Category: Girl by Jamaica Kincaid

The setting of this novel is in a part of the Antigua and Barbuda a British country in the West Indies. The country is very hot, charming sceneries and elegant mountains and valleys. Compared to other countries in the West Indies, This part of Antigua and Barbuda was under the British colony and the whites ruled for many years. In the colonial period, British colonizers imported slave workers from India and African countries so that they can work in sugar cane plantations and also harvest essential crops such as tobacco. Besides this unpleasing and challenging account, it helped a lot in exchange for culture within this small country. Barbuda and Antigua gained independence in 1967 and joined the British Commonwealth organization in 1981 (Boyd and Natasha 105). Concerning these two countries being independent like Canada the state is under the rule of Queen Elizabeth II.

Regrettably compared to other nations in the West Indies, Barbuda and Antigua depended on a lot of o tourism, and the country developed poorly in terms of economic after they got the self-rule. In this novel Kincaid was extremely troubled with this poverty in her own country; she grew a sensation that Antigua was less concerned with developing talents in her citizens. For instance female gender which has affected a lot of the activities.

In this novel, the protagonist Girl is growing up in a mixed reaction having diverse cultural values. Whenever she went to public and even private institutions, she found the British in control of everything. Kincaid narrates her bad moments of studying the literature of the British with no knowledge of what the real picture of England is. Though back at home and even on the street, there was a mix of different races which was much significant in her life. Language and culture mattered a lot in this novel, whereby one could shift from one language to another depending on the person she is interacting with (Gale 73). This was not of help to many people who lived in Antigua especially Africans who had to embrace their culture.

Antigua people and Africans were known as less superior, and their culture was never appreciated by British this made the Barbadians and Antiguans to live a sad and miserable life. The fear of Antigua people to interact and exchange of cultural activities with the British makes Kincaid to be much irritated. She draws writings in an identifiable destroying her culture and forcing her to adopt their history. In this novel ‘Girl’ the reader can easily tell the fear being expressed between Antiguans and the British. The culture of the colonizers and that of Kincaid was perceived not to be the same in whichever case. But during some point, the perception becomes the same. The Girl knows how Antiguan food is being prepared, although she goes ahead to teach her how to make British food such as making tea and pudding bread.

This being much contrary to the mindset of the Kincaid’s’ life but it is much significant for a reader to understand ‘Girl.’ Kincaid being Elaine Potter Richardson was born on May 25, 1949. Her mother and father never married; besides, this never brought impact to Kincaid’s lifestyle (Boyd and Natasha 109). Though she was much close with her mother. Antigua being dominated and colonized by British, Kincaid learned whites system of education. During this point, she starts knowing that she hated a lot how the Antiguans were looked down upon by the British. As a result of their culture being seen as inferior compared to the culture of the British.

Kincaid’s life changed the time when her younger brother stepped on the earth. She lost all the attention she had from her mother being shifted to her smaller brothers. She was stopped from learning by her mother and asked to go to New York to look for a source of income while her brothers are encouraged to study hard to higher levels (Boyd and Natasha 112). They are encouraged to join college. Concerning culture, family and gender are much significant to the personal life of Kincaid. There are the most critical features that will help the reader comprehend “Girl” which is concerned with her life activities. Also, these are common skills of a young girl who is on her way to maturity

In conclusion, the setting of this novel is much elaborate in terms of being understood by the reader. The person reading can internalize the growth experience of any given young girl who is affected by the new culture. As for the case, young people who were born during the time of colonization in Antigua were raised in a mixed culture whereby they had a hard time to embrace their religion at the same time being forced drop it and adopt the one for the colonies.

Today and throughout history, women and girls are constantly struggling to find their own individual freedom from the constriction of female gender roles and stereotypes. “Girl” by Jamaica Kincaid and “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin both focus on this struggle. Both Jamaica Kincaid and Kate Chopin include strong female main characters. “Girl” presents a young girl being restricted by the thoughts and feelings of her conservative mother while, “The Story of an Hour”, dives into the feeling of freedom the main character, Louise, loses her husband in an accident. Both the girl and Louise struggle with the roles that are put on them by their parents, men, and society as a whole, that in the end, hinder their freedom. The main character in Kincaid’s short story “Girl”, struggles to be herself because of her mother’s strict ideas on how a woman, wife, mother, and daughter should act. She is unable to express herself in the various ways she would like, due to her mother’s very conservative thoughts on what is “lady-like”. Similarly, the main character in Kate Chopin’s short story “The Story of an Hour”, Louise, is being held down due to the expectations and restrictions that were being placed on her by her late husband. These two short stories work very well together due to the fact that “Girl” focuses on a young girl longing for freedom, while “The Story of an Hour” focuses on a grown woman who has finally gained her freedom. Kincaid and Chopin’s female characters show a yearning for freedom because of their restrictions due to female gender roles and stereotypes. Both of these strong female authors work in tandem and use their writings to enlighten the reader on not only what roles and expectations are put on females, but the struggles and repercussions that stem from these assumptions.

“Girl” by Jamaica Kincaid provides the perfect portrayal of gender, gender roles, and expectations that are put on young girls. Kincaid organizes this as somewhat of an “instruction manual” on what it means to be a “good girl”; one that abides by gender role expectations. Through the main character and her mother, the author not only describes what girls and women are supposed to do, but what they are not supposed to do, according to expectations around gender. Kincaid explains, “Wash the white clothes on Monday and put them on the stone heap; wash the color clothes on Tuesday and put them on the clothesline to dry” (Kincaid 1-2). She goes on to say, “this is how to sew on a button; this is how to make a button-hole for the button you have just sewed on” (Kincaid 15-16) and “this is how you iron your father’s khaki shirt so that it doesn’t have a crease; this is how you iron your father’s khaki pants so that they don’t have a crease” (Kincaid 18-19). This is a great example of how young females are introduced to gender roles from a young age. Girls are often introduced to gender roles and expectations by their mothers or other female relatives who understand the “rules” of gender role conformity. This is perhaps because mothers or relatives want girls to have a life that is free of conflict and they are aware that playing by the “rules” may make life smoother for them. Trying to break free of or reject gender roles can be hard work. Some women who have attempted to break these rules have learned how hard it is and perhaps have gotten into trouble or lost things like spouses, jobs, or family members who do not agree. So, it is not just “society” or even men who convey these rules on gender to girls – women also teach these expectations. The main character’s mother, throughout the story, teaches her how to be a proper wife and homemaker as she believes a woman should. Additionally, the main character is taught by her mother how to act as a lady and in such a way that will impress others. In modern day society it is largely present that females should act “presentable” at all times. Kincaid explains, “always eat your food in such a way that it won’t turn someone else’s stomach” (Kincaid 9). She also says, “on Sundays try to walk like a lady and not like the slut you are so bent on becoming” (Kincaid 10). From a very young age, the main character is not only told what to do to be a “proper woman” but is also told what not to do. Her mother expresses how women are supposed to be pure, chaste, and proper. Her freedom is being stripped away from her as soon as she has the ability to think for herself. Throughout this story, the reader sees the progression of the young girl yearning to be free and express herself as a woman as she would like. However, her mother is standing right in the way.

Kate Chopin’s, “The Story of an Hour” takes a different approach to female freedom. In contrast to the way that Kincaid uses “Girl” almost as an instruction manual for gender role expectations, Chopin highlights the ways that girls and women struggle against these gender roles. The main character, Mrs. Mallard is a middle-aged woman who has been recently widowed. To the reader’s surprise, she is, in a sense relieved in response to her husband’s passing. Chopin states, “She was beginning to recognize this thing that was approaching to possess her, and she was striving to beat it back with her will – as powerless as her two white slender hands would have been. When she abandoned herself, a little whispered word escaped her slightly parted lips. She said it over and over under her breath: ‘free, free, free!’” (Chopin 10-11). The concept of freedom seems to take over Mrs. Mallard. She cannot resist the feeling of freedom from ‘possessing her’. With her husband’s passing, she now feels that she can do, say, and be anyone or anything she wants without being told otherwise. She spent a whole marriage being told what to do and say and finally, she is free. Chopin continues to explain, “There would be no powerful will bending hers in that blind persistence with which men and women believe they have a right to impose a private will upon a fellow-creature. A kind intention or a cruel intention made the act seem no less a crime as she looked upon it in that brief moment of illumination” (Chopin 14). Now all that matters to her is that she can achieve freedom. Past ties and expectations stripped of ‘a kind intention or a cruel intention’ are revealed as ties that have been tying her down for years.

One element of fiction that stands out when reading “Girl” is character. In literature, as in the real world, the reader can evaluate a character in response to how they act, feel, and what they do. In this emotional story about the relationship between a young girl and her mother, the reader can clearly observe that the protagonist is unable to formulate her own thoughts and opinions due to the beliefs her mother prescribes her. Kincaid explains, “This is how you smile to someone you don’t like too much; this is how you smile to someone you don’t like at all; this is how you smile to someone you like completely” (Kincaid 1). The young girl’s character is created around her mother’s ideas about gender roles and expectations. In addition, the girl speaks a total of two sentences the entire story. This represents the fact that the young girl has no voice and her mother has taken complete control over her freedom. The reader is able to conclude that the main character is suppressed by these expectations through the rules she is given. Another element of fiction that was prominent in these two short stories especially “The Story of an Hour”, is Plot. Plot is an element of fiction used to describe the events that make up a story, or the main part of a story. The lack of freedom the main character, Mrs. Mallard, feels throughout her marriage affects the plot of the story greatly when it is revealed to the reader that she is actually in a sense, freed when her husband passes away. Louise Mallard loves her husband and their relationship is expressed positively throughout the beginning of the story; so, it comes as a shock to the reader when she admits the freedom she feels after is passing. She imagines the years ahead, which belong only to her now. She will be free, on her own without anyone to oppress her. This flips the plot of the story and reveals the restraint she felt when trying to formulate her own thoughts and opinions in her relationship. Louise states, “She breathed a quick prayer that life might be long. It was only yesterday she had thought with a shudder that life might be long” (Chopin 4). Before her husband’s death, Louise viewed her life with apprehension, envisioning years of unchanging dependence and oppression. However, now she is free and independent, and her life is suddenly open to possibility and in her own hands for the first time.

A common theme of both “Girl” and “The Story of an Hour”, written by strong female authors is the lack of freedom the main characters possess due to the strong gender roles and stereotypes in their cultures and households. In the scholarly article, Escaping the Colonizer’s Whip: The Binary Discipline, Colena Gardner-Corbett specifically describes the ways that the gender binary (opposing gender role expectations for males and females) is used to control the characters in “Girl”. She states, “In using binary oppositions throughout Kincaid’s works, the mother (colonizer) character attempts to brainwash these binary ideas into the young and innocent character in an effort to suffocate any effort of free thought” (Gardner-Corbett 75). Gardner-Corbett explains how the mother character in Kincaid’s “Girl” uses binary oppositions to control her vulnerable daughters’ thoughts. Binary oppositions create a constant contradiction of ideas such as feminine and masculine and chastisement and oppression. This article proceeds to explain the brainwashing women endure all around the world and the lack of control they have of their own thoughts and opinions due to the ideas and norms the world has created for them. Gardner-Corbett also touches on how this conditioning can affect females especially from a young age. She states, “When the oppressed young develop into adults, these oppressed adults will not question the heterodox; the oppressed will perform trained exercises because they are conditioned; this is where Kincaid directs her anger” (Gardner-Corbett 75). The article enlightens the reader on how female oppression and gender roles exist in a cycle that repeats itself. Young girls are filled with ideas on how they should act rather than making the decision for themselves. Due to the fact that gender role expectations are conveyed directly and indirectly by family and friends every day and then reinforced by society (in schools, jobs, organizations, and society as a whole) they seem “ok or normal.” They are a part of life and society, so girls and women do not always question them or see them as “bad” or restrictive. In response to this, these ideas can get easily passed on to the next generation.

A piece of commentary that directly connects to these issues centering around gender roles is “The Mother” by Lydia Davis. This commentary explains the high standards many mothers hold to their daughters. Not only do men and society cause these gender issues but women are introducing these ideas to their daughters and family members. Davis states, “The girl wrote a story. ‘But how much better it would be if you wrote a novel’ said her mother. The girl built a doll’s house. ‘But how much better it would be if you built a real house,’ her mother said” (Davis 265). This shows the pressure young girls have to be proper and “good” women even from their own parents and role models. Little girls experience extreme pressure from the world and are constantly watched and judged by those around them. Due to this, girls are unable to freely act and speak how they would like and must shelter their thoughts to reflect the role they have been given in society.

It is clear that both of these short stories are, at their foundation, about gender role expectations and, specifically, the ways that these expectations impact female freedom. “Girl” by Jamaica Kincaid describes the relationship between a young girl and her mother and reads almost as an instruction manual that her mother uses to teach her daughter about gender role expectations. Additionally, “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin, focuses on a middle-aged woman and her relationship with her husband, describing the sense of freedom she feels once her husband dies and she is no longer subject to the gender role restrictions he imposed. Both women are eager to achieve freedom and express themselves however they would like. “Girl” is a perfect example of a female just beginning to lose their freedom, while “The Story of an Hour” is a perfect example of a female just beginning to gain their freedom back. In both stories, these women are being told throughout their lives how a woman should act and how women should spend their day, acting like a lady and taking care of the home and children. These strong female authors, Kincaid and Chopin, are writing about gender roles and, through their characters and what they represent, shine a light on the ongoing struggle and impact this has on girls and women.

Jamaica Kincaid in her “Girl” story had a significant voice in modern literature. She was widely honored for her work in short fiction, novels, and essays in which she discovered the serious relationship between mother and daughter as well as themes of anti-colonialism. “Girl” by Jamaica is a first-person narrative, the personality is narrating her story. The words in “Girl” story are all Mom’s words, it seems like the girl remembered all the advices that her mom told her as a child and when she’s all grown up. The girl is the one talking in the story. Even though, we feel like the girl is helpless at first, because she only ‘speaks’ twice to protect herself. Kincaid’s narrative technique gave the girl all the power. She chooses the advice that she’s telling us, and she puts everything in the order that she wants. Instead of doing all the listening, Girl is doing all the talking. The story is told from a feminist point of view. Kinkaid uses the mother as the second person narrator, giving her an authorial speech. The short story “Girl” by Jamaica Kincaid, is a major example of mother and daughter relationship. The theme is strongly suggesting that a woman should be rational and there is a certain way that she should act. Many elder women feel that a woman’s role in life is to be abiding the law. The theme of girl reinforces this opinion. The story discovers themes of sexual reputation, domesticity and the complexity of a mother/daughter relationship and showing how it defines what it means to be a woman, and shapes the way women are expected to behave.

Girl narrator had many literature concepts like Imagery which is to use symbolic language to represent objects, actions, and ideas in such a way that it appeals to our physical senses. Typically, it is thought that imagery makes use of specific words that create visual representation of ideas in our minds. In the Girl story, we can imagine that there is a mother who gives specific rules to her daughter about what to do and what not to do. Imagery can make us imagine the picture in our mind to have a deep meaning of this story and the purpose behind Jamaica’s words. On the other hand, Jamaica uses her strong point of view, she seems to be a traditional mother who gives her daughter rules to follow in her life, she also wants to show the feminine perspectives in this life. She used an allusion in her story, an allusion is a figure of speech that refers to a well-known story, event, person, or object to make a contrast in the readers’ mind. She uses that in the way she describes the feminist rules in her story. She concludes in her story the final thought about female perspective in our society.

Jamaica wants to deliver a big message to her readers regarding female perspective. She uses a first person “you” to show that every girl reads her story will have to follow this rule, especially if those rules come from her mom, because daughters in general needs to follow mom words. Usually, the mother knows what is good and what is bad for her daughter, but for an older daughter it will be difficult to follow these rules because older age girls want to be independent. Jamaica story author doesn’t use periods, only one sentence ending punctuation. There are only two ‘voices’ (characters) in Jamaica Kincaid’s ‘Girl’: a mother and her daughter. By not ending the sentences with periods, the rules sound stronger.

The short piece ‘Girl,’ by Jamaica Kincaid, is all about the expectations and roles of women, as well as young girls becoming women, in a male-controlled society. If the piece were named ‘Boy,’ the expectations and instructions would be completely different, and I suspect, less harsh and careful. Because in our society males have more authority than females, girl sometimes should follow her mom words. Jamaica Kincaid’s story consists of one long sentence that contains a set of instructions that an unnamed individual is delivering to another person. Irregularly there is an italicized passage, apparently, the listener’s response. Some of the instructions relate to the practical aspects of life, such as laundry, while others relate to moral and ethical dimensions, such as attending church.

Numerous dimensions are often explored in the same sentence, and one instruction may have multiple clarifications. The speaker begins with the laundry instructions regarding when to wash white and colored clothes. In the same sentence, they order the listener not to walk bare-headed in the hot sun. While the latter is a practical suggestion, it also takes their desire that the listener behave rationally. As the sentence moves along, the reader gains the impression that the listener is a girl, as the speaker states, ‘don’t squat down to play marble you are not a boy, you know.’ The speaker also tells her how to walk and how dress appropriately. “on Sundays try to walk like a lady, this is how to turn-up a dress to prevent yourself from looking like the slut I know you are so bent on becoming”. In a similar way, we understand that the speaker is the listener’s mother, as she refers to the father telling the daughter how to firm her shirt and pants. These practical instructions also lead into those pertaining to relations with men in general. “this is how to behave in the presence of men who don’t know you very well, and this way they won’t recognize immediately the slut I have warned you against becoming”.” this is how to love a man, and if this doesn’t work there are other ways”. Jamaica Kincaid’s represents a mother advising her daughter in how to become a woman.

The short story “Girl” is a list of apparently random advices from the mother to her daughter. In the format of the story, it is one long sentence with the advice separated by semi-colons. Overall, the narrator presents her thoughts and feelings as they pass through her mind.

Have you ever had the feeling or thought that your mother acted and raised you differently than other mothers? There are many mothers with different perspectives and opinions on how a woman should be or behave in front of other people. In Jamaica Kincaid’s “Girl”, a mother teaches a girl about certain beliefs coming from society and culture at the time to be a “perfect” woman in society, while in Gary Soto’s “Looking for Work”, the mother does not take certain beliefs and rules seriously at that time to be like a perfect mother and families portrayed in society and media.

Jamaica Kincaid’s “Girl” narrative describes a mother explaining to her daughter how to be a proper woman as what is required in society and how to prevent to be a slut (469). From the beginning to the end, the mother is giving rules and commands. Kincaid writes that the mother dictates, “Wash the white clothes on Monday and put them on the stone heap” (469). It shows that the mother is trying to show what tasks women have according to society and what her mother expects from her. The relationship between the mother and daughter is bad because the daughter did not talk that much and tried to answer the allegations of words like “walk like a lady and not like the slut you are so bent on becoming” (469). The mother controls the daughter too much and is very harsh on her daughter’s appearance to dress appropriately “from looking like a slut” (469). The mother is very influenced by former women’s roles at that time and how these define a real woman. They want women to “sweep a whole house” and stay home and do to the housework by telling her it is her responsibility and is expected of a woman at that time (470).

I find it very sad and depressing to hear stories like this from the perspective of a mother. Not only in the past, but also today, children are told to have certain responsibilities because of their gender and what is seen as normal in society. At that time, because of gender roles in American society, men dominate, and women were told to be at the house and support the husband. The image portrayed here from mother to daughter is that, in society, if a woman does not follow gender roles and the task of women to “recognize the slut I have warned you against becoming” (470).

Kincaid writes, “don’t squat down to play marbles-you are not a boy, you know” (470). This shows that there is a certain way a woman should act around men to be successful in life, in contrast to today’s society, where women can freely follow their dreams and educate themselves. At that time, a lot of daughters started to rebel against their mothers as they decided to work out of the home and make their own decisions, but the mother does not let her daughter speak and lists stereotypes if she becomes a slut on “how to make good medicine to throw away a child.” This shows that her mother is not taking the daughter seriously end even if she wants to give good advice to her daughter or care about her, she does not think about the words she uses. A women’s success is measured by her ability on how to cook and act in front of other people. Therefore, the mother only cares how to be a woman and daughter and what to do in order to please everyone and fit into the roles accurately but is concerned because she wants her daughter to be accepted in society.

The women in the narrative “Girl” are only successful if they stay at their box of tasks because of their gender but if they refuse, they are judged and looked down upon. The mother did not realize that words like “slut” (470) are hurtful for a girl because they are judged for actions that are seen as not normal in society for a woman influenced by expectations in gender roles coming from media and centuries given culture. In Gary’s “Looking for Work,” the mother is completely different because they are coming from a working-class background and she is a single parent and is in the role of the men to work hard to put food on the table. She does not have time to engage with the son and engage with him like the shows in the 1950s of a perfect family (22). He compared his and the mother’s roles from the media with his own mother’s action “our own talk at dinner was load with belly laughs” (22). In Soto’s “Looking for Work,” you can see that the mother does not care about the family “she sent me outside where my brother and sisters were sitting” (23).

Compared to Kincaid’s “Girl”, the mother somehow cared about the daughter and was trying at that time, apart from discrimination of genders, while the mother in “Looking for Work” does not take the proposals of her child seriously and laughs at him and sends him outside. It seems like with words like “Later you’ll bug me to let you stay out longer,” she does not want to engage with her kids.

In conclusion, both mothers are not very successful in their own way. The mother in “Girl” teaches her daughter stuff with no regard for her feelings or thinking about the situation only because society is showing what women are supposed to do, but she also wants her to be respected by others.

Have you ever had your parents tell you think about life and what you should do in life and what you shouldn’t do based on what they’ve been through or because of society? The story “Girl” by Jamaica Kincaid is more or less about that. The character in this story is the mother that does the majority of the talking, and the girl that only says two things in the entire story. What I got to analyze about this story is that the mother is giving her daughter all these instructions on how to behave and how to act like a lady and not a slut.

The story “Girl” there is no plot there’s no clear action telling you. Where and how old is the girl? What is the situation that the mother is having this talk with the girl? The Setting is unclear we don’t know what time it is what’s going on where they are located. What I can analyze is that the mother is very strict the mother is telling her what to do and what not to do like that she doesn’t look like a slut. I’m assuming that the mother is telling all this to the daughter like that she doesn’t look like a bad mother herself but also like that her daughter doesn’t go through the mistakes she made when she was her age. One of the motives that she wants her to look good like she they respect her. The mother is giving her advice, advice about housekeeper on how to cook and how to dress, but She goes beyond that when she tells her “this is how to make good medicine to throw away a child before he even becomes a child” (Kincaid & Meyer ‘Girl’ 115). It shows that the mother loves her daughter, but she cares more about her reputation that she teaches her daughter how to make a medication to kill a baby. This is what makes me think that the mother probably went through that. The mother reputation was really bad and She didn’t have someone to tell her looked don’t do this don’t do that and people called her a slut and treated her bad. That’s why she’s trying to correct her daughter’s actions before the girl makes the same mistakes as her mother. Then the girl she just has two sentences, and she said, ‘But I don’t sing benna on Sunday at all and never in Sunday school” (Kincaid & Meyer ‘Girl’ 115). We can say that the girl is an antihero character because she didn’t say much in the entire story. Compared to the mother she is a static character because she doesn’t change to up the story.

One of the theme in this story is the complicated relationship between mothers and daughters. The mother wants the daughter to do everything she says. The mother doesn’t have trusting and daughter and that’s why she keeps on stating “not like the slut you bent becoming and become” (Kincaid & Meyer ‘Girl’ 115). So the mother has a lot of saying in story, but we don’t see much from the girl with the girls thinking. It has to do with a lot of the things that the mother went, so she does want her daughter to go through that. The daughter doesn’t have voice into this conversation. You can see this as society versus girl because the mother is society and she’s telling the daughter like what not to do and she knows that her daughter wants to be a slut but mind you those aren’t words from a mother to a daughter it’s more like society. What’s the story is pretty much stating is that interview cooking clean and do not have the house organize means you’re going to be a successful woman.

When you look at the story you can see that the story doesn’t have any periods and it’s just one big blob of words. When you read it you really don’t have anywhere to stop because there’re no periods. So its like the mother is enforcing of those laws and rules that she think it’s how to become a “successful woman” but in reality and that’s pretty much Society and how people think but not only that but she can also be talking from experience. So the story when you read it it’s like this pressure and informant because you can’t stop because there’re no periods and you actually feel like the girl because you feel like you don’t have a say in it.

Every day, tons of children especially teenage females endure the domineering parental nature due to the stereotypes imposed by society. The injustices, prejudices, and discriminations against particular sex have played a significant role in teens abandoning their families and societies; when given an opportunity. Jamaica Kincaid and the young daughter from her short story Girl are ideal examples of teen girls being targeted due to the specific gender roles developed in the communities. Approaching to Kincaid’s Girl through a historical/biographical lens, it is evident that the daughter represents the author in her adolescence. As the dictatorial and oppressive parenting style of Kincaid’s mother, after she had three sons in quick succession is similar to the harsh and autocratic mother-to-daughter relationship from the short story Girl. Besides that, both Kincaid and the girl were challenged by the unjust and prejudicial treatments caused by the different societal roles that boys and girls adhere to. Thus, the dictatorial parenting and unjust gender roles imposed by society indicate how the experiences of the author are reflected in the main protagonist from the piece Girl.

First of all, the domineering mother-to-daughter relationship is apparent in both the author’s life, as well as the life of the girl in her short story. As at the age of nine; a sudden change came into Kincaid’s life with the subsequent births of her three brothers. This changed her relationship with her mother drastically. Her mother’s love had been severely diminished and she had been inexplicably rejected and cast out. For instance, she was an intelligent student and also won a scholarship to a school affiliated with the British system of education. Unfortunately, her mother forced her to withdraw from school to support the family and to take care of her ill stepfather. It appears that Kincaid’s mother does not think about the social aspect of her daughter’s life. According to this, bossy parenting can lead to resentful effects within familial relationships. Correspondingly, authoritative parenting is illustrated in the entire Kincaid’s story Girl. The short story substantially consists of the mother’s outlook. It is conspicuous that the mother is talking about things that she thinks are beneficial. It is clearly illustrated that the mother is not willing to accustom the standpoint of the girl. For instance, mother says, ‘don’t sing benna in Sunday school;’ and in response, the daughter’s thinking is shown as ‘but I don’t sing benna on Sundays at all and never in Sunday school;’ (Kincaid) This illustrates how the mother is not even taking the account of the possibility that the girl does not engage in with benna in Sunday school. Thus, in this regard, the imperious nature of the mother is clearly perceptible.

Composers are often able to convey the difficult experiences of growth and maturation through their exploration of complex parental-filial relationships. Sofie Laguna’s The Eye of the Sheep (2014) and Jamaica Kincaid’s Annie John (1985), are domestic fiction novels of the bildungsroman form, in which both composers successfully capture an authentic narrative voice through their use of distinct, idiosyncratic perspectives, enabling readers to form a unique connection with the protagonist in their search for independence. Additionally, both authors use characterisation to effectively communicate the impacts of complex societal issues and the upheaval in the domestic world on familial relationships.

In her novel The Eye of the Sheep, Sofie Laguna explores the growth of her young protagonist, Jimmy Flick, after the departure of his abusive father and the death of his mother. He is intellectually disabled, described as both too fast and too slow: sharp in his perception yet unable to navigate the conventions of everyday life. Her use of a child’s marginally restrictive perspective provides the reader with the ability to foresee what Jimmy himself is unable to. The poetic and liberating narrative voice of Jimmy also enables the author to further accentuate the melancholic tone of the novel. For example, this is demonstrated in the quote, “I didn’t cry. I didn’t know how,” where she successfully indicates how children are often confined as mere spectators and ingenuous participants in the adult world. This is also evident in Jimmy’s commentary of his mother’s death: “I climbed onto the bed and pressed myself to her, as I had since I was a baby, to feel her, the land that was mine, but it was still.” Here, the composer employs dramatic irony to reinforce the strength of maternal-filial bonds, creating a lugubrious atmosphere in which the reader feels obligated to sympathise. Though Laguna conceptualises the interconnectedness of family, love and violence as a result of external factors, this is represented differently in Annie John, as Annie’s tense relationship with her mother is a result of her own inability to accept that she must become a separate self.

In her novel Annie John, Jamaica Kincaid juxtaposes events of both the past and present, using the young, captivating voice of Annie to expose the impacts of her desire for independence on maternal-filial relationships. The contrast between before and after Annie’s developing cynicism is shown in the quotes “My mother and I often took a bath together…how important I felt to be with my mother” and after, where she recalls her old childhood memories bitterly, stating, “I’m not sure…I would be able to tell when it was my mother and when it was really her shadow standing between me and the rest of the world.” Through use of first person perspective and the personalisation of Annie’s tribulations, the author forms a connection between her and the reader, therefore evoking a similar sense of compassion. Evidently, Jamaica Kincaid positions readers to consider how Annie’s vanity and flaws may be a possible cause of her vulnerability. In The Eye of the Sheep and Annie John, both characters struggle to see the mature world beyond the arms of their mothers. Identically, the exploration of the growth of their protagonists is done through the powerful applications of narrative, perspective and character; Jimmy after violence and tragedy, and Annie through her progresssive maturation as a result of a painful alienation from her mother.

Set in the 1980’s industrial suburb of Altona, The Eye of the Sheep narrates Jimmy Flick’s maturation as a result of his dysfunctional family – who are subject to a perpetuating cycle of socio-economic disadvantage. Their lives are dictated by his father’s work at the refinery- and his constant abuse of alcohol often results in severe violence. Laguna’s portrayal of Jimmy’s relationship is bleakly realistic, and she uses her novel to offer striking insight into the complexities of domestic violence, an increasingly problematic societal and political issue. The impact of economic precarity on their family is reflected in the statement “That bloody kid! He drives me to it.” Laguna characterises Jimmy’s father in such a way that she is able to successfully challenge the reader’s perceptions on the limits of domestic love. These limits are evident when his father injures himself to protect Jimmy: “Look what he did, Paula. See this? How am I going to go back to work on Monday with this?” Despite his role as an abusive alcoholic, the author delicately illustrates Jimmy’s father as a man desperate for absolution – in a society where violence is passed down from generation to generation. Through the exploration of societal issues, Sofie Laguna effectively represents the consequences of upheaval on tense familial relationships, and as a result, how domestic adversity can lead to growth and maturation.

In Annie John, every chapter is symbolic of one of Annie’s childhood memories, allowing the author to continuously depict the emotional upheaval Annie experiences as she approaches adolescence, and her struggle to conform to the societal expectations of becoming a traditional young woman of 1950’s Antigua. Kincaid articulates how motherhood can be both biological and colonial, drawing a similarity between parental-filial relationships and the relation between colonists and the colonised. The author also conveys her attitudes towards societal conformity through the characterisation of the Red Girl, who represents the native Caribbean culture eradicated due to British colonisation. Annie’s mother forbids their friendship, sarcastically remarking on the Red Girl’s mother, “Such a nice woman, to keep that girl so dirty.” Annie’s mother’s pressure for her to conform to British Antiguan ideals and become a respectable young woman is essentially what causes the ambivalent transformation from a once-loving relationship to one filled with spite. Eventually, these expectations prevent Annie from growing and developing her own individual identity, separate from that of her mother. While Jimmy is subject to economic precarity and Annie gains independence as a result of opposing societal expectations, both composers use the unique domestic worlds displayed in both novels to portray the impacts of these issues on complex parental-filial relationships.

Sofie Laguna and Jamaica Kincaid explore tense parental-filial relationships through unique portrayals of their protagonists. They evoke empathy and hope within readers through the characterisation of Jimmy and Annie, who both face difficult adversity – of which conclusively leads to their growth and maturation. The composers allow readers to develop a connection with the protagonists through their distinct manipulations of narrative and perspective, and enhance how the demanding societal issues prevalent in both texts result in domestic upheaval. Ultimately, The Eye of the Sheep and Annie John are both powerful reflections on the internal struggle often experienced in order to find one’s sense of identity, challenging readers to consider our own authority over our familial relationships.

The term gender is socially created, and it distinguishes man and women. However, some people think that gender and sex are same terms. But they are not same. There is a difference between them. The term sex means when we divide the males and females based upon their sex organs. On the other hand, the term gender means that is socially constructed and tell how man and women expected to behave in the society. For example, a boy is expected that he plays with dinosaur toys, trucks and guns. On the other hand, people want that girls should play with dolls, the utensils that are used in the kitchen. So, from the beginning of the life they are taught how to behave in society. There are some public hopes that hits the close relationship in greater way. Though, the society always criticize the head of the family or the main member of the family if something happen that do not meet the expectations of the society towards different gender roles. So, I think it is the main reason man always try to dominate the women, parents overcontrol their girls as compared to their boys and there are many other examples that I will explain in the next paragraphs that show how the relationships are affected by social expectations.

In the story “Hills like white elephants” written by Ernest Hemingway tells about how an American man try to convince his girl in different way to abort her child. Even the girl doesn’t want to abort the child he tried to change her decision by using many ways. However, the American man has no stand. Like he first said that “if you don’t want to you don’t have to. I wouldn’t have you to do if you didn’t want to. But I know that it is perfectly simple (Hemingway 157). But after he said this, he again tried to dominate the jig and said that the operation is very simple. After all this when jig is not ready to have a operation he gave her the fear that she is not able to travel after the child will born (Hemingway 157). From our understanding we come to know about that they both are not married, and the child is unplanned. In some societies child before marriage hits the reputation badly. So, I think that in the society where American man is living the child before marriage is not considered good. So that’s why he even doesn’t tell his name in the whole story and try to dominate so Jig may be ready to abort the child. So, society do not come to know about the child and there is no danger over the reputation of American man.

Moreover, in the story named as “Girl” written by Jamaica Kincaid which shows that a mother is too overprotecting towards her daughter. She controls many aspects of her daughter life. She also tells her daughter how to walk so she looks like a lady the slut you are so bent on becoming (Kincaid 410). I think the main reason behind why the mother tells her daughter how to walk is because mother is afraid of her reputation. She doesn’t want that her daughter looks like a slut. Because in some parts of world if the girl is slut before marriage then the people think that the girl does not belong to good family that has good reputation in the society. So, there is so much difficulty finding boy that is ready to marry the girl. But there are no restrictions on boys they can do whatever they do. This is because the society gave attention what girls are doing not to what boys are doing. According to me the main reason why the mother gave over attention towards the activities of her daughter is that she is afraid of society. So, she wants her girl to look and behave like society is expecting. But because of over protectiveness the girl feels upset.

Likewise, A article published by Lesley Milne named as “Gender inequalities and Child bearing” shows the research how the south Asian societies expects that male always has upper hand over the women. In Nepal a husband controls many aspects of her wife. Like when the woman is pregnant and ready to give a birth to a child. Her husband decides whether he takes his wife to hospital or not. He does not care about the safety of women life. Also, the male or other older members of the family only want a boy child. So, the women goes to doctor to ensure that whether it is girl or boy. The main reason behind ensuring that whether it is girl or boy is that in some societies girl child is not considered good. So if there is girl child then the husband forces his wife to abort the child whether she is ready or not to abort the child. But sometimes the woman raise voice against it that it is very rare chance and it leads to divorce and many other problems in husband and wife relationships. So sometimes because of society expectations we lost our partner.

Following this a study done by Jordan E Montgomery named as “ Parents At-risk and their children; Intersections of gender role attitudes and Parenting practises. Though the society always believe that father is responsible for financial support to the family and mother is responsible for the care of the children. But a research is conducted by the author in which most of the women complaint lack of parental role of father. So because of lack of participation in the development of child leads to argument between husband and life. The main reason behind the less participation of male in the growth of the child is the society believes that father provides only financial support. Because of society expectations the parents need to control their girls while giving freedom to their boys. Because society give attention to what girls are doing not to boys activities. Sometimes the girls feel upset because of this and it leads to conflict with their parents. So when conflict arises sometimes the children decides not to follow their parents instructions. So because of this sometimes they adopt bad habits that ruin their whole future.

In the end to conclude all the evidences how the society expectations effect the close relationships. I want to say that we should look after only those expectations which is good and genuine for whole society not for those expectations which ruins a relationship. We should treat men and women equally and give equal rights to them. So our family relations run smoothly and there is no conflict between any family member.

“Girl”, by Jamaica Kincaid, is a short story teeming with literary merit. Jamaica Kincaid, whose original name was Elaine Potter Richardson, was born on May 25th, 1949 in St. John’s, Antigua. Kincaid is a Caribbean-American writer whose works focus on representing familial relationships, as seen in this short story. The short story “Girl” by Jamaica Kincaid, was published in the 1978 issue of The New Yorker within Kincaid’s collection titled “At the Bottom of the River.” The short story follows two characters, a mother and a daughter.

The piece is composed of a dramatic monologue given by an anxious mother to her seemingly maturing daughter. The monologue focuses on the advice and teachings that the mother gives her daughter, though overwhelming and sometimes crass. The mother presents her daughter with a plethora of instructions that she believes will assist her daughter in becoming a decent and reputable young woman. She distributes pragmatic information to assist in performing household chores such as setting a table, cooking, sewing, and laundry. While this advice is informative in the mother’s eyes, she also uses it to scold her daughter.

Throughout the narrative, Kincaid demonstrates the overwhelming and serious nature of closed-door conversations between a mother and her daughter. “Girl” by Jamaica Kincaid utilizes a plethora of compelling literary devices to convey themes within the piece such as domesticity, sexual representation, and gender identity. Jamaica Kincaid’s short story “Girl” explores perennial themes such as domesticity, sexual representation, gender identity, and mother-daughter relationships. Jamaica Kincaid uses the structure of the seemingly one-sided dialog to make the reader feel as if they were constantly being redirected, taught, belittled, and expected.

The constant bombardment was as if everything was moving too fast to even try and appease the mother. This allows the reader to be placed in the daughter’s shoes, demonstrating exactly how it can feel growing up within the confines of cultural and social expectations as a young woman. Kincaid plays into themes of sexual representation by demonstrating how the mother tells her child how to “-prevent yourself from looking like the slut I know you are so bent on becoming.” (Kincaid 676) The mother’s words seem as if she believes that her daughter is already falling into promiscuity. She disapproves of the way her daughter sits, walks, and sings folk songs during Sunday school.

The mother bombards her daughter with domestic responsibilities to make her daughter as reputable as possible. Though her words are bitter, it seems as if the mother is frightened for her daughter and what could happen to her as a vulnerable young woman. Kincaid utilizes many literary devices in order to achieve tone within “Girl.” Throughout the narrative, the reader will notice that the tones in “Girl” are primarily loving yet harsh. When analyzing the piece, it is clear that the lecture from the mother is in fact an outstretched hand from the mother. For example, “like the girl to whom the mother speaks, the reader is pulled and drawn in by the chant of motherly admonitions” (Simmons, 468). She attempts to give her daughter advice on life and how to live it to the best of her ability.

This is the mother’s attempt at showing her love and that she indeed cares for her daughter. Kincaid displays the sternness of the piece by the rapid and intense delivery from the mother. Because of the barrage of words, the daughter is unable to speak but only twice in the lecture. For the mother, it is imperative that she gets her words across so that her daughter does not become the “the slut I know you are so bent on becoming.” (Kincaid 676) Themes of sexual representation and gender identity were explored by using the symbol of benna, the folksongs. The benna symbolizes sexuality and promiscuity, rather, than an act of such. The mother tells her daughter to refrain from singing benna on Sundays. Singing these songs in a religious environment is seen as sinful and disobedient. The daughter speaks only a few words following her mother’s benna lecture “But I don’t sing benna on Sundays at all and never in Sunday school.”(Kincaid 676)

The daughter does not seem to associate Benna with sexuality as her mother does. Even so, she is insistent that she does not participate in benna on Sundays. Furthermore, the entirety of the piece is symbolic within itself. Kincaid herself grew up in Antigua. Her upbringing had a serious impact on the pieces she created; this allowed Kincaid to recast the Caribbean’s past from the perspective of a native Antiguan woman. The mother’s uninterrupted lecture towards her daughter “indicates how difficult it is to grow up as a girl in Antiguan culture, which remained under the British control until 1967,” (Alhmad, Almahameed 158) The relationship between the mother and daughter is fraught with tension. This strenuous relationship is symbolic of colonial power within the Caribbean. Kincaid uses the motif of food to illustrate the idea that happiness and purpose come from domesticity. She says “This is how you throw back a fish you don’t like, and that way something bad won’t fall on you;” (Kincaid 677) The phrase implies that both good and bad things will come when obtaining and preparing the lifeline that is food. The act of cooking directly connects women with their families, children, and spouses.

The mother passes down her valuable traditions and recipes to her daughter as it is a generational rite of passage. “The directions and ideas that the mother gives to her daughter are discriminatory of woman in society,” (Rosenthal p.4) Such domestic skills, according to her mother and the society she lives in, will make her daughter more valuable to the community. “Girl” is a captivating story that displays a mother who truly believes she is the only person in her daughter’s life who can be the voice of reason in keeping her daughter pure and essentially good. The reader is able to visualize and empathize with the daughter as her mother teaches her how to be a woman of worth. “Girl” by Jamaica Kincaid utilizes a plethora of compelling literary devices to distinctly convey themes within the piece such as domesticity, sexual representation, and gender identity. Throughout the narrative, the reader will notice that the tones in “Girl” are primarily loving yet harsh.

Themes of sexual representation and gender identity were explored by using the symbol of benna, the folksongs. Following this, Kincaid used the motif of food to illustrate the idea that happiness and purpose come from domesticity. Kincaid captures the intimate closed-door discussion between a mother and a daughter by using captivating literary devices such as themes, tone, symbols, and motifs.

Works Cited

1. Kincaid, Jamaica. “Girl.” The Norton Introduction to Literature Shorter 13th Edition, edited by Kelly J.Mays, W. W. Norton & Company, 2018
2. Simmons, Diane. “The Rhythm of Reality in the Works of Jamaica Kincaid.” World Literature Today, vol. 68, Board of Regents of the University of Oklahoma.
3. Rabea, Reem Ahmad, and Nusaiba Adel Almahameed. Genre Crossing in Jamaica Kincaid’s ‘Girl’: From Short Fiction to Poetry. Al-Hussein Bin Talal University, 30 June 2018.
4. Rosenthal, Pamela. “Analysis of Jamaica Kincaid’s ‘Girl.’” Panmore Institute, 30 Apr. 2020, http://panmore.com/analysis-jamaica-kincaid-girl.

Adulthood is a poisonous word that most people don’t want to hear or experience. Like a venomous snake, the bite is as deadly as it is. When we were young, we wanted to grow faster so we to reach our dreams and experience what adults could experience; but when we grow up and face the reality of our world, we just want to be a child again, free and at peace. This scenario is similar to Jamaica Kincaid’s poem entitled ‘Girl’ wherein it talks about between innocence and the entrance to adulthood. Throughout the journey of the daughter in entering the entrance of adulthood, her mother trains her how to act like a respectable and ideal lady. The mother is convinced that her own daughter is lost on her way to the entrance of adulthood so she decides to guide her.

The fact that the mother knows what to teach her daughter says all of the mother’s attitude. She is knowledgeable about the domestic code of conduct that she now shares with her daughter. She is also considerate and knows how to co-exist with people around her. The way the mother narrates the poem suggests her compassionate personality. She cares so much about her daughter so she constantly warns her not to be careless about her sexuality. Whenever her daughter acts like a slut as she says, ‘So prevent yourself from looking like the slut I know you are so bent on becoming,’ her mother always warns her and constantly checks on her daughter. However, the more the mother contradicts her daughter, the more the daughter’s freedom is being neglected. It seems like the mother literally took her daughter’s own freedom of speech which caused the daughter not to speak her own opinion about herself. The mother constantly teaches her daughter to be more domesticated without asking her if she really wants to be one.

Moreover, the fact that the woman does not give her own daughter’s freedom, also makes her feel suffocating from her mother’s rules. She should be like this, like that, no you can’t be like that, and so on. Yes, the mother takes the time to guide her own daughter, however, she guides her using the wrong way to do so. The expectation is so high and the pressure increases. Furthermore, the ironic part of the poem is the fact that the mother constantly gives her daughter instructions without knowing how experience really is a good teacher. She forbids her daughter to do numerous things that might also forbid her to complete and find her own identity. Remember, if you enter the door of adulthood, you should not forbid yourself to try everything and anything new. These might be the best way to teach yourself, it is to experience and to learn from these.