Jamaica Kincaid

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

“ You educate a man; you educate a man. You educated a woman; you educate a generation” stated by Brigham Young. Jamaica Kincaid in her short story Girl, this is the message she wants her readers to understand.Kincaid sets up a “ how to” format for the way a woman should behave. The mother gives her daughter advice on being a woman through her past experiences and shows her that being feminine revolves around maintaining a home, but the daughter disagrees. When the mother corrects her way of thinking, it is implied throughout the story that the daughter is trapped by the rules of femininity. Kincaid lists countless stereotypical roles of a woman which appears to be sexist and puts a limit on what women can and cannot do. However, Girl empowers women and gives power, freedom and control.

In the essay “Girl” by Jamaica Kincaid there are references to many social problems that were prevalent earlier in society that still apply to today’s society. In this essay the author is giving advice to her teenage daughter where she teachers her the “proper” etiquette and what was expected of a woman in her view. In this story the author Kincaid seems to be the mother and the teenage daughter is probably her daughter, in a different way of viewing she may be the daughter herself reflecting on the past, but it’s not very relevant to the meaning of the literature. In this essay I will explain how the way women are viewed in today’s society have changed, as well as what remains of the past that has yet to be overcome. I will also try and analyze and give my theory as to why Kincaid decided to write her story the way she did.

“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

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.

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 .

“Girl” written by Jamaica Kincaid is an unconventional text that portrays a mother’s list of rules that her daughter must obey in order to be accepted in society. When I first read this narrative I read it as a resistant reader, having little to no knowledge about what culture, time period or what the real meaning of this list was. I did know however that it has some link to womanhood and how a woman must portray herself to the outside world. This is an interesting take on what it is to be a girl.

Since the beginning of mankind, oppression has been a major obstacle for women to overcome. In “Girl,” Jamaica Kincaid illustrates through written word the struggle women go through due to the expectations set for them. While there is female oppression of different forms, Jamaica Kincaid’s “Girl” is a resemblance of the oppression she felt during her childhood on the small and remote island-nation of Antigua. In its most basic form, “Girl” vividly paints a literary picture depicting the way an “old-fashioned” wife is supposed to be in the eyes of her male patriarch.

“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.

Culture, in relation to gender roles, is fundamental in both Jamaica Kincaid’s, "Girl" and Sandra Cisneros’ "Woman Hollering Creek." For long, gender roles have been part of multiculturalism because diverse culture depends on the values and norms of their previous generations. The way women are expected to behave in the society depends on the current values guiding their behavior. Some cultures are over protective of their cultures, as demonstrated by Jamaica Kincaid in "Girl." Kincaid addresses the dangers of female sexuality in the contemporary culture, and how to ensure morality among the feminine gender. Other cultures have defined sex roles and responsibilities for women, as demonstrated in in the story, however, In “Girl,” Kincaid addresses the defined roles of women in society, to preserve cultural values, across all cultures.

In the Deep River, two facts learned about African Culture is that polygamy is acceptable and we see this with the older father who has several wives and it’s not frowned upon by the community at all. Another fact is the subjugation of women, we see this with the fathers youngest wife Rankwana who has slept with Makobi and she has little to no choice in the council wanting her to leave the tribe and go back to her home with her father.

In 1983, a story was published called “Girl” and the author is Jamaica Kincaid and in the story, she talked about the roles of a women. Before and during 1980s, women didn’t have much rights socially, they were expected to do what their mother would teach about how a women should be. A women was expected to obey her husband in everything. Women had limited freedom, which caused women to be mentally unhealthy. All these rules made them basically like slaves, which made them mentally unstable. My argument is that women expressed their feelings about these rules in literature to show the world that it was wrong to expect women to act a certain way, which led to women being able to act as they wish.

We live in a society where the similarities between female and males are seen at birth. It begins innocently with the toddlers; girls get pink while boys get blue. The gap between boys and girls develops with time and becomes increasingly apparent. There are still gender stereotypes today, but it is not as bad as it was in the past. Jamaica Kincaid’s short story “Girl” perfectly portrays gender stereotypes. It represents gender concepts as cultural constructs in the period it was written. These conceptions are comparable to current stereotypes about gender. The book gives us a list of commands from a mother to a daughter. Men in the society are dominant to the women, and the set of rules is a product of patriarchy whereby the mother and daughter appear as subordinates to the men in their lives. The article makes one aware of the prevailing masculine hierarchy that exists in a family, and how it creates firm gender roles for females in the society.

Within “Girl,” the narrator is in fact the girl. She is recalling the instructions of her mother in a almost first person/ limited omniscient point of view. This allows the girl to recall what her mother told her; however, continuing to speak without having anyone truly speaking. This can be shown by the girl saying to herself, “Wash the white clot Monday and put them on the stone heap; wash the color clothes on Tuesday…” this tells the story to herself again without using any dialog.

According to Wikipedia “How to Date a Browngirl, Blackgirl, Whitegirl or Halfie” is a satirical (sarcastic) short story by Junot Diaz. The story takes a guise (appearance) of an instructional manual, that’s purporting to offer advice as of how to act or behave depending upon the ethnicity and social class of the reader’s date. Diaz’s dating guide for the Dominican American teenage male takes on the authority of experience by employing a narrator speaking in second person. The story is centered on a young teenage boy giving instructions about readiness for a date. Starting off with removing obvious signs of Dominican “ghetto” culture such as the "government cheese", then to approaching the female depending on whether or not she is an “insider” or “outsider”. As the story progresses you see how the narrator's words and mannerisms change according to the race of the female. These observations determine his speech and physical approach to them. The narrator constantly shifts descriptions of both the women and the male's ethnicities and social class to where it is very difficult to determine exactly what type of person is speaking or to whom.The narrator's style is said to "undercut both individuality and objectivity" by pointing out the different ways to court women or to hide your particular ethnicity. Diaz is not afraid to include small gestures that reveal cultural attitudes, even if these attitudes do not put Dominicans in the best light. The narrator hides his