Lucy In The House On Mango Street

Looking for Freedom, Home and Belongingness in the Wrong Places

No No Boy, by John Okada, is a novel that illustrates the frustration that comes with the crisis of citizenship and race, as Ichiro - a Japanese American (Nisei) no no boy, refuses to join the American army and fight against Japan. Throughout the novel, Ichiro struggles to accept the consequence of his decision and live in the present. The House on Mango Street, by Sandra Cisneros, explores the story of a 12 year old Mexican-American girl, who strives to be different from the women in her poverty-stricken community. The novel covers a year of her life, thus helping readers see the growth that happened within the year. Lucy, a novel by Jamaica Kincaid features a bold, outrageous

Lucy is the most rebellious out of the three, as even her name – the female version of Lucifer, the fallen angel – suggests. She rejects her mother’s attempt to make her the ideal daughter who is ethical, submissive and decent. She claims that she rather be dead than become the echo of her mother, as the fact that she is identical to her mother scares her. Lucy states: “I did not want to be like my mother…. ‘You can run away, but you cannot escape the fact that I am your mother…’” (Kincaid 95). Since Lucy believes that her mother is a victim of a patriarchal system, she wants to disassociate herself from her mother and the submissiveness she represents. She also feels betrayed by her mother because her mother encouraged Lucy’s brothers to become successful and independent, while failing to defend her gender and expecting Lucy to become a nurse - a subordinate position – instead of a doctor, implying that Lucy is meant to take instructions and submit to the patriarchal rule that is a feature of the neocolonial system. Since Lucy expects her mother to be loyal to her gender and empower her, it bothers her that her mother wants nothing more than a nursing job for her. She is also angry at her mother for marrying her father, and not pursuing a grander goal that would defy society’s

All three novels show the journeys of three main characters who are constantly looking for things they cannot or do not have. For instance, when Lucy sets out for the United States, she was convinced that her new destination will give her all the things her original homeland- island - could not provide her. However, her relationship with her employer, Mariah enables her to learn about the different world she thought had all the things that make life worthwhile. Not only is she bothered by Mariah’s tendency to generalize things and compare Lucy’s story with everyone else’s, while Lucy focuses on the specifics of her life, but also witnesses the cracks in the seemingly perfect marriage and family. Consequently, she realizes that even the rich and seemingly happy are the most miserable ones who have their own serious problems to deal with. Her disappointment with her expectations not meeting reality is portrayed in her statement: “In the past, the thought of being in my present situation had been a comfort, but now I did not even have this to look forward to….” (Kincaid 6-7). In the case of Ichiro, Ichiro regrets how he was manipulated by his mother and chose to be a no no boy, and wonders what it would have been like if