What are the Impressions of Antoinette
When we meet Antoinette for the first time, she is a child of no more than 10. ... " Rhys is very descriptive on Antoinette’s actions. ... In Rochesters narration, there is a period where he hungers for Antoinette "I was thirsty for her, but that is not love. ... Our image of Antoinette now is clouded by the feelings of another. ... For surely if Antoinette could speak, she would describe herself as happy, which would lessen the impact of his actions. ... Rhys, by using Antoinette as the first narrator, gives the reader the only element of fact to go on. ... This can be partly to do with the fact that he is simply not Antoinette, and therefore not what the reader has classified in their mind as the narrator. ... Since Antoinette is the first narrator, all the information we are given is through her. ... The reader can take into account that the view of Antoinette will invariably change with the switch in narratives, but we can account for that change with the basic truth Antoinette has given us at the beginning of the book. ... We, like Antoinette, have to place trust in those around us, and when they abuse that trust, because we are seeing in through Antoinettes eyes, we also feel the sense of dejection. ... This relates to the image of Antoinette in that it reaffirms the difficulty we have as readers to accept his view of Antoinette and make it our own. One of the most important aspects of Wide Sargasso Sea is the relationship between not only Rochester and Antoinette, but that of the two classes they represent. ... Interestingly, Antoinette does not represent the stereotypical Caribbean slave. ... However, Rhys denies the reader this opportunity, as Antoinette cannot explain what she is, but rather what she wants to be "So I looked away from her at my favourite picture, The Millers daughter, a lovely English girl with brown curls and blue eyes…" This creates a strong sense of the emotion Rhys is trying to put across, that of the absence of security and belonging. ... The sentences are pieced together, almost Neanderthal and animalistic like when he talks about his relationship with Antoinette. ... Antoinette is quite defiant at first at the name change, but it seems important to Rochesters sense of security that if he cannot understand, he must break it down until he can. Imagery is a very important part of our view of Antoinette. ... Therefore, it was key that Rhys presents Antoinette in such a way that the reader will significantly change their opinion about her.