The Poem Girl by Jamaica Kincaid

816 Words2 Pages

The poem "Girl" by author Jamaica Kincaid shows love and family togetherness by creating microcosmic images of the way mothers raise their children in order to survive. Upon closer examination, the reader sees that the text is a string of images in Westerner Caribbean family practices.

Jamaica Kincaid has taken common advice that daughters are constantly hearing from their mothers and tied them into a series of commands that a mother uses to prevent her daughter from turning into "the slut that she is so bent on becoming" (380). But they are more than commands; the phrases are a mother's way of ensuring that her daughter has the tools that she needs to survive as an adult. The fact that the mother takes the time to train the daughter in the proper ways for a lady to act in their time is indicative of their family love. The fact that there are so many rules and moral principles that are being passed to the daughter indicates that mother and daughter spend a lot of time together.

The reader gets the impression that the advice that the mother gives her daughter has been passed down from many generations of women. The advice of the ages has enabled their daughters to endure hardships and to avoid making the same mistakes that they had made, such as planting okra far from the house because it attracts red ants. There were some women in the past that learned this lesson the hard way, and included it in the litany of advice for future generations. But "Girl" also shows the hostility and family dissension that the females suffer.

The world of the women is not comprised solely of setting the table for tea or determining which day to wash the white clothes or the colored clothes; there is a darker side to their lives. The mot...

... middle of paper ...

...ably performed tasks such as washing laundry on a rock, ironing her family's clothes, or cooking pumpkin fritters in very hot sweet oil.

When I first read "Girl" I was amazed at how much work young women had to do in early 1900's. We can definitely say that the role of women has changed over the years in the United States. We do not have to do so many grueling tasks to get through our everyday life. Today, mothers teach their daughters to be more independent. Women in third world countries do not have the luxuries we do. They still have many rules that hold them back from being their own person.

Works Cited

Jones, Gertrude. Personal Interview. April 15, 2006.

Paul. Ephesians 5:22-23. Life Application Study Bible.

Jamaica Kincaid. Vanessa Pupello. Fall 1997. Emory University.

April 15, 2006. http://www.english.emory.edu/Bahri/Kincaid.html

Show More
Related

  • A Brief Comparison Of Girl And The Women's Swimming Pool

    1782 Words  | 4 Pages

    The society aspect of women roles and the duties as a woman. Society plays a role that is shown in a parallel between Girl and the Women’s Swimming Pool. In girl, her role is restricted in the direction by her mother. The restrictions come’s with consequences that she has to follow. These restrictions are guidelines that may or may not help her as a woman but she is subjected to do them in order to survive in a society that is controlled by men. While in The Women’s Swimming Pool, the young women finds a way to escape her old culture values and adapt to a new culture. She will be forced to make a decision that will put her in a position that she has to either leave her grandmother or her desire to the pool. Her grandmother is a symbol of her old culture values and the pool is symbolized as the new culture looking forward to change. As the old generation no one is willing to accept change but in the new generations they are willing to search for the change. Which comes with consequences and a great deal of

    Read More

  • What Is The Relocation Between Silent Dancing By Judith Ortiz Cofer

    1748 Words  | 4 Pages

    Men felt superior, “Hombres with the devil in their flesh who would come to a pueblo… never meaning to stay, only to have a good time and to seduce the women,” which made women feel inferior. Women were only used for a man’s pleasure. For that reason, they would not wed them. As generations progressed, they soon found an exception to wed, which considered the woman as the man’s property. Women were never looked as individuals if they got married. Women found control within themselves to not be recognized as only a man’s property, but that they have the opportunity to achieve much greater things than just being a housewife. The women found that their bodies shouldn’t be used for pleasure, but for greater achievements such as widening their education career. Worry, her uncle went missing. It affects the family’s lifestyle since her uncle did not land in the U.S. but somewhere unknown. Mamá, “went wild with worry” which is normal since it is her son (33). Her son is missing, while Mamá’s husband had premonitions of where their son could be located. Terror filled mamá with the “nightmares… she saw her son mistreated and worse,” which can be a mother’s worst fear (33). Mamá fears for the life of her son, the tone is fear and worry. In a Puerto Rican woman’s life, this is far one of her top priorities, her family. Family is one of the biggest priorities in a woman’s life, especially if they sense

    Read More

  • Gender Revolution Chapter 12 Summary

    1873 Words  | 4 Pages

    Mostly in regards to women, this change is called the gender revolution. They have become much more involved in roles and activities that men were once previously dominating. The biggest change is the increase in workforce. Ever since the 1960’s, it has dramatically increased from under 40% of women in the workforce to now around 70% (273). Also, the feminist movement allowed laws against sex discrimination to assist them even further in having both a career and family. In regards to the impact on men from the gender revolution, their role’s, in comparison to mother roles, has been more resistant but changed nonetheless. They spend more time caring for their children at home and doing housework. POSSIBLY ADD

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Rosanas Rocker By Nicholasa Mohr

    1765 Words  | 4 Pages

    Aunt Rosana’s Rocker      As times change, everything changes with it. The roles that women take on have changed in certain cultures, but in some cultures they have remained the same. Before, men were treated with more respect and superiority, while women had no voices or say in the events that took place in their society. Today, there are situations where men are taken more seriously than women, but slowly, women are being treated with respect and play an active role in their community and have involved themselves within their community. In certain cases the roles never change because the people do not change along with the society.

    Read More

  • Victorian Women in the Work Force

    2867 Words  | 6 Pages

    “The Ladies.” The Ladies : n. pag. Online. Internet Explorer. 18 February 1999. Available http://etext.virginia.edu/ladies/ladyhome.html.

    Read More

  • The Mother In Jamaica Kincaid's Girl By Jamaica Kincaid

    975 Words  | 2 Pages

    The story “Girl” takes the form of a series of lessons; the point of the lessons, according to the mother, is to teach her daughter to behave and act properly. Kincaid’s complicated relationship with her mother comes out in the mother-daughter dynamic in the story. The mother mentions practical and helpful advice that will help her daughter keep a house of her own someday and also how to have a life of her own. It can be argued that in Jamaica Kincaid’s short story “Girl” that the mother is loving towards her daughter because the mother is taking time to teaching her daughter how to be a woman, and because she wants to protect her in the future from society’s judgment.

    Read More

  • Voices Of Women Writers Lesson

    1851 Words  | 4 Pages

    It is said that a girl can often develop some of her mother's characteristics. Although, in their works, Kincaid, Hong Kingston and Davenport depict their protagonists searching for their own identities, yet being influenced in different ways by their mothers. Jamaica Kincaid's poem Girl, is about a young woman coming-of-age receiving helpful advice from her mother. In this poem, Kincaid addresses several issues where a mother's influence is beneficial to a young woman's character. The mother, or speaker, in Girl, offers advice to her daughter- advice that she otherwise would not learn without being told or shown. The mother advises the daughter about everyday tasks, and how to go about them properly (in her opinion).

    Read More

  • Women's Fight to Reform their World in the Early 1900s

    1115 Words  | 3 Pages

    It is no secret that no matter how much women continue to strive in the workplace, politics, etc., inequality will always persist. Throughout American history, the oppression of women has caused an adverse effect on humanity. Some men believed that embracing women as worthy of equal opportunities was a threat to them, as all the rules would be changing. However, the 1900s witnessed a change in that trend, as women started to fight and stand up for their rights. Women have stood on the frontline of this conflict, but at the end of the day they are only requesting “The power or privilege to which one is justly entitled” So, how did women’s role in society evolve from 1919 to 1941?

    Read More

  • Comparing Girl by Jamaica Kincaid and A&P by John Updike

    1222 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...her and daughter goes deeper than the surface, where mother daughter banter seems normal in this day and age. In actuality, during this oppressive state between Britain and the Caribbean, the mother favored British lifestyle and all that was affiliated with it, yet in opposition, the girl was anti- imperialism, therefore causing conflict among each other. In what seems to be a sort of monologue, “Girl” goes onto contain a theme involving political overtones less apparent and contrary to that of “A&P.”

    Read More

  • Hardships in Boys and Girls by Alice Munro

    1113 Words  | 3 Pages

    Unrealistically, the narrator believes that she would be of use to her father more and more as she got older. However, as she grows older, the difference between boys and girls becomes more clear and conflicting to her.

    Read More

  • The Influence of Gender in "Girl" by Jamaica Kincaid

    672 Words  | 2 Pages

    “The slut youre bent on becoming” and other variations of the line reoccur throughout the text and may be one of the seemingly obvious expressions that propounds the mother’s ramification with the system and illustrates her efforts to shape a daughter who performs her instructions appropriately.

    Read More

  • Heart Of Darkness Analysis

    1215 Words  | 3 Pages

    A woman's world may be disconnected from the realities of the actual world, but it acts as a safety blanket to secure sanity for not only herself, but also for a man to avoid losing hope. When Marlow, a sailor who sets off to the Congo for exploration, speaks to his aunt before his departure, he sees how women's worlds are “too beautiful altogether, and if they were to set it up it would go to pieces before the first sunset” (77). The world of a woman is set up so that she can bloc...

    Read More

  • Sexual Politics In The Story Of An Hour By Jamaica Kincaid

    1972 Words  | 4 Pages

    Works like “Girl” by Jamaica Kincaid, “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin, “I Want a Wife” by Judy Brady and “Ain’t I a Woman” by Sojourner Truth all have the elements of what a woman is supposed to be according to sexual politics. In doing this she lists off things that the Daughter should be acting out upon. “Don't squat down to play marbles—you are not a boy, you know” (Kincaid 68). The mother is demonstrating how the daughter should act in the presence of boys and explaining she is not one.

    Read More

  • Female Sexualism In Jamaica Kincaid's Girl By Jamaica Kincaid

    927 Words  | 2 Pages

    The short story, Girl, by Jamaica Kincaid, can very easily be related directly to the author’s own life. Kincaid had a close relationship with her mother until her three younger brothers were born. After the birth of her brothers, three major values of her mother became apparent to Kincaid. In turn, Kincaid used the three values of her mother to write the short story, Girl. Specifically, these values led to three themes being formed throughout the story. It appears in the short story that the mother was simply looking out for her daughter; however, in all reality, the mother is worried about so much more. Kincaid uses the themes of negativity towards female sexuality, social norms and stereotypes, and the significant

    Read More

  • The Evolution of the Role of Women in British and American Literature

    1818 Words  | 4 Pages

    “Girls wear jeans and cut their hair short and wear shirts and boots because it is okay to be a boy; for a girl it is like promotion. But for a boy to look like a girl is degrading, according to you, because secretly you believe that being a girl is degrading” (McEwan 55-56). Throughout the history of literature women have been viewed as inferior to men, but as time has progressed the idealistic views of how women perceive themselves has changed. In earlier literature women took the role of being the “housewife” or the household caretaker for the family while the men provided for the family. Women were hardly mentioned in the workforce and always held a spot under their husband’s wing. Women were viewed as a calm and caring character in many stories, poems, and novels in the early time period of literature. During the early time period of literature, women who opposed the common role were often times put to shame or viewed as rebels. As literature progresses through the decades and centuries, very little, but noticeable change begins to appear in perspective to the common role of women. Women were more often seen as a main character in a story setting as the literary period advanced. Around the nineteenth century women were beginning to break away from the social norms of society. Society had created a subservient role for women, which did not allow women to stand up for what they believe in. As the role of women in literature evolves, so does their views on the workforce environment and their own independence. Throughout the history of the world, British, and American literature, women have evolved to become more independent, self-reliant, and have learned to emphasize their self-worth.

    Read More

More about The Poem Girl by Jamaica Kincaid

Open Document