Jamaica Kincaid Girl

From a young age, our interactions with our parents play an instrumental role in how we perceive ourselves and the world around us. The short story “Girl” by Jamaica Kincaid exhibits the relationship between an Antiguan mother and her daughter in a patriarchal society where the list of rules and regulations for women is exhaustive and almost never-ending. By analyzing the unique and often tense dynamic between the mother and daughter, “Girl” showcases the direct influence mothers have on their children, and how traditional and patriarchal customs can influence that relationship. The main themes are represented by the subjects the mother spends the most time on as well as the overall tone of the piece and how it relates to the mother-daughter

In the short story “Girl”, by Jamaica Kincaid is told from the perspective of two different people. There is a bonding relationship that is happening between the two people in this short story. The mother seems to be the main character in this essay uses a very strict tone to her daughter. The daughter is being told about how to do things in her life the correct way. The daughter barely speaks during this essay, she is doing more analyzing than arguing with her mother. When the mother gives the daughter advise she was trying to give her words of wisdom. But, at the same time, some of the ideas the mother gave to her child was offensive like “slut”. The mother has different perspectives throughout this essay with a lot of different

Society is often seen to have different biases or perspectives on topics such as the role and perception of women. The short story, “Girl” by Jamaica Kincaid, consists primarily of a catalog of commands and instructions, the purpose of which is to make sure that the mother’s daughter is constantly in check and not getting into any trouble. Jamaica Kincaid utilizes a wide range of techniques such as symbolism and diction in order to showcase the theme of how the depiction of women rely mainly on how they present themselves in the public and how they are so easily described as impure or filthy.

In “Girl” by Jamaica Kincaid, we have a mother conveying important life advice to her daughter in order for her to adapt to cultural customs and most important to learn the rules of social behavior. Her mother's advice is not only intentionally told in order for her to become the proper antiguan woman she believes in raising, but is also told to criticize her actions and everyday doings. Her mother makes it very clear, in order to live a proper antiguan life, there are many rules that one must follow. With deeper interpretation of Kincaid’s work we come to the realization that her overall message suggests the idea that women as a whole should be domestic and should behave a certain way in our society in order to avoid being viewed as a promiscuous woman.

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

Jamaica Kincaid’s story of “Girl,” is a mind blowing experience between mother and daughter. “This Essay presents a plot summary of Jamaica Kincaid’s “Girl” as well as providing historical, societal, religious, scientific and biographical context for the short story. Kincaid’s unusual land difficult to classify piece of short fiction consists of a brief monologue by an Antiguan mother to her adolescent daughter” (Kim Bencel, 2) This is a story, not in verse or order that will remind you of days gone by. The mother is hell- bent on making a respectful young lady.

Written in 1983, Kincaid narrates the thoughts and moral beliefs of the time by her mother. In Girl, Kincaid uses repetition of the term “slut” to emphasize that her mother did not want her to develop a bad moral reputation (Kincaid 118-119). Later in the narration though are her mother’s thoughts on abortion, “this is how to make a good medicine to throw away a child before it even becomes a child” (Kincaid 119). It shows that while the mother instructed her in moral principles, she also understood that things happen to a young woman. The practical nature of this instruction seems to indicate more modern thought while still living in a society of traditions. Another hint of the time period is the mention of divorce and how to live after it, “this is how you love a man…and if they don’t work out, don’t feel bad about giving up” (Kincaid 119). This could indicate that divorce is an accepted practice in the more modern society that Jamaica Kincaid wrote Girl in.

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.

“Girl” is a short story in which the author, Jamaica Kincaid, unofficially presents the stereotypes of girls in the mid 1900s. Kincaid includes two major characters in the story “Girl”, they are the mother and the girl. Although the daughter only asks two questions in this story, she is the major character. The mother feels like her daughter is going in the wrong direction and not making the best decisions in her life. The whole story is basically the mother telling her daughter what affects her decisions will have in the future. The mother believes that because her daughter isn’t sitting, talking, cleaning, walking or singing correctly it will lead her to a path of destruction. “Girl” is a reflection of female sexuality, the power of family, and how family can help overcome future dangers.

“Girl” is quite a strange short story compare to all the other ones that were read in class. It is strange to hear the high expectations that parents communicate to their children because of the way they are presented and because of the language that is used. All that sounds pretty unusual and outdated. But in those days it was probably something normal. Also, Kincaid is trying to point out how the world is changing and how women have much more freedom to do what

Women are meant to behave and act proper. Though it may not be quite the same today, however, every once in awhile society still expects women to behave and act a certain way. In the past women were supposed to act like ladies and be the proper quiet housewife. Women were raised to speak, behave, and perform tasks a certain way that society deemed as right and proper. Jamaica Kincaid’s short story “Girl” shows just that. Her story is about a girl who is basically scolded by her mother on how to act and perform daily tasks. Her mother's belief is that a woman's reputation is everything and if her daughter keeps acting the way she does she will lead a promiscuous life. She does not want that for her daughter, or for her daughters reputation to come back to her if it is not a good one. Kincaid utilizes the theme of image and social acceptance are most important for woman through symbolism, repetition, and tone .

It is clear that the mother is worried about her daughter leading a life of promiscuity, “[T]ry to walk like a lady and not like the slut you are so bent on becoming” (8-9). I’m assuming that the daughter is at the age where like most of us, is beginning to become curious of boys and sexuality. The mother tries to get the point across that if she acts like a lady she will be treated like a lady.

Many times throughout history it has been shown that people are shaped and molded into what society calls, “perfect people.” Jamaica Kincaid is the author of the short story titled, “Girl.” In her story there are two characters, an authoritative mother and her young daughter. Throughout the story, the mother expects so much of her daughter in various ways. She teaches her how to cook, what to wear, how to behave, and many other attributes she views to be significant for her daughter’s role in society. Kincaid elaborates the theme of how to be the “ideal,” or “flawless” woman in a society, along with being respected through the literary elements of diction, imagery, and mood.

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.

In "Girl" I wanted to look at the way Caribbean women are portrayed by class and what they do, by doing this I want to look at how Kinkaid uses the words slut, lady, and walking. We can see how Caribbean women think of themselves and how they strive to become ladies, "On Sundays try to walk like a lady and not like a slut you are so bent on becoming"(Kinkaid, 185) . Looking at this we can see how the Caribbean culture causes women to view themselves. We see and learn in this short reading by Jamaica Kincaid how Caribbean women are raised to become wives by the way the words lady and slut are used. Slut and lady are repeated many times together in sentences through out the story. Kinkaid uses the word lady in a way to show a higher class where