Jamaica Kincaid Girl

Jamaica Kincaid in her short literature work “Girl” utilizes strong repetition to convey certain themes seen in gender issues, more specifically those of the power of domesticity and female sexuality. This narrative is structured with two characters, a mother and daughter, and is presented by the mother as a list of instructions for the daughter to live and follow by in life. The repetition of the phrase “this is how you [do this]” and the word “slut” shows the oscillation of the mother going from repeating domestic instructions for the girl to follow to accusing the daughter of being promiscuous and questioning the daughter’s innocence.

For one side of the femininity spectrum, Kincaid portrays the domestic life that is, a lot of the time,

shown to females as the only life that is acceptable for a female to lead which will also save female from a life of promiscuity. The whole piece of literature is one long run-on sentence because adding periods would come across as pauses which Kincaid did not intend for. With this text being one run-on sentence, the reader is forced to keep going on and on and on with the text in the way that the mother goes on and on and on with her continuing advice. The constant repetition with “this is how you” before explaining what the daughter must do and how creates a specific rhythm the author wants the reader to follow. “This is how to sew on a button…this is how you grow…this is how you sweep…this is how you smile…this is how you set…this is how you behave…this is how you make…this is how to bully…this is how to move quick…this is how to make ends meet”; this is the major chunk of the text that consists of this rhythmic repetition of “this is how” to basically be an accepted and productive woman in a patriarchal society (1726). This use of repetition secures the reader into this false sense of security with the rhythm of life for a woman where all the woman does is cook and clean and perform various other domestic duties. All these directions about domestic chores illustrates how the mother has the whole household under control. The mother somehow believes that keeping busy with the household and all the work that comes with it will keep women away from immoral temptations and allow for respectability in the society and from the family. Some of the more specific directions on how to perform certain duties like how to smile and behave in different ways to display different impressions to different people she will encounter shows the importance of a woman’s reputation which is always at stake for them because people are always watching and always making judgements. The mother also advises on the right way to uphold a relationship with a man, especially in the male-dominated society. Having this kind of repetition where the list of these instructions is stated in just one way starting with “this is how you” would be thought to be simpler to understand in the daughter’s eyes, which would be what the mother’s intention is; however, it is sometimes interjected with a few parts where the mother begins the instruction with “don’t” and “you mustn’t” throws off the consistent repetition and in turn can create some confusion by the majority of the mother’s instructions (1725). This confusion is translated to being the daughter’s confusion that she most likely feels by all of her mother’s words. This is all, as a whole, the chant for a female growing up where domesticity was central to womanhood, which Kincaid had most likely observed in her upbringing.
From the domestic side of the femininity spectrum, Kincaid switches over to a different side and portrays the danger of sexuality that females face in every community and society.

This side examines a different reputation aside from domestic reputation: sexual reputation. The repetition of the word “slut” in phrases highlights the importance that the mother places on sexual reputation within all of the advice that she gives to the daughter. The constant repetition of the word “slut” She instructs her daughter on how to act and dress in a very specific way as to not be displayed as promiscuous. Maintenance of sexual purity and innocence is ideal for respectable women which the mother most strongly asserts to the girl and the reader the same. The mother more accuses the daughter of already becoming, if not already, a “slut” rather than only stressing that she avoid becoming one. In the first part of the text, the mother instructs the daughter to not sing “benna” (1725). These calypso benna music genre can have sexual double meanings and symbolize sexuality in general which then singing, especially in church, would definitely come across as immoral and wrong as the mother suggests. This is where the girl for the first time in the text has some say when she attempts to fight and defend herself but is shot down by the mother who does not listen and keeps going with her list of instructions. The odd fact is that although the mother condones the daughter from singing benna in

Sunday school, she does not say anything about her singing it at home or anywhere else; this, in turn, further reveals the importance of reputation in the eyes of others because the mother cares more about how the girl would present herself in front of those at the church where reputation is held to a higher standard than in front of those that may not have as high of a status that would matter in the mother’s eyes. The mother also instructs the daughter to not squat when playing which reveals that the girl is still young, but the mother also instructs about the girl’s “little cloths” which references the girl just reaching puberty. Therefore, even though the girl is not very old in age, the mother still believes the daughter will end up leading a sexual and promiscuous life like a “slut”. The mother already gives the instruction on how to make medicine for an abortion when the girl is as young as she is; the mother is already setting her up for a situation that she believes will occur because she thinks her daughter is already leading the sinful and forbidden sexual life. The mother realizes that they both live in a male-dominated society and emphasizes this to the girl for her to realize that since she cannot ever be a boy to have male advantages and therefore needs to know how to present herself, especially in front of the males, to be able to gain the rightful respect from the community. The text ends with the use of the words “feel” and “squeeze” when talking about the baker’s bread which give a sexual connotation that the mother uses; the reader can interpret these words to be a metaphor for the daughter’s sexuality which makes her out to be dirty which consequently causes the baker to refuse giving his bread to her. The ending to “Girl” seems to be the mother believing her own accusations toward the daughter about how the girl is a “slut” the whole time and that this knowledge will persist in the mother’s mind potentially for all years to come, and these final words from the mother are unfair towards the daughter who is not given a chance to prove her innocence in any way.
The mother-daughter relationship in Kincaid’s work shows the strong connection a mother has to her child and the strong need and intent to raise her child in the best and acceptable way as society sees it.

However, the girl speaks up in her own defense two significant times in the whole text. Both of those times where the daughter attempted to take advantage of the opportunity to speak up in protest against her mother’s preconceived beliefs, she is basically instantly shot down because her words are not heard by her mother as the mother continues with her own words over her daughter’s. The second time the daughter attempts to speak up and question her mother, the mother just comes down with anger and makes it seem as though she finds it pointless to advise her daughter any further who is already leading towards the life of a “slut” as the mother sees it. The fact that the daughter started to try and speak independently captures how the girl is already feeling some resentment, confusion, and conflicting feelings towards her mother which many children can relate to with any parent at times. The mother’s overpowering instructions that shield the daughter’s attempt at communication reveals how the mother prevents any form of two-way communication and sense of self for the

daughter.
Jamaica Kincaid’s “Girl’ is an emotional illustration of the issues of womanhood in a disadvantaged and patriarchal society where the woman’s only control is in her domestic responsibilities while also having to maintain her sexual decency.