The Aspect Of Hospitality In Lucy's '

Imagine moving all the way across the country to work for an au pair in an unfamiliar place in a new country with unknown faces. This is exactly what Lucy had to do in this novel, which proved to be very perplexing on her behalf. While dealing with feeling homesick in a new place, which proved to be very daunting for Lucy, this introduces us to the aspect of hospitality. Hospitality proved to be a difficult task for Lucy because this is something that she cannot receive and does not want to accept, and instead pushes it away. Lucy pushes the idea of hospitality away when characters put-on an act by telling Lucy how they feel, and having her see through these emotions. In the novel, hospitality is proven a difficult task because Lucy is able

Mariah comes from wealth, which Lucy isn’t accustomed to. For Lucy, it’s hard to adapt to a new environment where simple things like going in an elevator, living in an apartment sitting at a table, and eating from a fridge are all things that she needs to get used to. Lucy said “Not a question I would put to Mariah, for she felt the opposite. She had to much of everything, and she longed to have less; less, she was sure, would bring her happiness” (87). This is an aspect of the novel that is a huge part of why hospitality is problematic. Mariah is a privileged person and and takes this for granted and Lucy sees this as something she wishes she had. Lucy feels broken and has mixed feelings about starting new. Mariah is very naïve and doesn’t understand how blessed she should be about her life. Mariah is unaware of her privilege, and over time Lucy has to learn to accept this and grow with this. Accordingly, Lucy sees through Mariah’s wealth and the privilege of wealth that she comes

Throughout moving her whole life somewhere else, and being hospitable and welcoming towards Lucy, this later becomes a problem in the novel. Hospitality is problematic because Mariah is welcoming to Lucy, yet Mariah has a lot of issues that she puts away and deals with on her own that Lucy sees through. According to Kincaid, “She acted in her usual way, which was that the world was round and we all agreed on that, when I knew that the world was flat and if I went to the edge I would fall off” (32). This represents the differences between the two characters in the novel. Lucy has grown up without much of a mother figure in her life and has a pessimistic attitude, which is why she sees through people, and Mariah is more of someone who wants to help out anyone that she can. Since Lucy sees through people’s emotions and the acts that they put on, she knew how things really were. The world wasn’t this place where everything went right all the time and everything always worked out. Lucy knew that everything in life didn’t always go as expected as Mariah thought it