“Girl” Analysis Albert Camus once said, “There is only one class of men, the privileged class”. This quote brings upon the idea of social class and inequality by bringing up the point that only the privileged enjoy benefits, while the lower class is left to fend for himself. This idea of social class and inequality is prevalent in prose poem “Girl” by Jamaica Kincaid where a mother gives commands to her daughter in order for her to become a proper woman that will allow her to climb in social standing. Through the mother, Jessica Kincaid depicts the struggles of being a part of the bottom of the hierarchical ladder through her sex and race, struggling to climb up. Although women’s social class definitely on the rise, their position in society …show more content…
This explains the mother’s harsh words to her daughter, making sure she has the best chance to gain social standing from her unfortunate position. When the mother responds to the daughter, “but what if the baker won’t let me feel the bread?; you mean to say that after all you are really going to be the kind of woman who the baker won’t let near the bread?” (Kincaid 201). The mother says that after everything she has done in order to ensure her daughter’s rise in social class, so she better not end up finding a way to lower her already low position in the hierarchical ladder to the point where the baker will not even let her get close to the bread. This would mean that the baker would also view the daughter as some type of outcast contrary to her social class. The aspects of race and gender play a large part into determining the views of others as well as social …show more content…
In this poem, the mother tells her daughter what she needs to know in order to please the men with higher social class through a repetition of a “do this, do that” list of commands. The mother goes through the duties of a woman in order to keep men comfortable such as cooking, cleaning, and a personality that pleases men. However, the mother repeats one certain line to the daughter multiple times, “this is how to hem a dress when you see the hem coming down and so to prevent yourself from looking like the slut I know you are so bent on becoming” (Kincaid 200). This one line brings a lot of significance with the repetition of “to prevent yourself from looking like the slut I know you are so bent on becoming” through the different definitions of “slut” the mother uses each time she repeats this. She ties the word “slut” to someone who does not walk properly, someone who does not take care of clothes, someone who does not act properly in the presence of men, and someone who the baker does not let near the bread. By culminating all these different definitions of the word “slut” that the mother goes on about, it means someone who does not do what society perceives as proper and key to do, therefore spurned by society. Hence the mother tries to prevent her daughter from becoming someone who does not do the
In modern society, this word is often used to put women down and make them feel lesser. It is almost exclusively used in regards to women with men being the main users with the perfect example being the very officer that inspired the first Slutwalk. The Slutwalk takes this ideal and flips it, choosing to make it a positive term. This criticism’s first presented element is the word “slut”.
This story, with its lack of rhyme structure and rhythm, is similar to a prose poem. The sharp and repetitive sentence structure makes the list of instructions seem as if they are being given in one endless dialogue. The seemingly infinite commands create a suffocating sense of obligation for the daughter. By including questions in the mother’s list of commands, the author makes it seem like the mother is speaking in a stream of consciousness and is rattling off orders and advice to her daughter. “Soak salt fish overnight before you cook it; is it true that you sing benna in Sunday school?; always eat your food in such a way that it won’t turn someone else’s stomach” (Kincaid). Simultaneously, it smothers the exchange between the daughter and mother, restricting the idea of a real, two-way conversation. Throughout the story, the daughter rarely speaks, only to protest against her mother’s claims, including the belief that the daughter will become a “slut” when she is older. Her mother states, “prevent yourself from looking like the slut I know you are so bent on becoming” (Kincaid) twice within the story, emphasizing the mother’s accusatory words that simultaneously assume the daughter is already on track to becoming a “slut.” Subsequently, the daughter argues how she doesn’t “sing benna on Sundays at all” (Kincaid) when harshly criticized by her mother. The daughter’s haste and sharp responses to her mother’s brusque accusations suggest that the daughter has already
Her mother keeps telling her daughter not to do certain stuff, this comes off as being a protective parent. Then the essay takes a turn for the worse, the mother tone comes off with lots of anger and disgust. She becomes angry at her daughter and says, “on Sunday try to walk like a lady and not a slut that you are so bent on becoming” (Kincaid 320). The mother is throwing out so many different emotions at her daughter, at which they are not even true. The daughter is not fighting back with her mother about anything until we get to the middle of the paragraph. The daughter only speaks several times throughout, but when she fought back towards the middle of the paragraph she tells her mother that she is not becoming a slut. People only tend to fight back during these situations to protect themselves against false accusations. But eventually, the mother uses the advice tone to her daughter showing her how to “iron her father’s khaki pants so essay users they don’t have a crease” (Kincaid 320). The mother's tone to her daughter changes in the beginning, middle, and end. It starts out with a helpful tone, then to a strict tone, then to a helpful tone again.
A mother teaches her daughter at an early age about values and morals. Most lessons reflect society’s expectations about what it means to be a woman. Throughout Kincaid’s poem titled Girl, I noticed the use of “how to”, followed by “duties” of a woman. Kincaid’s poem is flooded with variety of emotions, and I feel a personal connection to it. Reading the poem the time setting was in the past days. Women did not take a stand, and felt
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.
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.
puberty bring with it a complex tradition of restrictions and behavioral guidelines. Kincaid’s poem reveals the rigidity and complexity of the social confines the girl is expected to operate underl. A girl is an induction into the women community as well as an orientation into the act of womanhood (Walkerdine et. al.). The lectured instructions given to the silent girl child vary from the housekeeping, “this is how you sweep a whole house”, to dealing with intimate relationships, “this is how a man bullies you; …how to bully a man” to medicine, “this is how to make good medicine (to abort)” (Kincaid).The inane patriarchal society expects gender stereotypes to prevail. The mother is tasked to give her daughter instructions on how to be a good woman in the stereotyped society. The advice the mother gives to the daughter cements the gender stereotype and portrays limitations on a woman (Bailey and Carol 107).
The poem “Girl” by Jamaica Kincaid is a lengthy poem describing society and the social structure in the early 50’s from what it sounds. The short story “Girl,” deals with the experience of being young and female in a poor country. This poem describes a time when stereotypical gender roles where a huge part of society women had duties that only women could do such as clean, cook, wash clothing, watch the children and ect. And the men were head of the house hold and preserved as high and mighty, the untouchables by women and children. “This is how you iron your father 's khaki shirt so that it doesn 't have a crease; this is how you iron your father 's khaki pants so that they don 't have a crease;”(Kincaid) is an example of how the poem spells out how the women are supposed to cater to men, how to act in public settings and a variety of other things women were “meant to do” or as ordered by men.
In Jamaica Kincaid’s story, Girl, a mother is talking to her daughter about all the proper things she must do to be considered a good girl to her family and to the public, and when she grows up, a proper lady. She must follow the rules that are given to her by her own mother and by society. The mother also teaches the daughter how to act when things don’t go her way. She is told that along with being a proper lady, she must also be able to get what she wants and be independent. This story was written in the late 1970’s and gender roles, for women, back then were not being “followed” because women wanted equal opportunities (Women In the Workforce). “Gender stereotypes are beliefs regarding the traits and behavioral characteristics given to individuals on the basis of their gender” (Deuhr). This essay will discuss the gender roles that were given to women in the story, during the late 70’s, and in today’s society.
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 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”, a short story by Jamaica Kincaid is narrated from a girl’s point of view of her mother telling and teaching her how, in her mother’s eyes, to be the perfect lady. The story takes place in a cultural setting of the islands of Antigua where the author was raised. The title “Girl” makes us assume that this isn’t just a personal story, but a somewhat universal childhood that we all face as women and the cultural standards we all face to become the perfect lady.
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.
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 .
1. Describe the focus or focalization in Girl. Do we see what one person sees, or observe one person in particular? Describe the voice of the narrator in Girl. Who is the “you”? How do the focus and voice contribute to the reader’s response to the story?It about a girl’s womanhood set at the moment of separation between the age of innocence and the confusing, transfiguring entrance into womanhood experience. It is the story of a mother’s attempt to train her adolescent daughter to learn appropriate cultural customs and more important, the rules of social behavior, especially that of proper sexual conduct befitting a well-reared girl. Yes! We observe what the mother is trying to teach her young daughterto do for a man. It helps her too learned in order, to achieve something that her mother is trying to teach her to do and how to act as a young woman and what to expect as a young woman growing up.