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Quote by Jamaica Kincaid

“I had come to feel that my mother's love for me was designed solely to make me into an echo of her; and I didn't know why, but I felt that I would rather be dead than become just an echo of someone.”

Quote by Jamaica Kincaid

Book:Lucy: A Novel

Work

Lucy delves into the intricacies of human connection and the depths of personal struggle, offering a rich tapestry of emotional experiences. more

Author

Jamaica Kincaid

Jamaica Kincaid is a celebrated novelist known for her distinctive style and poignant storytelling. Born on May 25, 1949, she has made significant contributions to the literary world with her works that often explore themes of identity, colonialism, and the complexities of the human experience. more

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“The shadow of my mother danced around the room to a tune that my own shadow sang.”

Mother My Own Rooms Shadow Tunes

Book:At the Bottom of the River

Source: At the Bottom of the River

“Out of the corner of one eye, I could see my mother. Out of the corner of the other eye, I could see her shadow on the wall, cast there by the lamplight. It was a big and solid shadow, and it looked so much like my mother that I became frightened. For I could not be sure whether for the rest of my life I would be able to tell when it was really my mother and when it was really her shadow standing between me and the rest of the world.”

World Bigs Would Be Eye Able Mother Wall Shadow Standing Casts Corners Frightened

Author:Jamaica Kincaid

“This naming of things is so crucial to possession - a spiritual padlock with the key thrown irretrievably away - that it is a murder, an erasing, and it is not surprising that when people have felt themselves prey to it (conquest), among their first acts of liberation is to change their names.”

People Firsts Spiritual Names Felt Keys Murder Possession Liberation Thrown Crucial Surprising Conquest Prey Padlocks

Author:Jamaica Kincaid

“An ugly thing, that is what you are when you become a tourist, an ugly, empty thing, a stupid thing, a piece of rubbish pausing here and there to gaze at this and taste that, and it will never occur to you that the people who inhabit the place in which you have just paused cannot stand you.”

People Pieces Stupid Taste Travel Empty Ugly Here And There Tourists Rubbish Stupid Things Pausing Ugly Things

Book:A Small Place

Source: A Small Place

“I write out of defiance.”

Writing Defiance

Author:Jamaica Kincaid

“I'm writing out of desperation. I felt compelled to write to make sense of it to myself - so I don't end up saying peculiar things like 'I'm black and I'm proud.' I write so I don't end up as a set of slogans and clichés.”

Writing Ends Felt Black Proud Make Sense Peculiar Desperation Compelled Slogans

Author:Jamaica Kincaid

“if I'd thought that nobody would like it as I was writing it, I would have written it even more. But I never think of the audience. I never think of people reading. I never think of people, period.”

People Ifs Thinking Writing Reading Audience Written Periods

Author:Jamaica Kincaid

“I'm sometimes afraid I'll cross a line and it'll be difficult to come back, say, to dinner.”

Sometimes Difficult Lines Crosses Dinner

Author:Jamaica Kincaid

“I can't get upset about 'offensive to women' or 'offensive to blacks' or 'offensive to Native Americans' or 'offensive to Jews' ... Offend! I can't get worked up about it. Offend!”

I Can Jew Upset Native Native American Offensive

Author:Jamaica Kincaid

“Whatever laudable qualities the English may possess in their selection, preparation, and consumption of food, elegance, originality, diversity, and imagination are not among them.”

May Imagination Quality Diversity England Preparation Originality Consumption Selection Elegance

Author:Mary Ellen Chase