Jamaica Kincaid "Girl", is written as lists of statements. There are no periods or paragraphs in the short story, just one continuous line with semicolons after each direction the author writes. I feel like it is a list of instructions a mother teaches her daughter so she can become a woman. The narrator seems to be two people, a mother telling her daughter things that she should and should not do to avoid turning into a "slut" or a unacceptable woman in society, and her daughter taking all the instructions in while questioning whether or not if she can follow all the rules. Since it seems like the instructions the mother is giving the daughter is old fashioned "this is how you set a table for tea", the story most likely takes place in the 1950s where it was more common for women to stay at home.
The message Jamaica Kincaid is trying to convey in her story is the constant pressures women are faced with in society, to be what society wants you to be. The instructions in her story symbolize societal pressures that women are faced with. There are so many instructions on how to be woman, that the young girl in the story is overwhelmed, "but what if the baker won't let me feel the bread." Like there are so many pressures women are faced with that they develop insecurities. The mother in the story wants the best for her daughter and is scared of her growing up into a bad woman. She gives her daughter tough love and threatens her with the notion that she is bound to become a slut so she must follow the rules to the last detail. This is saying that women must not make any mistakes in society, and they have to be perfect.
8 months ago
The narration is definitely two-fold. Most likely, the daughter is the narrator, repeating or remembering or reminding herself of her mother's instructions.
ReplyDeleteThis story is indeed social commentary. It also shows a private relationship between mother and daughter that you could also explore.