"Home Sweet Home"

Jamaica Kincaid's Lucy dwells a lot (so far) on the notion of comfort and a sense of home. Not much different from some of our past readings, this theme of home plays a large role for the narrator, Lucy. Like some other characters we've discovered thus far in the semester, I find myself able to relate to Lucy's stance on a yearning for home. A lot of times I will get anxious to bring new experiences into my life. Consequently, when I do so I find that I crave parts of home and comfortability and the hope for things that remind me of home in my new experience. Lucy connects with this idea when she says,"How impatient I would become with such a person, for I would feel that I was in a not very nice situation myself, and how I wanted to go somewhere else. But now I, too, felt that I wanted to be back where I came from" (6). One specific experience this relates to is going to college. Initially I was so excited to experience a brand new way of life on my own. But once I arrived here I found that since everything was so new, I wanted parts of my past to be a part of the new experience too. I could relate to Lucy once again when she explains, "Almost everything I did not was something I had never done before, and so the new was no longer thrilling to me unless it reminded me of the past" (32). Don't get me wrong, I love college, but it's pieces of my past like my home, family, and friends- familiar things- that I wanted to include somehow in this new way of life that may make it a bit more enjoyable or comfortable. I think no matter where we are it's always important to include our past. After all, if it weren't for our past, we would not find ourselves in the present and future. I can definitely relate to Lucy's yearning for parts of home in her new life with Lewis and Mariah, and I am eager to see what kinds of developments and new experiences her new life with them will bring.