Parental Constincts In Jamaica Kincaid's Short Story 'Girl'

In the text, “Girl” by Jamaica Kincaid, the mother is speaking and the daughter is briefly heard. Evidence in the text that proves the mother is speaking includes the speaker talking about household chores (cooking, cleaning and sewing) and tricks to doing those house hold chores faster or more efficiently. For example, the speaking says, “this is how you iron your fathers khaki shirt so that it doesn’t have a crease”. The speaker mentions how to iron a father shirt, this is a chore a mother would teach a daughter to do. The speaker also tells the daughter how to act like a lady and gives her life advice on how to be a respectable wife, like not squatting

Losing a parent is presumably an unthinkable concept for those lucky to have them alive, but sometimes the title of “parent” dies long before a body is placed in the ground. Toi Derricotte author of “Beginning Dialogues” unfortunately had to experience both the death of her mother’s title of “parent”, as well as her literal death. Derricotte’s parents had divorced when she was eighteen, and her father did not seem to play much of a role in her life; she was left to be raised by her mentally abusive mother. Her mother also had a tough road to walk growing up, having to face and deal with brutal issues like racism and bulling. Persevering through those tough times may be the underlining reason behind Derricotte’s mother’s negativity and abuse towards her daughter. Perhaps she just grew a thick skin at a very young age and had never learned how to feel, accept, or administer love. Derricotte’s had said: “She told me all my life she loved me, as if she completely forgot the hundred slights, humiliations, threats, and insinuations. Of course she loved me;

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

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.

In Jamaica Kincaid's "Girl", she presents a vivid picture of how gender is socially constructed within a specific culture, and the rigid rules imposed upon young women as well as the consequences of not conforming to those expectations. In this reading it compares to the gender construction in my own culture because everything thing that the girl does she is doing to be a women and be respectful which is something that you see in a lot of women in my society. Another reason why the society in “Girl” is similar to my society is because it talks about how to love a guy. It says “if that doesn’t work there are other ways” and it continues on to say “and if they don’t work don’t feel too bad about giving up.” This is like my society because there is not a set rules on how to love and every single relationship is very

“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 short story, “Girl” by Jamaica Kincaid, you hear about the many words of wisdom, or advice that a mother is attempting to pass on to her daughter. The condescending tone of the story is portrayed by the use of semi colons, showing a steady stream of advice and preaching of the mother onto the daughter. The story follows an almost poetic or lyrical style of writing that flows from basic advice like how to sweep a corner to advice like how to handle a man bullying you or how to have an abortion. Although a lot of the advice given to the daughter may be useful in her life and in the culture they live in, it is delivered in a way that seems very callous, and is said with a stern tone, much like a dictator. The daughter in the story tries to speak up only twice throughout the entire thig, only to be completely unheard as the mother continues her chant. The only time the mother’s advice is repeating is when she refers to her daughter as a slut, or her inevitable “becoming of a slut”, which occurs four times throughout the work. The story is written with no real chronological timeline and does not have the traditional beginning, middle, and ending.

For a reader in 2017 “Girl” by Jamaica Kincaid might seems very surreal and harsh as a story; mostly because of the very grating and mean language that is used when the mother is talking. The mother’s heartless language makes is really uncomfortable even though at the end of the day, she speaks nothing but love into her daughter’s life. She is giving her daughter social and family teachings, sharing with her the cultural and social values that will help her girl to have a peaceful and respected household and a happy life.

Cultural values and expectations are at the root of the tensions between mothers and daughters in Kincaid’s work , among which are the preference for the male child, the stress on housework as opposed to education, and the sexual repression put on

“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.

In the texts, Nineteen Thirty-Seven, by Edwidge Danticat and The Autobiography of My Mother, by Jamaica Kincaid the themes of love and loss are present as the protagonists deal with the consequences of losing their mothers. The loss of the main characters mothers has a significant effect on how the characters grow to understand love, heritage and value sacrifice. While both of the protagonists are left to deal with the unfortunate circumstances of being motherless, they react differently because of what they were taught about love. The main character from Nineteen Thirty-Seven, knew what it felt like to be loved because she was surrounded by it, but the main character from The Autobiography of My Mother, never knew love because she never felt

    Families have been portrayed as “perfect.” A mother who loves her children no matter what and father who provides and children who are smart, creative and well behaved. Mothers are the ones who love their child the most. As stated in, “What ‘mom’ really means in America,”  Mother Love is a notion that the bond between a mother and a child was sacred, all- encompassing duty (Peterson 1). However in this contemporary movie, Penelope, the mother is portrayed as selfish and unaccepting to her daughter.

Nezu, Nezu & Lombardo (2008), state that early imitative learning within a family can serve as a psychological factor that influences one’s behavior under stressful circumstances, which, in turn, can lead to parental reinforcement and exacerbation of the symptom. It can be hypothesized that the Romano family exhibited a number of unrealistic beliefs. Mrs. R believes that her family has been torn apart and she has lost control of her two juvenile children. She reached this conclusion because Mr. R, is no longer in the home and her two juvenile children are not adhering to her rules. This can be indicative of labeling and mislabeling herself, being an incompetent parent and incapable of protecting her family. Based on her religious principles, children are taught to obey their parents and people are forbidden to dress like the opposite sex, as she reports, it is considered as an “abomination” unto God. According to Mrs. R early experiences, she may have learned that children are an extension of their maternal figure. When there is a problem, it is because the mother has failed and her inadequacy lead to change in the family dynamics. This is an example of her dichotomous thinking that she has failed. Mrs. R cognitive distortions have impacted the family and reinforced her negative behavior.