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From the perspective of human experience, Girl by Jamaica Kincaid and Everyday use by Alice Walker provide important insights and considerations. The former tells a story of a mother teaching her daughter how to live in society; the latter pictures a situation of a daughter’s homecoming after a long absence. In my opinion, in both Walker’s and Kincaid’s stories, there are the three themes of mother-daughter relationships, economic struggles, and societal expectations.
First, the topic of mother-daughter relationships is illustrated by the respective conflict of opinions. In the case of Girl, the conflict is based on the concerns the mother has about her daughter’s behavior. For instance, she inquires whether the daughter sings inappropriate songs in Sunday school, disregarding the negative reply that follows shortly (Kincaid, 2003). Such an attitude indicates the mother’s concerns overshadow reality, devaluating the daughter’s opinion. Meanwhile, the Everyday use case also highlights the mother’s disregard for her daughter’s opinion, albeit with a different connotation. The first daughter, Dee, wanted to take something memorable from her family house, choosing her grandmother’s quilts promised to her sister, Maggie. Throughout the book, Dee is illustrated as a selfish person believing “that ‘no’ is a word the world never learned to say to her” (Walker, 1973, para. 2). However, the mother did not allow this wish to come true, forcefully taking away the quilts and surprising the frustrated Maggie. Thus, both tales display the mother-daughter conflict but approach it from different angles.
Second, economic struggles play an important background role in both tales. Poor living conditions and rural settings are similarly used to create the desired atmosphere and impact the readers. In Girl, economic struggles can be deduced from the small details, such as “don’t pick people’s flowers – you might catch something” (Kincaid, 2003, p. 321). In turn, the instructions about how and where to grow crops imply the rural setting. Everyday use expresses poverty through the details about the family house with “no real windows, just some holes cut in the sides” (Walker, 1973, para. 14). Consequently, the rural setting can be seen in mentioned mother’s activities, such as milking cows and processing fresh meat (Walker, 1973). Overall, such a background is vital for the general impression of the reader and particularly important for the next topic.
Last comes the topic of societal expectations that do not fit into the illustrated setting. The Girl contrasts the daughter’s actual behavior and genuine intent with the mother’s experience and common traits met in their society. While the mother acts out of love and care, trying to share wisdom and explain the unknown, she repeatedly mentions her daughter’s supposed intent on becoming a girl of easy virtue (Kincaid, 2003). Even discussing an entirely different issue, the mother caustically asks if the daughter is “going to be the kind of woman who the baker won’t let near the bread” (Kincaid, 2003, p. 321). In the meantime, Everyday use again changes the polarity of the conflict, picturing how the mother and Maggie do not fit into Dee’s vision. In particular, she urges them to change but doubts if it is possible because “from the way you and Mama still live you’d never know it” (Walker, 1973, para. 81). Therefore, the displayed conditions justify the discrepancy with societal expectations.
In conclusion, the stories written by Kincaid and Walker exemplify two visions of mother-daughter relationships and societal expectations in the same poor settings. The mother-daughter conflict can be described as a mother’s disregard for a daughter’s opinion based on particular reasoning. The economic struggles faced by stories’ characters create the needed atmosphere and justify societal expectations that differ from reality. The main difference between the stories lies in the conflict’s connotation and readers’ respective compassion for the characters. It is then left for the readers to decide who has the right or wrong in displayed conflicts.
References
Kincaid, J. (2003). Girl. In A. Charters (Ed.), The story and its writer: An introduction to short fiction (6th ed.) (pp. 320-321). Bedford/St. Martin’s.
Walker, A. (1973). Everyday use. Harper’s Magazine. Web.
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