Jamaica Kincaid’s Lucy can be viewed as an altered autobiography. Lucy’s childhood and early adult years are extremely similar to those experienced by Kincaid. By making herself the main character, Kincaid is able to further analyze those years of her life and alter them in way for her audience to better grasp her experience and learn from it.
The very basics of Kincaid and Lucy highlight their similarities. Both have the same birthdates, May 25, 1949. Each has the same job, being an au pair in a large city. Both are from Antigua. The most significant basic similarity is their names. Jamaica Kincaid was originally named Elaine Potter Richardson. Lucy’s full name is Lucy Josephine Potter. Their names are significant because both make a point of emphasizing the importance of a name. Lucy tells of her mother naming Lucy after Lucifer, the devil. Jamaica also illustrates her idea of a name’s significance by changing her name.
In Lucy and Kincaid’s childhoods, both live in rural conditions without electricity, indoor plumbing or running water. Kincaid identifies with such in her description of Lucy’s excitement over using the elevator. Also, it is noted by Kincaid in interviews that until the birth of her three brothers at age nine, she was the center of her mother’s attention. Though, when the boys were born, the focus shifted on them, their education and their futures. Lucy tells of the same situation occurring at the same age. Lucy’s father speaks of his sons going to England for schooling to become doctors and lawyers. This is the time when Lucy feels betrayed by her mother and goes on to call her “Mrs. Judas.”
Lucy is hurt by the lack of family encouragement for her to pursue larger dreams than being a nurse. Kincaid was in a similar situation. Kincaid excelled in school but never received reward for her accomplishments or motivation from her teachers. Both women desired far more than was expected of them and both succeed. Lucy is financially independent in her own apartment by the end of the novel, and Kincaid is a successful author and Harvard professor.
Kincaid left Antigua at age seventeen to be an au pair in New York City. She was to send her wages home to her ailing stepfather; however, like Lucy, Kincaid severed relations with those on the island. Kincaid ignored her mother’s efforts to contact her daughter, as did Lucy. Instead of following their mothers’ dreams, both women quit nursing school to take photography classes.
Kincaid parallels her early years with those of Lucy to reevaluate her life. Kincaid admits that her works are largely “autobiographical. The events are true to me. […] For me [writing] was really an act of saving my life, so it had to be autobiographical.” The issues Lucy experiences are intense. Her problems in opening up with others, her relationships with men, her sexuality, and her relationship with her mother are all serious. Kincaid wrote autobiographically to work through her own issues. In a way, Kincaid’s Lucy can be read as a journal entry is disguise.