Analysis of Girl Essay

The story Girl, by Jamaica Kincaid, is a dialogue between a mother and daughter, though the long and list-like form of the narrative implies that perhaps the guidance the mother is providing is actually a memory. The mother is the primary speaker, based on the volume of her comments, but it is clear that the daughter is the protagonist; the story is written in such a way that the reader responds along with daughter to the mother's comments, which take the form of a series of lessons; the point of the lessons, according to the mother, is to teach her daughter to behave properly and not to act, as she terms it, like a slut. Each series of orders concludes with a follow-up question or negative statement in which the mother shows her disapproval toward her daughter. The first set of instructions concerns the proper method of washing clothes. The mother says that white clothes must be washed on Monday and put on the stone heap. Tuesday is for washing colored clothes, which must be put on a clothesline to dry. The mother goes on to tell her daughter not to walk in the sun without a hat or other covering for her head. She tells her to use hot sweet oil when she cooks pumpkin fritters and to soak her clothes after she takes them off. She instructs her to make herself a nice blouse when she buys cotton but to be sure that it doesn't have gum on it so it will hold up in the wash; she then shifts subjects completely to tell her daughter to soak codfish overnight before cooking it. Here, the mother stops herself to ask her daughter if it is really true that she sings benna in Sunday school. , She doesn't wait for an answer, though, and immediately goes on to tell her to eat food in a way that will not turn someone else's stomach. Then, returning to the subject of her previous question, she cautions that on Sundays the daughter must walk like a lady and stop singing benna in Sunday school. She tells her that her current walk is that of a slut, which she is obviously bent on becoming.

The next series of commands begins with a warning to not talk to wharf-rat boys, even if only to give directions. She tells her not to eat fruit on the street or else flies will follow her. The daughter comments back in defense, at this point, saying that she doesn't sing benna on Sundays and never in Sunday school. The mother continues with new statements that seem to imply that she is visibly showing her daughter how to do things. She shows her how to sew on a button, how to make a buttonhole for the button that has just been sewed on, and how to hem a dress when she sees a hem falling down. Again, the mother says that these instructions are all to keep her daughter from looking like the slut she is bent on becoming. The mother continues to show her daughter how to do things. The next list includes instructions on how to iron her father's khaki shirt and pants so that they don't have creases and explains that okra must always be grown far from the house because okra trees harbor red ants. She tells her daughter that when she grows dasheen, she must give it plenty of water, or it will make her throat itch when she eats it. She shows her the differentiations between sweeping a corner, the whole house, or the yard. This is followed by what the mother sees as necessary social skills, including the proper way to smile at someone she doesn't like much, at someone she doesn't like at all, and at someone she does like. Next is how to set the table for tea, dinner, for dinner with important guests, for lunch, and for breakfast. She tells her daughter how she should behave around men who don't know her well so that they won't recognize that she is bent on becoming a slut in spite of her mother's warnings. In the next list, the mother tells her daughter to wash every day, even if it is with her own spit. She tells her not to squat down to play marbles, reminding her that she is not a boy. She cautions her not to pick people's flowers because she could catch something and tells her not to throw stones at blackbirds because the bird she throws stones at may not turn out to be a blackbird. The mother shows her daughter how to cook, how to make bread pudding, how to make doukana, and how to make pepper pot. She shows her how to make medicine for a cold and follows up with instructions on how to make medicine to cause miscarriage in the case of an unwanted pregnancy. The mother shows her daughter how to catch a fish and how to throw back a fish she doesn't like so something bad won't fall on her. She shows her how to bully a man, how a man will bully her, and how to love a man. Regarding the last comment, the mother says that if her illustration of how to love a man doesn't work, there are other ways. She also adds that if none of the ways work, she shouldn't feel bad about giving up. She shows her how to spit in the air and move quickly so that it doesn't fall on her. She tells her how to make ends meet and finally tells her to always squeeze bread to make sure it is fresh. The daughter asks what to do if the baker won't let her feel the bread, and the mother responds by asking if, after all she has told her, she is "really going to be the kind of woman who the baker won't let near the bread."