Annie John

"Annie John" covers a young girl’s passage into adolescence. The narrative comes from the perspective of Annie John and her experiences through the age of 15. The main theme within this coming of age novel is expressed through the ever-evolving mother-daughter relationship between Annie and her mother. This theme sets the tone for the book and leads to many negative thoughts and feelings with a fairly depressing ending.

The mother-daughter relations throughout the book evolve towards the final separation at the end. At a young age, Annie’s relationship begins as very close and loving. Annie adored her mother so much that it came to the point where Annie felt abandoned every time she was not near her mother. At the time she hit puberty, the relationship abruptly changed. Annie was forced to be independent and learn what it meant to be a young lady growing up in Antigua. This sudden and unbearable separation of herself and her mother leads to an extreme love-hate relationship. Kincaid blatantly expresses this through Annie's perspective when she states, "I missed my mother more than I had ever imagined possible and wanted only to live somewhere quiet and beautiful with her alone, but also at that moment I wanted only to see her lying dead, all withered and in a coffin at my feet." (106) In an ongoing effort to please her mother yet be disobedient at the same time, Annie succeeds academically yet befriends many whom her mother does not approve. The love-hate relationship only leads to Annie's misjevious activities and an everlasting motive to undermine her mother. Annie does this by disobeying orders not to collect marbles, hang out with certain people and lying. All these actions against her mother only fire the hatred and negativity that Annie feels towards life and the world.

The hatred of life and the world expressed by Annie was horrid. A sense of pity, for Annie, was felt throughout much of the second half. Even with all this negativity, Kincaid ended the book on a positive and powerful note. Kincaid expressed how you have to make life what it is. Your perceptions in life determine the outcome. Annie's negative perceptions have a negative effect on her life, "how much I longed to be in a place where nobody knew a thing about me." (127) Even though Annie realizes all her misconceptions and overall love for her family, she has been told over and over again that she has to follow through with things that she starts. So, even though she realizes that she really needs, and is better off with, her family she must follow threw with the plans she has made to leave Antigua and begin her new life in Europe. This just leads to the never-ending separation of Annie from her family, not exactly a fairytale ending.

The House On Mango Street

This story was a pleasure to read but a little choppy! I did like how Cisneros used her poetic background to make this novel unique. It was fun to read in the aspect that I have not read a novel like it. It had a sense of flow while being choppy. There were many times when I was reading that I felt like I was reading a poem when the paragraphs became rhythmic. The novel also had a sense of adolescence. I don't know if this was due to the education of the author at the time or because the author really wanted you to feel like you were living this novel through the eyes of a young child. If the later is the case then I would say that the novel was really well done. If not, then the sentence structure and format kind of threw me for a loop and made it difficult to read.

The main theme that stuck out for me was that of sexuality. How Esperanza experienced a coming of age throughout the novel through sexuality. In the beginning it started out with little harmless men asking for kisses. To men worshiping her body. To being sexually abused. It showed how culture and the roles of males and females in specific societies jive. Esperanza's growth seemed to come mainly through the contributions of Sally. Sally's character really lead Esperanza and pushed her through all of her sexual experiences and ultimately, in my mind, lead to Esperanza's yearning for a house of her own, signifying protection and security.