Maria Helena Lima’s “Imaginary Homelands in Jamaica “ Essay

Outline psychea 1 Writing to rescue her lifeIt seems as though writer Jamaica Kincaid has compose a number of refresheds in an effort to understand her past and her harvest-festival and development throughout it. Almost all of the novels Kincaid has write seem to be interconnected in that they all shed light on certain(prenominal) struggles of her past (paragraphs 1-4). theatrical role 2 Function of bildungsromanThe bildungsroman be, in which a novel focuses on a persons development or ghostly education, is used specifically by Kincaid and other Caribbean writers to unravel the difficulties and disputations of growing up across the margins of different traditions and cultural universes. The acculturation of a self dismiss be portrayed through the form, however in Kincaids novels specifically, the bildungsroman is not so much used as to show the growth in Lucy and Annie Johns adolescent life, but rather to show their reactions independently to more realnessly matters such a s racism and colonialism (paragraphs 5-7) (freedictionary.com).Section 3 Far from homeExile for characters like Lucy and Annie John does not advert the purpose of screening life without their parents, but rather opens their eyes to the escalating world. It is in this big bad world that the characters are forced to find their parvenu identity and beliefs. Not only are these characters left with a grit of strangeness to the new world, but they also signal struggles with the place in which they came from. The longer they spend time in the new strange world, the barely they find themselves from their first home. These colonial characters face the challenge of identifying themselves and their cultural origins (paragraphs 8-11).Section 4 Effects of reading literary productionsLiterature is claimed to play an essential role in a persons development. A persons emotions and reactions stem largely from the literature he/she reads. Lucy had resentment toward daffodils because as a young girl, she was required to memorize a long poem about the flower without having ever seen one in real life. Lucy reads some(prenominal) books, which ache an effect on her wanting to change her name. Reading of literature ultimately affects the way in which people react and think (paragraphs 12-13).Section 5 Writing as a means of salvageIn an effort to cure Lucys desire for home, she becomes a writer. She writes negative garner to her mother in order to assuage or deal with her soupcons. As much as Lucy wants to believe that she is not the girl her parents expected her to be, it is the written letters that she sends and receives that ultimately lead her to realize her true feelings (paragraphs 14-15).Section 6 Finding identity in a culturally different worldAs Lucy and Annie John, representations for Kincaid herselflose parts of their past and are exposed to a strangely new present, they use their crawl inledge in an effort to pick up the nature of the world and their part in i t (paragraphs 16-17).SummaryProfessor maria capital of Perus Homelands in Jamaica Kincaids Narratives of Development, claims that writers in diaspora establish the bildungsroman form in their create verballys to explore the characters need for individual and national identity. Specifically, Jamaica Kincaid uses mostly all of her novels to write about her struggles and developments in a strange world. Bildungsroman is used in these novels by showing characters reactions to more material matters such as racism, colonialism, and sexism. Exile is used in these novels, not to test life without the characters parents, but rather to open the characters eyes to the incredibly involved world that lies ahead. These characters are forced to find a place for themselves in the strange world as well as having to form their admit beliefs about societal matters.However, the longer the time these characters spend away from home, the come along they find themselves, emotionally, from home and ar e left with a strange feeling of loneliness in the world. They are then challenged with having to identify themselves and their cultural origins. Lima claims that Kincaid employs the reading of literature and writing as means of salvation. When put into the subtle position of being emotionally disconnected from the world, characters, specifically like Lucy, in Lucy A Novel, read and use their memories from books to identify themselves. In addition, writing helps the characters to wield with their estranged and complicated feelings. Those caught between culturally different worlds use what they know in an effort to comprehend the nature of the world and their part in it.Discussion Questions1. How are the struggles Lucy faces similar and/or different than those of Melinda and Charlie in purpose their respective identities? 2. What role does age play in all of the novels we have read thus far? How has Lucys older age helped/hindered her in finding her identity? 3. What role have rea ding literature and writing letters played in the novels we have read so far, specifically in The Perks of Being a Wallflower and Lucy A Novel? whole works CitedLima, Maria Helena. Imaginary Homelands in Jamaica Kincaids Narratives of Development Callaloo 25.3 (Summer 2002) 857-867.