Fiction analysis

The Story of a “Girl”

Throughout time, Mother/Daughter relationships have been tattered as women’s liberation has taken place. Many mothers are used to the “old fashion” opinion about what a woman should be. In the short story “Girl” by Jamaica Kincaid, the author gives a perspective of arelationship between a strict mother and her young daughter. The theme in “Girl” suggests that a young lady should be domestic and independent and there is a certain way that she should act. In the short story, Kincaid’s mother tries to describe the behaviors that she deems appropriate for females at thattime.

The author Jamaica Kincaid is an immigrant from the West Indies who entered the United States in her teens and has a poor relationship with her strict mother. Kincaid’s mother, and many elder women, believed that expectations and guidelines for females are set at a young age. Morals and values are learned throughout the years and life lessons are taught through the wisdom passed down from mother to daughter. The story is presented to the reader as a list of instructions from a mother to a daughter on how to live life. The author describes her daughter into becoming a “slut,” which tells us that the mother is worried and is disapproving of her daughter’s actions. At first, others might think that the story is only about the daughter repeating what her mother tells her to do but it’s the perspective of the mother trying to prevent the daughter form becoming a “slut” and changing her to become a young lady.

Kincaid lives a lot of her life listening to her mother’s rules. A lot of this information is beneficial to Kincaid, such as learning to soak the fish to reduce the salt content (Girl369) and not going out in the sun with a bare head. The third-person point of view plays an important part in the reinforcement of the idea that a woman’s place is in the home. “Wash the white clothes on Monday and put them on the stone heap; wash color clothes on Tuesday and put them on the clothesline to dry”. (Girl 369) This is Kincaid’s mother telling her that there is a way to do certain things.Sometimes parents can be overbearing and too protective of their children and this illustrates the entire story which made many young girls’rebel against their mothers by working outside of their homes. Throughout the story, Kincaid starts to build resentment towards her mother because at her age she feels as though that she should be able to make her own decisions on whether to be domesticated. This shows why the point of view of the story is so important.

While reading this story I noticed that it was written in 1978, right around when women’s liberation was taking place which explains a lot of the why Kincaid’s mother is saying a lot of the things she is saying.In the short story, the mother shouts out “you’re not a boy” the mother states that no girl should play marbles like a boy and that all girls should do household chores (Girl 369). This statement suggests how society views girls as opposed to boys because knowing how in this generation, our society discriminates the skills that a girl can do. Also, there is unequal treatment, this gives a setting role in the interpretation of the theme. The way that the mother sets aside the effort to control her little girl means that she anticipates a great deal from the youngster. The young lady is very much aware of this reality. Be that as it may, the severe directions from the mother seem to threaten the young lady (Girl369).

The connection between the two characters is mechanical. For instance, the discussion between them is uneven. The girl is calm and tunes in to the mother meditatively. The mother needs her little girl to be clean. She shows her how to wash fabrics, clear the house, and clean the compound (Girl 369).Another hint of the time is how she mentions divorce and how to live life after it,“this is how you love a man and if that doesn’t work don’t feel bad about giving up”.This can indicate that divorce is okay and accepted practice at that time so do not let it discourage you from finding the right person. Kincaid’s mother needs her little girl to have ethics. She trains her to be a legitimate sexual lead, befitting a very much reproduced young lady. She shows her how to behave herself in front of men. The point is to guarantee that she gets a dependable spouse.However, the girl feels like she is kept from the opportunity of getting self-assurance. She is not permitted to settle on her own choices. Her accommodating protests are perceivable when she says, “yet imagine a scenario in which the pastry specialist won’t let me feel the bread?” (Girl 369). Her mom does not disclose to her how to turn into a profession and current Kincaid’s “Girl” is loaded with irony. The mother anticipates that her girl should figure out how to turn into a decent tough lady like her. She overlooks that quality is increased through understanding and not guidelines. She should allow her Daughter to have an independent perspective, commit errors, and gain from them.

Many times, parents can be too hard and overbearing on their child.This is shown throughout the whole story but there are many times where the mother shows thatshe cares and understands, later in the story the mother shares her thoughts about abortions, “this is how to make a good medicine to throw away a child before it even becomes a child,” (Kincaid 119).Even though abortions are a bad thing it shows that while her mother instructed Kincaid’s moral principles, she also understood that things happen to young women and that it is okay to mess up.

Mother/Daughter relationships have experienced much strain throughout time, especially during times of women’s liberation and times of domestic changes in history. In Jamaica Kincaid’s “Girl,” the mother/daughter relationship presented to the reader shows in various instances how a mother can be both instrumental and detrimental in the upbringing of a woman deemed acceptable by society. For example, the reader sees multiple times how the mother gives both beneficial and disadvantageous instructions to the daughter. Not only that, but it shows how in a mother’s efforts to create the perfect woman she can come across imperious, not allowing her daughter to become her own person. And although the daughter resents the mother for the overly invasive role that she plays in her life, the real antagonist in all of this is society; As society imposes stereotypes on children, mothers will always do their best to keep their children from being affected by those very stereotypes.