Book Report Wriging Assignment: A Walk To The Jetty

A Walk to the Jetty
Name
Institution
A Walk to the Jetty
A Walk to the Jetty by Jamaica Kincaid is a fictional story that details the life of Annie John, a teenage girl from Antigua who is being sent to England to go study. It is indeed an interesting piece, and the story takes or adopts different tones depending on Annie’s age. Annie had lived all of her seventeen years in Antigua and wanting the best for her, her parents had decided to send her away to live with relatives as she pursues nursing. Her last day at home starts brightly as she is preparing to live. In her mind, she is leaving everything and a life she did not want. Everything on that day is unusual, and even her parents have changed their schedules and as she said were treating the day as a holiday. She says that even though it was not a Sunday, they “were having a Sunday breakfast, a breakfast as if we had just come back from Sunday-morning services” (298). It was indeed a special day for her, and the parents made sure to remind her that. However, while it seemed like a joyous as well as a sad day for them, it was initially a joyous day for her because she knew she was leaving everything including them behind. However, as the story continues, it becomes clear that she is indeed conflicted and she knows that she is leaving a significant part of herself. Her words, actions, and thoughts tell that she is indeed conflicted and this article aims at revealing the internal conflict she is experiencing with the help of supportive evidence from the story.
At first, everything Annie does shows that she is happy leaving her home. “Lying in my bed for the last time, I thought, this is what I add up to…I said to myself, “I am getting up out of this bed for the last time” (296). Everything I would be doing for the last time, for I had made my kind that, come what may, the road for me now went only in one direction. Away from my home, away from my mother, away from father.” Her mood was also bright as well as her attitude towards all she was to do that day. She was fueled by the fact that she was doing it for the last time. However, as soon as she leaves her home and starts to walk to the jetty with her parents, memories of her childhood days flood her mind, and it becomes evident that her leaving evokes past experiences which reveal her inner conflict. One thing that reveals her internal conflict is the fact that she vividly remembers her childhood days and these nostalgic memories while different seem to be speaking of Annie’s current state of mind. She was indeed confused, and even though her mind was made up on going to England, it was clear that a part of her belonged to the island of Antigua.
Some of the places she passed strengthened her stance in leaving Antigua. For example, as she passed the “house where Miss Dulcie, the seamstress” (299) lived, she remembers how she was often asked to sweep the floor and be sent on errands which she never liked because Miss Dulcie always found that displeased her. Even though as she narrates that “it was customary to treat first-year apprentice with such scorn,” (300) she had developed a negative attitude towards sewing and Miss Dulcie. However, o...