What I Have Been Doing Lately | Jamaica Kincaid
In the following excerpt, the author discusses Kincaid’s
‘‘What I Have Been Doing Lately,’’ and asserts that
it offers a variation on ‘‘the mythic story of the fall
of man.’’
The reader interested in the philosophical vision that informs all of Kincaid’s work must come to terms with the allegory in ‘‘At the Bottom of the River.’’ At its most basic level the story affirms the fall of man from innocence into knowledge. Based simply on the fact that the narrator is able to return in her vision to the undivided world, the reader may infer that the knowledge of the prelapsarian world constantly lures the individual who feels its existence back into union with it. . . .
The reality of the actual world in which people must live, of course,...
[The entire page is 598 words long]
Join eNotes
The above is a free excerpt. Get total access to this content with the:
Summary and Analysis – Themes – Characters – And much more...
Join eNotes
Over 3,500 study guides, question and answer forums, literature criticism, reference content, and much more!
Navigate
Related Topics
Tell a friend about What I Have Been Doing Lately at eNotes.
