Reflections on Jamaica Kincaid’s Short Story, Girl Seeing a child who is ostracized for being a slut is a mother’s worst nightmare. The short story Girl, is a perfect example; insofar as, it deals with the experience of being a young female in a poor country, and a mother’s concern for her daughter’s respect. Girl mainly consists of single lined sentences of advice that the mother gives to her daughter in order to prevent her from losing respect for becoming a slut.
However, in doing so she is subconsciously condemning her preadolescent daughter to a life of promiscuity.The mother portrays herself as the only person in the world who can save her daughter from living a life of disrespect. She believes her daughter has already started down the wrong path so she furiously tells her to “walk like a lady [and] to always eat [her] food in such a way that it won't turn someone else's stomach. ” (Kincaid, 90) In some ways, the mother is wise: not only does she know how to cook, clean, and maintain a busy household, but she also has a good sense of social etiquette.Knowing how to “behave in the presence of men [she] doesn’t know very well…and how to “smile at someone [she] doesn’t like…[and] like completely” (Kincaid, 90) indicates that she knows how to act around the diverse people in her area.
For the mother, domestic knowledge and knowing how to interact with people bring happiness along with respect from family and the larger community. Her instructions suggest that social standing within the community bears a great deal of weight in their lives.Although after her rant, she seems to think that none of her wisdom will make any difference and that her daughter is already destined for a vile lifestyle. She even repeatedly hints that the girl wants to live promiscuously and be a “slut” (Kincaid, 90).
Despite the mother’s unkind remarks and accusations, the fact that she knows how to “make a good medicine to throw away a child before it even becomes a child” (Kincaid, 90) implies that she has had some sexual relations with several men.Although the daughter has not seemed to reach adolescents, the mother believes that if her current behavior continues she would live a promiscuous and unrespectable life. The mother seems to believe that a woman’s reputation and status determines the quality of life in society. In a little poor city where everybody knows everybody, sexuality needs to be composed or even concealed completely to maintain a respectable persona.She scolds her daughter for the way she walks, the way she “squat[s] down to plays marbles” (Kincaid, 90), and how she relates to other people.
The mother’s constant emphasis on sexuality shows how much she wants her daughter to realize that she is “not a boy” (Kincaid, 90) and that she needs to act appropriately to win her respect from the community. The mother doesn’t only believe that domestic knowledge will prevent her from wondering about the wrong path in life, but that it will also empower her to be a productive member of society.She continuously instructs her how to “sweep a house… set a table for dinner… and how to iron …khakis so it doesn’t have a crease. “ (Kincaid, 90) It seems that household tasks would keep a woman productive and free from thoughts of temptation. For the mother, domesticity brings respectability, cooking and cleaning around house thus becomes more than an act of maintenance because it saves a woman’s sexual reputation in society.
Towards the end the mother commands her to “[A]lways squeeze bread to make sure it’s fresh... When the daughter tried to defend herself, the mother then asked, “…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? ” (Kincaid, 90) This indicates that the mother assumes she is going to be a social outcast. Kincaid uses clever wordplay such as “squeeze and feel” (Kincaid, 90) to metaphorically depict sexuality. In the short story Girl, Kincaid wanted to portray how life can be growing up as a young female in a poor rural area.
Insofar as, how a mother’s assumptions can ultimately be the seed of her daughter’s destruction.
