Girl By Jamaica Kincaid Essay

The short story “Girl” by Jamaica Kincaid was a bittersweet warning from a mother to her daughter. The reader is experiencing the viewpoint of the protagonist through the soliloquy of her mother’s instructions that batter her like bugs smacking the

The most obvious difference is the fact that one shows the perspective of a woman while the other tells a story from a man's perspective. The letter is written by a guy in the army to his wife and kids. He talks more about how he loves the Country so much that he is willing to die for it. The major does not really mind the fact that he is about to die and leave his family behind. Instead he tells his wife and kids to stay strong and that he will always be there for them. In contrast, the poem talks about how the women values her husband’s love and how he is such an idol. She would put her husband before anything and anyone. Just by reading the poem people are able to tell how much this women respects and loves her husband.Although they both love their families, one is willing to give up his life and abandon them.

In both the novel Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston, and the poem “Girl” by Jamaica Kincaid, young girls are lectured on who they should be in life and how they should act.

A similarity between the poems is the topic of parents writing to their children to teach them. At the very end in “Girl”, it states “ you mean to say that after all, you are really going to be the kind of women who the baker won’t let near the bread?” Similarly, in “If, “And which is more, you’ll be a man my son!” which was stated in the last stanza. This evidence first shows a parent speaking to their child. Secondly, it shows the writing of the parents to teach their kids in their own ways. Both parents are speaking for a meaning. This topic runs through both of these poems that shows parent speaking to their kids for a reason.

Both the poems have the theme of love, written from a man’s point of view, and explores the way men treat woman in relationships. The former does this by a male narrator writing a poem to a female, using imagery to entice her. The latter by using a duke, explaining the story of what happened to his previous wife whilst looking at her picture. Both the poems use imagery and other poetic devices but in different ways. The first uses them more often to impress her. The second uses them in a

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

I chose poetry because it usually carries many rhetorical elements and is open to more interpretation. Kipling is successful in achieving this through his poetry because of his experiences and audience. The main audience he is writing to would be his son, but once he circulated his piece physically and then eventually onto the Internet, the piece can be applicable to many different people. I chose Kipling’s piece in particular because of the emotional bond he distinguished with his audience along with the many interpretations I was able to gain from this piece. Depending on where a person is at in there life maturity wise, they can get different lessons from this piece and I found that very unique about his writing and how he was maximizing the use of his literature. In “If,” a poem by Rudyard Kipling, he integrates his personal experiences in a parallel structure in order to form an emotional bond to the audience and leave the ending open to multiple interpretations.

in the first poem "to my dear husband" she describes how deeply she loves her husband and she wonders how other women could be as happy as she is. "if ever two were one then surely we" is the biblical idea of marriage. they were equal individuals their marriage is a balanced union. they are so in love and committed to one another that even death cannot seperate them. this can be shown with "that when we live no more, we may live forever. " the reoccuarnace of "if" emphasizes meaning and to hold the reader's attention. the second poem "a letter to her husband, absent upon public employment" is much like the first with the thought of equality and commitment of love for one another for the rest of their lives and then some. the two people are

     In 'Girl'; Kincaid lists a series of orders from a mother to a daughter in such a way that the characters' lives are illuminated and transformed by the mundane household details. The 'Girl'; is more of a gender type of a story, but there is also a lesson that needs to be realized by the girl. In this story the mother of this girl is her teacher, she tells her daughter of how the world is around her, just like Miss Moore in 'The Lesson.'; The mother in this story tries to make her daughter realize that he needs to be viewed as a woman within society. Who or what the

In “Girl”, by Jamaica Kincaid, the mother is warning her daughter about what to expect, and how to act, in society. The story represents a time when the daughter knew that her mother loved her enough to spend the time to give her the advice, but is also emotionally distant. I believe this to be representative of Kincaid’s life, and how after her brother’s were born she felt that her mother did not have enough time for her.

Jamaica Kincaid’s Girl explores these controversies and writes a long form poem that includes a list of rules for young girls to follow as advice that will help them be more likeable and become a reputable “woman”. These rules are delivered in a direct emphasis with strict undertone. The guidelines given to the young girl can be inferred as a mother teaching her daughter who is at the age of adolescence. Jamaica Kincaid’s long form poem Girl highlights the stereotypical social responsibilities of young girls which is heavily defined by language, culture, and mothers. In the poem the mother figure covers everything from how to

Have you ever wished that someone had given you a guide on how live the right way? Jamaica Kincaid does just that in her short story, Girl. The narrative is presented as a set of life instructions to a girl by her mother to live properly in Antigua in the 1980’s. While the setting of the story is not expressly stated by the author in the narrative, the reader is able to understand the culture for which Girl was written.

The largest difference between these poems is the demographic they are written for. “If” is undeniably male-dominant in comparison to “The Paradoxical Commandments” which has advice directed at anyone who chooses to read it. The first indication that “If” has advice specifically given to males is in line three when Kipling says, “If you can trust yourself when men doubt you,” This line could have easily been adjusted to “… when people doubt you,” to allow all readers to relate to it. The second time Kipling makes it obvious his words are for male-readers only is the second line of the final stanza “Or walk with Kings --- nor lose the common touch.” Kings are clearly masculine, and as powerful as a person can get in Kipling’s eyes. The final line of the poem “And --- which is more --- you’ll be a man, my

“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.

In the pieces “The Eye” by Alice Munro and “Girl” written by Jamaica Kincaid, both writings go into depth explaining the relationships between mother and daughter on how much it impacts the roles of women in society. In Alice Munro’s story, the mother and daughter's relationship starts to change once she starts to gain siblings in her life. Once this occurs, the mother tells her how she's supposed to feel. Unfortunately, she does not feel the same way that leads her admiring someone else who makes her own choices in life. In Jamaica Kincaid's piece, it shows us on how to follow these specific rules, to be able to live life as a woman that is being told by the mother to her daughter. Both of these pieces show how much these mother and daughter relationships affect their child's on what their women role will be in the future.