Early on in Annie John, the mid-twentieth century Antigua narrative, there arrive a conflict between the main character Annie and her manners teacher, “someone who knew all about manners and how to meet and greet important people of the world” (AJ 27-28). This incident prefigures many other complications and troubles that she has in dealing with gender and sexual inequalities of the African-Caribbean females under British colonial rule. The Autobiography of My Mother also signals that Xuela too, in early twentieth century Dominica, will have multiple struggles with her deep resentment and rebellion against gender and sexual inequality under British patriarchal colonial rule. The reason for Annie’s and Xuela’s rejection of British colonial rule seems to be inspired by their discernment
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She views Ma Eunice’s irritation, caused by her breaking of the china plate, as a fascination with the imitation of British culture and values. What was broken is the representation of paradise in the form of a picture. The picture in the plate represented a landscape of happiness and tranquility in which the words HEAVEN were written in golden letters- “it was a picture of the English countryside idealized” (9).
In Annie John, the central character makes a reference to the roles that a girl/woman and a boy/man are expected to perform. She recounts how her mother keeps herself busy preparing breakfast in the kitchen while her father, before he proceeds to work, would shave and take bath in cold water as it is believed to strengthen his back. Annie perceives these morning rituals to be a rule adopted by the British. Moreover, her mother, like every mother, expects her to adhere to this time-honoured
She views Ma Eunice’s irritation, caused by her breaking of the china plate, as a fascination with the imitation of British culture and values. What was broken is the representation of paradise in the form of a picture. The picture in the plate represented a landscape of happiness and tranquility in which the words HEAVEN were written in golden letters- “it was a picture of the English countryside idealized” (9).
In Annie John, the central character makes a reference to the roles that a girl/woman and a boy/man are expected to perform. She recounts how her mother keeps herself busy preparing breakfast in the kitchen while her father, before he proceeds to work, would shave and take bath in cold water as it is believed to strengthen his back. Annie perceives these morning rituals to be a rule adopted by the British. Moreover, her mother, like every mother, expects her to adhere to this time-honoured