Annie John the Parent-Child Struggle

¶ … Annie John

The parent-child struggle in "Annie John" is a recurrent theme throughout the novel. It is made most evident in the first chapters of the book, where the author describes the changes that the relationship between Annie and her mother and their relationship. She started out as a "mommy's girl," of sorts. She was wrapped up in any and everything that had to do with her mother, and her mother was aware of that. For example, Annie sneaks to attend a funeral and neglects to pick up the fish that her mother sent her out for. When questioned, she lied and said that the fishermen had not gone out to sea that day, not knowing that he had grown tired of waiting for her and dropped the fish off on his own. To punish her, her mother takes advantage of Annie John's attachment to her and makes her eat her dinner outside and go to bed without a kiss. Annie's upset at the fact that she had to have dinner and go to bed without her mother's love is just one of many instances that demonstrate the change in their mother-daughter relationship throughout the novel.

It is important to note that Annie John's mother was charged with dressing and caring for the dead. When Annie witnesses this with her own eyes, she begins to fear her mother's hands. As a little girl, Annie John is terrified of the idea of death and becomes frightened of her mother's hands, as well. Her hands touched the dead, and this frightens Annie. This foreshadows the struggle between Annie and her mother and the demise of their mother-daughter relationship as it is first introduced to the reader.

There is a struggle on the mother's end of things, as well. She struggles to prepare her daughter for the real world, although Annie John seems to have no interest in such things. She starts out with shopping trips, showing her daughter what to buy and then teaches her to fold sheets, even suggesting that she might find a different way to fold her own sheets in her own home in the future. This confuses Annie John, as she feels like she will always be with her mother. When she suggests that it is time for Annie to wear dresses of her own fabric and not walk around looking like a miniature version of her mother, Annie is confused and begins to become upset at the prospect of living alone, without her parents.

Annie doesn't only struggle with the relationship with her mother, though. Her relationship with her father is also changing. This is one example of a struggle between those with power and those without power. When Annie encounters her parents making love, she becomes very upset. She is forced to realize how separate she is from her mother, attributing part of that to her relationship with her father. Although he is described as a kind man, he spends a lot of time away and that space is what allows the relationship between Annie John and her mother to develop, and then change over time. Annie's mother begins to neglect to make it a secret that she cares deeply for Annie's father, and this bothers Annie very much.

2. Narratives about adolescence often depict young people finding their own identity because that is what really happens, or at least what should happen. When children are young, they depend entirely on their parents for love, physical affection, kind words, teaching, nurturing and the basic necessities, like food and shelter. As they grow older, they begin to do more things on their own and gain a sense of independence. Some adolescents are more open to this than others. Annie John is depicted to be one of those adolescents that truly struggles with gaining her independence, as she is upset by everything that her mother does to teach her how to take care of herself someday.

Annie John feels that her life is an expulsion from Paradise, because in her eyes things are very much like that. She goes from feeling that everything is perfect with a mother who dotes on her and a father who is away just enough to make that doting possible. Still, the father is a kind man and is depicted to love his daughter and her mother very much. Annie does everything with her mother and she likes it that way. In her eyes, this is her idea of Paradise. The worst thing about her life is that when in trouble, she was forced to have her dinner outside and go to bed without a kiss. She later received the kiss despite being in trouble, because that is how seemingly perfect Annie's childhood is.

Her "expulsion from Paradise" happens in stages. As her mother begins to prepare her for adulthood, Annie doesn't notice what is going on at first. Annie's mother begins to be more outright with things, showing her way of folding the sheets and suggesting that she might have her own way of folding them when she has her own home. This upsets Annie a great deal, as she had never imagined that she would live without her mother and father. Then, Annie begins to wear dresses of a different fabric than her mother, which represents a separation of part of the bond between Annie John and her mother, at least in the eyes of Annie. While some people might view this as a change in the relationship, Annie John viewed it as the beginning of the demise of the relationship and it hurt and confused her very much.

I believe that Annie begins to finally recognize that she and her mother have separate identities when she begins to wear dresses of her own fabric. Their dresses had always been made of the same fabric, and once they no longer match she begins to see the difference and distance between them.

Annie also begins to realize the separation between herself and her mother when she catches her parents making love. For the second time, Annie vows never to let her mother's hands, which she once treasured, touch her again as they have been soiled by the act of sex with her father.

This journey is painful for Annie John because growing up really can be a painful experience. Annie John's story is her own, but the theme of the heart wrenching changes that adolescents go through to mature and become adults really is painful. Annie begins to notice her separation and it feels like cruelty to her, like something that someone is doing to her rather than a stage of life that everyone is forced to go through.

All children are expected to become separate from their parents, but there are a lot of things about life that Annie does not seem to know. When she learns that children die and eventually witnesses her mother caring for and preparing a body for burial, she is upset by this and doesn't want to be touched by her. Annie knew very little about death and feared it. She also knew very little about the breaking away that occurs between parents and children when the children reach a certain age. To her, this separation is the equivalent of dying a tiny death. Both death and growing up are things that

3. By the end of the book, Annie has rejected every aspect of her home and of her childhood. This sort of rejection does happen, but I don't feel that it is an inevitable part of growing up. Plenty of adults are able to grow up but still feel and act as one with their family unit, even if the living arrangements and the nature of the relationships change. Annie's rejection is certainly extreme, but the author does not carry the story on long enough to let the reader know whether or not that is something she will grow out of, as many young adults do. Just because a child has technically reached the age to be considered an adult and no longer a child does not mean that their mind snaps into place to accommodate that new label. This rejection is a sign of Annie John's remaining immaturity. While she might view herself as an independent and adult, she still has many of the characteristics that make a person a child, including this extremely hostile nature toward her home and the people in it.

3. There are two things worth mentioning with regards to Annie's relationships with Gwen and the Red Girl. Annie kisses, holds hands and is otherwise very close with these young ladies. As she begins to grow apart from her mother, Annie begins to find friendships and that close female bond with other women, which is healthy -- especially considering the fact that such physical platonic relationships are part of the culture of Antigua. Outside of that, Gwen and the Red girl individually represent several things for Annie John.