The Shame of (Be)Longing in Jamaica Kincaid's Lucy

This thesis examines the role of shame in Kincaid's Lucy. Separated into four separate sections, the thesis moves through Lucy’s relationship with her boss, Mariah, her Antiguan mother, and the shame that is identified at the end of the novel. In the introduction, I identify the passage that frames the novel around shame. I then identify my thesis, which centers around Lucy’s shame and her inability and refusal to situate herself with neither Mariah nor her mother’s expectations. The second section of the thesis revolves around Mariah and the form of feminism that skews her perception and expectations of Lucy. Critics such as Suzanne Roszak and Jennnifer Nichols are incorporated in this section. The third section discusses Lucy’s mother in Antigua and the colonial history that Lucy attaches to her. Her mother expects her to return to Antigua and engage with the colonial influences that Lucy aims to escape by leaving for the United States. Postcolonial scholar Leela Gandhi’s book, Postcolonial Theory: A Critical Introduction, is referenced within this section. Finally, the fourth section connects both Mariah and Lucy’s mother to the overarching shame and longing that Lucy expresses at the conclusion of the novel. This section highlights Lucy’s inability to coexist between expectations of Mariah’s feminism and her mother’s colonial culture. The shame at the end of the novel expresses Lucy’s knowledge that she cannot exist within these expectations without a form of personal sacrifice, but she longs to love and belong despite this. Lucy’s shame is defined primarily within the novel, but is partially informed by Tomkins’ Affect Imagery Consciousness: The Complete Edition. His definition includes the shame found within enjoyment, which manifests in the love Lucy possesses for both Mariah and her mother. Within the novel the development of Lucy’s shame is identified in passages of guilt, nostalgia, and anger after moments and reflections of love.