Jamaica Kincaid Girl

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

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.

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.

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.

In both of the Short stories i've read by Jamaica Kincaid and Judith Ortiz Cofer the author uses a young girl, both of those females were given a series of instructions on how they should live their life, in my opinion both characters in the story were being stereotyped on how a girl should live. In the story “Girl” by Kincaid she illustrates a Caribbean Mother giving advice to her young daughter, in the story she describes to her the manner on how to act like a Female, how to do household work and cook correctly. The mother actions intends to help her daughter, After reading the story by Jamaica Kincaid I believe that that the mother feels her daughter needs to act more like a female and not the slut she plans on becoming. The author uses a chastising tone which was illustrated throughout the whole story when she scolds her daughter. In “The myth of the Latin woman: I just met a girl named Maria” by Judith Ortiz Cofer, She primarily talks about stereotyping and how the American culture was different from her home country Puerto Rico , the narrator also expresses how she lived as a girl growing up. Jamaica Kincaid is an Antiguan-American novelist, essayist, gardener, and gardening writer.

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.

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.

Andrea Sanchez English 101 Ms. Kristen 29 September 2015 “Girl” In this time period and it has been a difficult time in society to grow up as a female and even raise a female, due to many gender differences, in which more things are considered false for females and not for men. In history there has always been a separation between genders or gender inequalities that have been going on for years and years. In the text, “Girl” by Jamaica Kincaid, it represents the several struggles females go through everyday and it is illustrated at a young age, and is shown throughout the poem using different types of punctuation such as semicolons, sentence structure, em dashes, and rhetoric to create a demanding tone throughout the short story. Many semicolons

In her story, Girl, Jamaica Kincaid points out many stereotypical roles of the average woman in the Caribbean. The roles that these defining roles that the women take on might seem rather explicit. They seem rather sexist and do not give women the power to depict what she can and cannot do herself. Nevertheless, Kincaid’s story gives these women the empowerment and freedom that so rightfully deserve. “this is how you iron your father’s khaki pants so that they don’t have a crease; this is how you grow okra-far from the house…this is how you sweep a corner; this is how you sweep a whole house; this is how you sweep a yard” (43).

Girl by Jamaica Kincaid is an excellent piece of text that embraces a coming of age theme. The excerpt is really just a gigantic list of things that the average Jamaican girl needs to learn to do in order to be considered a woman in Jamaican culture. This story was easiest for me to read and even relate to because of the fact that I can relate due to my family’s background. The one part within the story that most greatly emphasizes the coming of age theme is when the author states, “This is how to make good medicine to throw away a child before it even becomes a child…” When a person has a child, they have to grow up regardless of their age. Having a child, whether you are sixteen years old or thirty-two years old, means that you are adding

With the time rapidly changing more and more young females are wanting to make their own decisions. As you continue to read the daughter interrupts the mother a few times to try and prove to her that she is not what she says she is. The mother refers to her as becoming a “slut” ( ) if she continues to do thing such as squatting while playing marbles, and singing Antiguan songs in Sunday school . By the daughter not having much say about those certain activities, this shows that the mother is very dominate in her approach to have her become the lady she is supposed to become. As a young woman trying to figure out her position or role in life she is given so many life lessons through her mother.

In Jamaica Kincaid’s shorty story “Girl” two facts which I’ve learned about the Jamaican culture is how critical and archaic it can be. This criticalness and archaism is shown throughout the conversation between the girl and her mother, and a direct quote from the story relating to how critical their culture

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.

Femininity often goes as a misconception for beauty, glamour, and bearing of children; but it goes beyond this. Femininity in many cultures means submission to all men. Submission often can lead to unwanted pregnancy, rapes, young marriages, abuse, and infidelity. In her article “A Powerful Look at “Girl” By Jamaica Kincaid” To’Wednesday M. Sibley adds focus to the historical aspect of the story and its period. Antiguan culture originally had faced oppression within their communities.