Annie John

“That night, as a punishment, I ate my supper outside, alone, under the breadfruit tree, and my mother said that she would not be kissing me good night later, but when I climbed into bed she came and kissed me anyway.”

This line, the last of the first chapter, introduces the symbol of the breadfruit and shows how gentle Annie’s mother is when teaching her very young daughter important lessons. The tree represents a potential for growth, and to make it the place where Annie is tasked with reflecting on her wrongdoings is therefore apt. Furthermore, Annie’s dislike of breadfruit suggests that she is not amenable to what others think is good for her.

“No small part of my life was so unimportant that she hadn’t made a note of it, and now she would tell it to me over and over again.”

This line is indicative of Annie’s feelings in early childhood, and it illustrates the sense of importance and fulfillment to which she constantly longs to return. She is the center of her mother’s world and cannot conceive of ever being displaced from this position. Her mother makes her feel so loved that Annie believes her mother remembers even the minutiae of her young life.

“To say that I felt the earth swept away from under me would not be going too far. It wasn’t just what she said, but the way she said it. No accompanying little laugh. No bending over and kissing my little wet forehead.”

When Annie’s mother tells Annie that it is time for them to stop dressing alike, it is a watershed moment for the protagonist. Annie’s metaphor conveys that her sense of the world and her place within it changes irrevocably, starting with this moment. She is not ready for the shift, let alone the alterations to her sense of self that follow.