Girl: An Analysis Of Jamaica Kincaid's Short Story Girl

A mother’s words are the ones that ring loudest in a child’s ear, are passed down from generation to generation, and the one’s that hold a special place in a child’s memory and heart forever. Expectations and guidelines are set at a young age. Morals and values are learned throughout the years, and life lessons are taught through the wisdom passed down from a mother to a daughter. Every mother has a wish for their daughter to be the best they can be. But at what point does instruction and wisdom become simply words that have been said one too many times? The short story “Girl,” written by Jamaica Kincaid is presented to the reader as a list of instructions from a mother to a daughter on how to live life to the

In Jamaica Kincaid’s short story “Girl,” the narration of a mother lecturing her daughter with sharp, commanding diction and unusual syntax, both affect the evolution of a scornful tone, that her daughter’s behavior will eventually lead her to a life of promiscuity that will affect the way people perceive her and respect her within her social circle. As well as the fact that it emphasizes expectations for young women to conform to a certain feminine ideal of domesticity as a social norm during this time and the danger of female sexuality.

In the short story, “Girl” by Jamaica Kincaid, you hear about the many words of wisdom, or advice that a mother is attempting to pass on to her daughter. The condescending tone of the story is portrayed by the use of semi colons, showing a steady stream of advice and preaching of the mother onto the daughter. The story follows an almost poetic or lyrical style of writing that flows from basic advice like how to sweep a corner to advice like how to handle a man bullying you or how to have an abortion. Although a lot of the advice given to the daughter may be useful in her life and in the culture they live in, it is delivered in a way that seems very callous, and is said with a stern tone, much like a dictator. The daughter in the story tries to speak up only twice throughout the entire thig, only to be completely unheard as the mother continues her chant. The only time the mother’s advice is repeating is when she refers to her daughter as a slut, or her inevitable “becoming of a slut”, which occurs four times throughout the work. The story is written with no real chronological timeline and does not have the traditional beginning, middle, and ending.

Jamaica Kincaid has taken common advice that daughters are constantly hearing from their mothers and tied them into a series of commands that a mother uses to prevent her daughter from turning into "the slut that she is so bent on becoming" (380). But they are more than commands; the phrases are a mother's way of ensuring that her daughter has the tools that she needs to survive as an adult. The fact that the mother takes the

Elaine Potter Richardson, more famously known as Jamaica Kincaid, is recognized for her writings that suggest depictions of relationships between families, mainly between a mother and daughter, and her birth place, Antigua, an island located in the West Indies. She is also familiarized with Afrocentrism and feminist point of views. Kincaid’s work is filled heavily with visual imagery that produces a mental picture in readers that helps them connect stronger to the reading. An example of this really shines through in her short story piece, “Girl.” This short story describes the life of a lower class woman living in the West Indies, and also incorporates thick detailing between the relationship between her and her mother. Jamaica Kincaid structures the story as if her mother is speaking to her. She writes broad, but straight to the point, allowing readers to imagine to picture her experience. Kincaid uses visual imagery and repetition consistently throughout “Girl” to reveal the theme and tone of the story; conflictual affair between a mother and daughter.

For centuries, women have had the role of being the perfect and typical house wife; needs to stay home and watch the children, cook for husbands, tend to the laundry and chores around the house. In her short story “Girl”, Jamaica Kincaid provides a long one sentence short story about a mother giving specific instructions to her daughter but with one question towards the end, with the daughter’s mother telling her daughter if she had done all the instructions to become a so called “perfect” woman, every man would want her. Kincaid’s structuring in “Girl,” captures a demanding and commanding tone. This short story relates to feminist perspectives. The mother expects a great deal from her daughter to have a certain potential and she does not hesitate to let her daughter understand that. As a matter of fact, the story is about two pages long, made into one long sentence - almost the whole time the mother is giving her daughter directions to follow - conveys a message to the reader that the mother demands and expects great potential in her daughter. The daughter is forced to listen and learn from what her mother is telling her to do to become the perfect housewife. Throughout the story, Kincaid uses the symbols of the house and clothing, benna and food to represent the meanings of becoming a young girl to a woman and being treated like one in society. Women are portrayed to appeal to a man to become the ideal woman in society, while men can do anything they please.

When I first read through Jamaica Kincaid’s “Girl,” I’ll admit my first reaction to the piece was relief at the short length. However, as I processed what she was writing, my appreciation for the piece deepened. It is rapid and blatantly lays out the standards that Kincaid was held to during her childhood. It is written as though the reader is on the receiving end of a harsh set of rules, seeing their brutality from Kincaid’s perspective. Originally, I believed Kincaid’s purpose for writing this piece was to highlight the stark contrast in the treatment of men and women.

The short story Girl portrays a young girl, who is listening to a speaker, presumably someone of authority and most likely a maternal figure. The speaker (we never find out exactly who she is) spends a great deal of time passing on instructions to the girl. In the beginning of the story the speaker seems to be lecturing her, but as you continue to read, the tone changes to one that is more caring; it almost seems as though these instructions are meant to be sweet pieces of wisdom passed from one woman to another. The theme of this narrative displays the transition from adolescence to adulthood, and how as one goes through this transformation both their responsibilities and values grow and change through their every day experiences.

Authors Jamaica Kincaid and John Steinbeck show the consequence gender roles have by illustrating the everyday with symbols of entrapment and showing the damage inflicted to the individual by having their characters attempt to resist gender roles but, inevitably, crushed beneath them. Jamaica Kincaid begins painting her image of the harmful side effects of gender roles by showing how the innocence of youth is tainted and damaged. In the story “Girl” the reader is privy to what seems to be verbal instructions and lessons from a mother as she teaches them to her child. The lessons range from mundane housekeeping tricks to more unsavory topics.

In my first essay I want to closely read and analyze “Girl” by Jamaica Kincaid. I found this story very interesting because of the way it is structured and reveals a deeper meaning in the conflict between a mother and daughter. After reading this story for the first time, I thought that it was a random listing of instructions a mother was providing to her daughter, but after looking closer at the text there is a more meaningful story Kincaid is telling. For Essay #1 I want to explore the conflict between the mother and girl revealed by their speech. Other fictional elements that I could analyze include point of view and symbolism which both play a role in highlighting the conflict between the mother and girl.

A mother is to raise her child in a loving way, not a psychologically harsh way. During the short story “Girl,” written by Jamaica Kincaid, it is told in the first person by a mother antagonizing her daughter. She tells Girl about cooking, cleaning, men, and keeping up with her reputation with one admonishment after another. For this Girl, it is mentally destroying due to the mother’s harsh words and criticism. The Girls psychological state is corrupted by her mother’s criticism of femininity, sexuality, and sexual identity, and her society and class.

Parental instincts do not come from nowhere; parents are always over their children’s shoulders and telling their children what to do. Eric Fromm tries to explain these parental instincts in The Art of Loving, and the parental theories described by Fromm can be applied to stories such as “Girl” by Jamaica Kincaid. Kincaid’s short story, along with portraying Fromm’s maternal love theory, supports the Madonna/whore syndrome, which was theorized by Sigmund Freud.

Jamaica Kincaid was born on May 25, 1949, and an Antiguan-American novelist. She was born in St. John's, Antigua She was born in St. John's, Antigua. She lives in North Bennington, Vermont, during the summers and is Professor of African and African American Studies in Residence at Harvard University during the academic year. The poem Girl is about a mother teaching her daughter how to

The story “Girl” by Jamaica Kincaid is about a mother and daughter relationship. In the story it’s a one-sided conversation between the narrator and her mother with the mother doing all the talking In the story. The mother was talking to the daughter, telling her how to act and the way she needed to carry herself. She gave her a list of things that she expected from her daughter in all aspects of her life, how to clean, how she needed to play, and other stuff. And as the story got deeper

While literature to some may be inspirational, compared to others seeing it as lifeless, everyone obtains their own opinions due to having some type of feeling towards the writing. Whether appreciation falls with characters or ends resenting them, you learn how to analyze the material from your own perspective. Likewise, the author's style can impact a reader's interest depending on the setup of the piece, but overall whenever material is read, the reader creates their own opinion on the story. The story being analyzed within is called Girl by Jamaica Kincaid.