This naming of things is so crucial to possession - a spiritual padlock with the key thrown irretrievably away - that it is a murder, an erasing, and it is not surprising that when people have felt themselves prey to it (conquest), among their first acts of liberation is to change their names.
Jamaica KincaidThe sound of words in a novel is a pretty amazing thing, and I am concerned with the sound of every word I write.
Jamaica KincaidI've written a book about my mother, and I don't remember anyone going to Antigua or calling up my mother and verifying her life. There is something about this book that drives people mad with the autobiographical question.
Jamaica KincaidI would be lost without the feeling of antagonism that people have towards me. I write out of defiance.
Jamaica Kincaid