"Girl" by Jamaicia Kincaid
...nd then just jumps from subject to subject. Mother wants to give her daughter the view of the world as it is available to women. It appears that the mother seems to focus on areas in her life that were more dominant in her life. She also has learned a lot of things in her lifetime and does not want her daughter to have to go through them. The randomness of the list and the things in it suggest to me that the mother is just saying them as they come to her. Sexuality is an important part of the story. There are many references to this by her mother calling her a “slut”. Mother starts by telling her how to sew a button and a hem, to help prevent them from coming undone. She reminds her daughter how having a sexual reputation can endanger a young girls chance of becoming a proper women. “The kind of women the baker would trust to squeeze his bread.” Since Kincaid gives us no apparent plot, I have come to my own conclusion. From the mothers perspective of her own desires and fears for her daughter’s life as a proper women, I can see where Kincaid has possibly put an underlying plot. I believe the power of this story lies within the voice of the mother. “Girl” is almost all said by the mother, with the exception of two interruptions by the daughter. The first time is when the daughter defends herself in that she does not sing benna in church. However, this comes after her mother has already asked her about and has moved on to different subjects. The second is after the mother makes the statement about the baker and the daughter replies, “ but what if the baker won’t let me feel the bread?” I also see where the daughters on sense of self comes from the mothers own life experiences. The text of “Girl” is not just one conversation, but a condensed version of life’s most important lessons. As we all now our parents do not tell us everything we need to know all at once. They spread it throughout out life hoping they have told us at the right time and that we have not made the same mistakes they had. The list of rules I believe is a little overwhelming to the girl. The girl never opens her mouth until she tries to defend herself to her mother. Which makes us as the readers to question whether or not the girl was even listening to her mother. Her mother’s voice comes of as appearing to be an affectionate one, until the areas that she fells are of great importance come along. At that point her voice turns to one of a critical one to e...