Here is a really crude version of my first paper about Lucy by Jamaica Kincaid. It is untitled, a bit unedited and does not have a conclusion.
Lucy left home to come to America, so she could leave her island nation and better herself. She left behind dirt floors for wood floors. She left behind one room huts for multi-room mansions. She left behind poorness for richness. Lucy has a lot sex in this novel as well. She likes sex with men who remind her of her father, she likes sex with men she can control, and she likes to have physical contact with women as well, but why? Is it her personality or her relationship with her parents? Could it be just simple curiosity? Why does Lucy like to have sex?
Mariah throws a party for Lucy, so she can meet new people, and develop friendships. Dinah, Mariah’s best friend, introduces her younger brother Hugh to Lucy. The two young adults begin to talk and she becomes very attracted to Hugh, but it is very important to point out she does not love him. Lucy and Hugh then have sex. She is attracted his brown eyes, his voice, his mouth, and two other very interesting things: his smell and his height.
His smell is interesting because he smells like shaving cream her father use to wear. She likes to have sex with men who remind her of her father. Another example of this occurs when she is purchasing her camera. When the salesman is putting the camera in the box, she says to him, “You remind me of my father.” He then jokingly replies, “Why don’t you kiss me.” Lucy, however takes this seriously, and waits for him for two hours outside of the store in which he works. After he is done with his day at work they go to his apartment and have sex. Lucy is attracted to men, who remind her of her father, because she did not have a good relationship with her father growing up. When she finds out her father dies she is not upset by it, but more upset at her mother for marrying him in the first place. She never talks highly of her father, nor does she ever say she misses him. The book also talks about how women tried to kill her mother and herself, which is something also she holds against her father. She never mentions her father when discussing the Mr. Thomas and Mr. Mathew story, but you her motivation behind her jealousy is because of her father. Mr. Mathew and Mr. Thomas were fishermen who lived by her. One day when Lucy and her friend, Myrna, were playing and just Mr. Mathew returned. He told a story about how he was at sea with Mr. Thomas, and Mr. Thomas fell overboard. When Lucy and Myrna were walking home Myrna started to cry. This shocked Lucy because she did not know Myrna was capable of feeling emotions like this. Myrna then said it was not because she was sad the Mr. Thomas died but she was sad because she use to go out to the latrine at night and he would come and stick his finger in her. He would then pay her money for allowing him to do this to her. Lucy then became jealous of Myrna because she had an older man touching her, which can be linked back to Lucy’s father. It can be argued that Lucy has a lot of sex because of unresolved issues with her father.
The height is interesting because it is showing her dominant personality. Lucy must be in control of everything, and she feels like she can be intimidating and controlling, if she is taller than a man. Love, to her, is slavery so she refuses to fall in love with him, despite the fact she is obviously very happy around him. She enjoys talking to him, being around him, and Mariah even notices her change in behavior after Lucy meets him. Her refusal to be a nurse also points out her dominant personality. Lucy’s mother wanted Lucy to come to the United States to become and nurse. Lucy argues that she would not be a good nurse because she cannot take orders and she is too smart. Peggy tells Lucy to stay away from Paul because he is a pervert, which attracted Lucy to Paul even more, because Lucy is told she is not allowed to do something. Lucy refuses to fall in love with Paul as well because she sees it as slavery still. Tanner is a boy Lucy knows growing up, who she loses her virginity to. She does not care that she loses her virginity to Tanner until he is proud of it. She is upset she let someone take something from her, even though she does not really care what it was. Lucy tried to control the boy in the library. She would make out with him, even though she had no feelings for him. Lucy was trying to see how undone she could get this boy. Lucy’s “must be in control” attitude is why she likes to have sex. She sees sex as just one more way to be in control.
Lucy also likes to have physical contact with girls. Lucy and Peggy one time went out and were looking for boys. They found one and had coffee with him. He was very attractive to them but he only talked about sports, which they found boring. So they left him and then smoke a lot of marijuana. They were really high and they started to make out. They made out until they were both tired and they fell asleep. When Lucy was in school she uses to make out with a girl from school, but in her mind it was ok because they were best friends and it was just for practice.