Daffodils Obscured by Postcolonial Narrative: An Affective Reading of Lucy

An affective reading of Lucy, Jamaica Kincaid's semi-autobiographical novel which many consider as a canonical post-colonial text, reveals that the grand narrative of postcoloniality covers up strong personal affects. Admittedly, the two scenes — Lucy's reciting the daffodils poem and her imagining chopping them down — seem justified accusations of the impact of colonialism, but in light of the affect theory, an alternative interpretation can be offered: daffodils, symbolic of narcissism and mother-daughter bond, are entwined with shame and anger. Lucy, an illegitimate child, develops an extraordinary narcissistic love of her Anglophilic mother but feels slighted and despised by her. The broken mother-daughter tie breeds shame which gives rise to narcissistic and pre-reflexive anger that is sometimes other-focused and sometimes self-focused. Whatever evokes the memory of the mother would make Lucy explode. Thus the imaginary act of killing daffodils, the objective correlative of Lucy's anger and shame, is the outlet for the two affects being disguised as or sublimated into protest against colonial institution in the novel and critical discourse.