Theme of Voyage in "A Walk To The Jetty" By Jamaica Kincaid
There are many instances in life where individuals need to make sacrifices in order to succeed in their goal. The voyage symbolizes the pathway towards success; however, the crashing waves play as difficulties before arriving at the destination at which individuals must make sacrifices whether they’re worth risking or not. Annie John agrees to go on a voyage to proceed with her studies in nursing and gain independence to construct her life with her own hands. Meanwhile, Captain Keeney continues his voyage through the Arctic Seas to collect a full ship of Ile before returning to HomePort at all costs. Both make sacrifices to achieve their goal. Annie John and Captain Keeney think it was worth sacrificing their home and family as well as other on their voyage.
To begin with, Annie John (seventeen years old) heads to England to study nursing. When she wakes up on a destined day, she looks around her room and house realizing there's no room for her because everything in the house was created by her parents’ own hands. Annie reveals how “the house they live in my father built with his own hands and the bed she’s lying in”. Everything in the house is her parents and nothing is from her. She realizes the need to discover her own place in order to identify herself. Annie walks through town with her parents. She reminisces her past everywhere. This motivates Annie to seek independence from the town where everyone believes they know her history. By leaving behind her family and childhood, she created new openings for her future. Annie wishes to rewrite her history and her identity. After she waves goodbye to her parents, Annie returns to her cabin and hears the “waves lap-lapping around the ship as if a vessel filled with liquid had been placed on its side and now was slowly emptying out”. Her ambiguous feelings about her departure are purified by the sea. Similar to when Annie left her mother’s womb and birds nest, she will start a new life without her parents. Annie transitions herself from child to woman. As the jetty departs, Annie assures herself that she chose correctly to sacrifice leaving home and her family, and she accepts herself.
Throughout her voyage, she is finally reborn as she begins anew in England. On the other hand, Captain Keeney sets off on a voyage with his wife and crew to find the ile and collect a full ship of it at all costs. It became a two-year voyage. His ship ended up surrounded by the ice for several months. His crewmen, his wife, and he endured the cold and the isolation on the ship. Although the ice in the south melted already, Captain Keeney refuses to turn his ship around until he gets a full ship like he’s always done. He doesn’t care how long it’ll take or that he never returns home as long as he finds the ile.
