The story defies conventional story writing as it lacks a specific plot and little character development. One can even say that the girl is flat and lacks little detail. Also missing from the story is a specific setting. The only thing that can be gathered from the story about the setting itself is the time period in which the story occurs. From the dialogue in the story, it’s easy to assume that the story takes place before the 1980’s. This assumption can be backed by the apparent obedient and house keeping role of the woman describe in the story. The social setting in which Kincaid grew up in was obviously one in which the wife stayed home and took care of the house, children, and husband which translates into the story.

The story creates two very distinct characters, a nagging mother

The mother in Kincaid’s story seems to be very cautious and protective of her daughter. She wants her to grow up and know how to perform household duties correctly and perform them well. She takes on the responsibility of making her daughter the kind of woman that is acceptable to society. As the story progresses, there is some dialogue added by the daughter. While there are only couple lines of dialogue, this shows that Kincaid was not able to say much when having a conversation with her mother. From this one can gather that Kincaid’s mother must have been very demanding and did not allow much input from her daughter.

The end of the story is significant because it is a question of the daughter to which the mother does not ignore but responds to with another question. The daughter asks about the baker not letting her feel the bread, as the mother has said that she must do so to make sure that it is fresh. The mother questions her thinking about becoming that kind of woman as she has caution her before during the story with comments like “ on Sundays try to walk like a lady and not like the slut you are so bent on becoming” (Line 8). This is another example of the standards of which Kincaid’s mother probably held for her daughter.

The background of the author is bought out in the story with t

Some topics in this essay:
Hudson Street, Jamaica Kincaid’s, mother daughter, Jamaica Kincaid, story “girl”, conventional story writing, kincaid’s short story, short story “girl”, story writing, character development, story mother, question daughter, becoming” line, relationship kincaid, kincaid’s mother, conventional story,