It is thought that the relationships women have with men are largely influenced by the relationship women have with their fathers. This theory can be supported by Lucy’s behavior with men in the novel. Lucy rarely mentions her father throughout the novel. This results from him either being absent in her upbringing or him having negative impacts on her life that she attempts to muffle. The men in Jamaica Kincaid’s Lucy are all weak, and Lucy either thinks little of their personalities or uses them simply for physical pleasure.
In the beginning of the novel, Lucy thinks of Lewis as a respectable man. She looks on to his marriage with Mariah and believes it to be successful. It is not until later that she sees the flaws and realizes she was blind to them the entire time. Lucy figures Lewis to be manipulative in his planning to have Mariah be the one to leave him instead of him being the one to walk away. When the marriage is over and Lucy comforts Mariah, the audience realizes some of Lucy’s true feelings toward men. She says, “everybody knows that men have no morals, that they do not know how to behave, that they do not know how to treat other people” (141). Lewis and Mariah’s failed relationship is no surprise to Lucy, because she is aware of Lewis’s affair with Mariah’s friend Dinah.
Lucy’s only comparison for Mariah and Lewis’s marriage is that of her mother and father. Lucy questions whether her father ever loved her mother. She thinks her father used her mother and she used him. He wanted someone to take care of him in his old age and she wanted his money and to be married. Lucy never witnesses a healthy relationship. She only sees people using their partner for personal gain. This contributes to Lucy’s need for men to complete only her physical needs. Her relationship with Hugh is purely physical. Upon her departure from the lake house, she is fine to see him go. All of Lucy’s relationships are physical. She has no desire to fall in love. Lucy and Peggy go to the park to pick out men they would sleep with. Every Saturday when she was young, Lucy went to the library to kiss a boy.
Lucy’s other encounters with men hint that Lucy’s father may have sexually abused her during Lucy’s childhood. When Lucy learns of Mr. Thomas’s nighttime visits to Myrna, Lucy feels jealous that the old man did not choose her to abuse. Also, while in a camera store, Lucy meets Roland. She tells him, “you remain me of my father” (116). He responds with, “in that case you should kiss me” (116). The two do more than just kiss. They sleep together. It seems odd for one to be attracted to a person who resembles one’s parent.
Lucy’s relationship with her father greatly contributes to her relationships with men. She is aggravated that her mother would allow a man to die leaving her a pauper. However, despite knowledge of her parents’ relationship, Lucy still has hope for love. She writes, “I wish I could love someone so much that I would die from it” (164). She looks past her failed relationship with her father and longs to be loved more than he loved her.