Transcript
Jamaica Kincaid wrote a short story, “Girl” about an older woman (mother) giving her daughter life advice for her future. By reading this dialogue, it is hard to understand why she is giving her all these guidelines because it is unclear what happened before, since there is no plot. In addition, within Kincaid’s story there are no names or time period when the dialogue takes place. On the other hand, the two page story is written in one sentence paragraphs, with some semicolons and few question marks.
The story begins with, “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 210). Doing the laundry is a domestic chore that many women are expected to do in their house. As well, the author describes other tasks that a girl is stereotypically meant to do and it includes sweeping the house, growing okra, and setting the table in different ways.
Kincaid mentions that the mother emphasizes the young girl not becoming a slut, “on Sundays try to walk like a lady and not like the slut you are so bent on becoming” (Kincaid 210). The mother tries to give all the information to her daughter about how to cook, take care of clothes, and how to form relationships so she can fit in to society, even if she does not want to become a lady by going against the rules described in the story. A similar line is mentioned again, “this is how to hem a dress when you see the hem coming down and so to prevent yourself from looking like the slut I know you are so bent on becoming” (Kincaid 210). The author talks several times throughout the story about being a slut, as it is are reminder to not be a slut.
On the end of story author takes a turn and tells the main character not only focusing on woman tasks, she tells the girl to stand up for herself. Kincaid writes, “this is how to bully a man; this is how to love a man” (Kincaid 211). Also, author tells that a woman should not feel bad about giving up on loving a man, “and if this doesn’t work there are other ways, and if they don’t work don’t feel too bad about giving up” ( Kincaid 211). To conclude the short story, the narrator says to “always squeeze the bread to make sure it’s fresh”. The response from the main character is what to do if the baker won’t let her squeeze the bread. Then the narrator ends the story with “you mean to say that after all you are really going to be the kind of woman who the baker won’t let near the bread?” It is as though after all the details the narrator provided about what to do in order to be a woman, she should be trusted by the baker and be able to choose the best loaf in the store.
