Annie John
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Key Facts
full title · Annie John
author · Jamaica Kincaid
type of work · Novel
genre · bildungsroman, Caribbean novel
language · English
time and place written · New York City, 1982–1983
date of first publication · 1985
publisher · Penguin Books
narrator · Annie John
point of view · First person
tone · It varies according to the age of Annie John. As a child, the language and imagery is very rich. As she ages, the tone grows more serious while also having more comic touches.
tense · Past tense
setting (time) · Sometime in the 1950s
setting (place) · A city on Antigua
protagonist · Annie John
major conflict · Separation from mother and definition of self
rising action · Annie's fear of separation from her family Annie's viewing of her parents as a sexual unit Annie's rebelliousness and insolence against her mother Annie's friendship with Gwen and the Red Girl.
climax · Annie John has a breakdown as a result of the confrontation with her mother and her need to finally become a separate self.
falling action · Annie recovers and recognizes herself as a separate person. She leaves Antigua to study in England.
themes · Mother-daughter relationship Colonizer and colonial education Gender Relations
motifs · Water Obeah Death
symbols · Annie's mother's trunk Marbles Milton's Paradise Lost
foreshadowing · Annie's essay about separating from her mother Annie's feeling of a black ball of sadness inside her
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