Lucy

. These are all different covers of LUCY, I thought it might be interesting to compare, although I myself am unsure what to make of it :)

Lucy's relationship with Peggy seems to be one of usefulness on both parts. The two share a common element of loneliness and the desire to change that common trait. I believe Lucy is trying to full her empty void through her friendship with Peggy. This is most strongly suported by the fact that the two girls seem to be worlds apart and yet they find themselves desiring one anothers company. This is most likely becuase they are comfortable enough in each others presence to allow the other person to fill the empty void despite their lack of connectedness. For example, Lucy provides a description of this new found freidnship, "The funny thing was that Peggy and I were not alike, either, but that is just what we liked about each other; what we didnt have in common were things we approved of anyway." (61) It almost seems as if the fact that the two women have nothing in common is essential to the nature of their relationship; they fill in the voids with their differences. Had they been the same, how could they have filled anything for each other? They would have been in the exact same position they had begun in.

I find this relationship to be interesting because I feel as if the two women are unaccustomed to female relationships. Although Lucy has a certain relationship with Mariah and as readers we are unsure of Peggys past relationships, I still feel Kincaid has somehow managed to illustrate the two women in lacking in female relations, or at least not very good at them. Other than Mariah, the only female relationship Lucy is familiar with is one with that of her mother, and this relationship is not a particularly strong one. I believe this unaccustomed nature of Lucy and Peggy plays a strong role in their friendship. It may just be this quality as well as being lonely that are the only two common traits these two women share. Maybe they are comfortable with each other because they are not normally comfortable with other female relations, and they see this reflected in each other.