers because she is such a good student. They never see what type of problems that she causes because they see the adorable A student. The only person that sees through this farce is her teacher... ( i forgot her name). (Hector C.)
 * Imperialism-** The way the story plays out prsents the true effect imperialism has on a culture. Annie's anncestors experienced a totally different way of life and she realized that her life should be hindered by the culture that is in her blood and not the one that has invaded her life. (Mathew)
 * Power** -I think that Jamaica feels that she has some power over certain people that she mentioned within the reading passage like Hilarene. She fells that she has power over her and the dunce girls in the class. (Ashley H)
 * Hate:** Annie has so much hate for Christopher Columbus it led to her defacing her own school textbook by writing "The Great Man Can No longer Just Get up and Go" below his picture in the textbook.


 * Father issues:** Several times in the story the protagonist has an issue with her own father or that of another s father. She finds that fathers ruin relationships.