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Jamaica Kincaid as the "Girl"

            
             Jamaica Kincaid's short story "Girl" is simply a story that involves a mother and daughter in a seemingly one-way conversation. And through this conversation, the reader is left to discover the conflict underlying mother's words. Though this story is not simply written, there is an apparent conflict between the two characters in the story and the "Girl" is in fact Kincaid herself.
             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 and her daughter. "Kincaid sat at the typewriter in her Hudson Street apartment and attempted to recreate her mother's voice in its first fictionalized incarnation" (Paravisini-Gebert 51). During the story the mother makes it clear to the daughter that a woman's sole purpose in life is to wait on man and ensure his happiness. The story also uses the mother's voice as way to deliver instructions to her daughter in a nagging manner. Kincaid must have been thinking about her own experience as a young girl. .
             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.


Essays Related to Jamaica Kincaid as the "Girl"

1. Jamaica Kincaid's "Girl": A Uniquely Crafted Look At A Woman's Place

Jamaica Kincaid's short story, "Girl" is unique in that while it clearly lacks a precise plot, it delivers a message as clearly as more traditionally crafted pieces of fiction. The story borders on being a monologue on the part of the mother as she dictates to her daughter her expected roles in life. There is no room for discussion as the mother rambles incessantly of the things expected of her daughter, most likely because the mother believes ... point of view, Jamaica Kincaid delivers a somber story of the relationship between a mother and a daughter and the relationship of women and the so...

  • Word Count: 1033
  • Approx Pages: 4
  • Grade Level: Undergraduate

2. The Narrative Style of Jamaica Kincaid

... two narrators for this one story. The mother, who is physically speaking and giving the directions, and the daughter, who is receiving and interpreting the directions given. We, as the readers, are getting the story from the daughter's point of view, hence the daughter is the protagonist of the story because she is the main person in this story. From the mother's narration and point of view, the mother believes she can save and ... , which was mainly just staying in a child's place and taking in everything the mother said without much question or back talk. Ultimately, we, the audience, ...

  • Word Count: 1351
  • Approx Pages: 5
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: High School

3. Literature Analysis - Girl and Everyday Use

... is able to tie together Dee's shame of her mother and her past as a whole. Dee's attitude towards her past is the ultimate sign of disrespect and shows even more shame shame towards her mother, a heartbreaking realization for Momma. The harsher, more aggressive mother-daughter relationship in Jamaica Kincaid's "Girl" directly contrasts that of sweet Momma and Dee in Walker's story. ... In this short story narrative, the "girl" lists her mother's commands on how to live her life as a sort of pure and respectable woman. The girl is made to follow her mother's orders, ... of our hearts. ...

  • Word Count: 1588
  • Approx Pages: 6
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: Undergraduate

4. Girl by Jamaica Kincaid

Since Jamaica Kincaid's story "Girl" was written in 1978, the role that women play in society has profoundly changed. Equality among men and women can be seen now more than ever in the developing society. Strong women are being offered and are taking advantage of the same opportunities that men are given. Although gender independence is more common in modern society, the risk of being judged ... you sweep a corner; this is how you sweep a whole house; this is how you sweep a yard" (Kincaid 380). In the beginning of the story, it seems like the mother is just teaching her daughter how to do ce...

  • Word Count: 990
  • Approx Pages: 4

5. Girl by Jamaica Kincaid

Researchers find that female wading birds kill their offspring as a cause of social and/or environmental necessity. Every single day, thousands of women around the world force death upon the freedom of their daughters as a cause of social and/or environmental necessity. Feminist writer, Jamaica Kincaid, puts the mother-daughter relationship under a microscope in her prose poem "Girl"-- she examines the societal pressure, deep rooted prejudice, and double standard, which ... force a mother to cut the corners of her daughter's being as she shapes her way into womanhood ... ...

  • Word Count: 588
  • Approx Pages: 2
  • Grade Level: Undergraduate

6. Girl

Throughout time mother/daughter relationships have had problems. On the mother/daughter relationship in the story "Girl" by Jamaica Kincaid, is Dictatorial, Commanding, and Frustrating. Due to mothers indiscretions early on in there lives the daughters are forced to pay for them. The story the "Girl" is a very good example of how the mother tries to fix her mistakes through her daughter's life. Mothers will preach to ... world you will always find mother/daughter relationships some good some bad. Most of the time the mother is telling the daughter how to act and what to do with there life. I...

  • Word Count: 576
  • Approx Pages: 2
  • Grade Level: High School

7. The Symbolism of Water in the Novel Annie John

... and nourishing properties; it connects people and objects when it touches them simultaneously, and transforms by washing away the old and unneeded, and nourishing new growth. Annie loves and admires her mother. As she reaches the age of eleven, the closeness of the relationship is demonstrated by the bathing ritual they enjoy together. Jamaica Kincaid uses water to illustrate femininity and union between mother and daughter. For example ... I had erased all of myself except for the shoes. (Page 120) As part of creating a separate, independent identity from her family, Annie explains about...

  • Word Count: 1549
  • Approx Pages: 6
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: High School

8. Girl

Jamaica Kincaid's "Girl- The main character in story "Girl" written by Jamaica Kincaid, learns through her mother's fierce instructions and advice that she must be perceived as a woman and not as a negative stereotype of womanhood. The title itself provides several ideas such as representation of daughter's age. She is not a woman, not yet on her own, but a girl, still reliant on another, still with much to learn. Second, the title "Girl- symbolizes the mother's awareness of ... her daughter. Her mother does not deem her a woman or a young lady, but a naive girl in need of steady instruction ...

  • Word Count: 836
  • Approx Pages: 3
  • Grade Level: High School

9. Girl

Superego vs. Girl Jamaica Kincaid's short story "Girl" will at first appear to be just another dialog between a grandmother and a granddaughter in which the grandmother is giving the granddaughter age old advice. However, if the story is taken as a whole one can see evidence of this being more of an internal conflict that is taking place between the girl and a superego that consists of all of the different stereotypes of how a woman ... character in this story is referred to as a girl so she is probably to young for sex with boys her own age. So these by her being bent on becoming a slut and ...

  • Word Count: 1324
  • Approx Pages: 5
  • Grade Level: High School

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