Girl, a short tale by Jamaica Kincaid published in 1978, is a poetic and rhythmic set of instructions from a mother to her daughter. Impenetrable as the plot may be, the mother’s forceful lectures to her daughter on how she should get ready for family life and her place in society are brilliant in their development of character and tension. This article uses Girl as a cultural prism to investigate how colonial relics have fostered a restrictive and conformist social order. The text’s atypical grammar and rhythm, as well as the author’s evocative descriptions of the setting and the author’s immediate environment, provide a firm foundation for the reading, as do hints at the text’s colonial origins. This essay will report on the narrative Girl by Jamaica Kincaid by discussing his life to see the themes that are in the text.
By setting the scene, Kincaid establishes the credibility and authenticity of her depiction of the local culture. Words like “pumpkin fritters,” “sweet oil,” “salt fish,” “okra,” “dasheen,” and “doukona” pop up throughout the mother’s directions, giving a rather Caribbean vibe (Braziel, 2022). The use of these terms reveals Kincaid’s Antiguan perspective. Such an open discussion about food evokes feelings of nostalgia and demonstrates awareness of context. Culture is established by the text’s description of the food, which is an integral aspect of any culture’s legacy and national identity (Jayasree, 2018). Benna (calypso music) exemplifies this in that it is the music of the type that most parents would not want their children to sing. Other examples include Sunday school, superstitions, and games like marbles. As a result, the reader has the context necessary to grasp how cultural analysis is fundamental to the story being told.
Kincaid’s exploration of colonial legacies and their role in producing a restrictive culture in Girl is best understood in light of the film’s production history. The British settled a ‘slave-breeding’ colony, Antigua decades before Girl was published (Jayasree, 2018). Established Christian missions became embedded in the region’s bloody and protracted past. Sunday school, a colonial institution, was the primary means by which Christians could be seen, and it was expected that girls behave appropriately on that day (Braziel, 2022). Kincaid further insinuated that the mother’s Christian ideals were altered due to her involvement with the institutions. By teaching her daughter how to hem a dress when she notices the hem is falling, the mother shows how much she values preserving her daughter’s honor and how much she fears the shame resulting from her daughter being a slut.
Cultural practices are pervasive through Girls use of unusual syntax and attention to rhythm. The narrative is told in complete sentences, each structured to produce a beat (Braziel, 2022). Certain words are repeated over and over to create this type of rhythm. The mother shows her child “how to catch a fish” and “how to return a fish you detest” (Braziel, 2022). The words “fish,” “catch,” and “throw” all have sibilance, despite being very distinct from one another. After the next clause, the term “this is how” disappears, only to reappear in the following one: “This is how to bully a man; this is how a man bullies you” (Braziel, 2022). An interlude is observed, and then the invocation continues. The cadence of her mother’s discourse is calculated to instill her values in her daughter, illuminating how certain ideas get accepted as norms through repetition.
In conclusion, Girl by Jamaica Kincaid does an excellent job of conveying the author’s views on gender stereotypes, roles, and expectations. The story’s authoritative tone from the mother and the daughter’s insecurity and slight defiance shed light on the dynamic between parents and children. Moreover, Kincaid’s viewpoint on these problems is communicated through sarcasm. Considering the universality of the topics it covers, the book is recommended to many people.
References
Braziel, J. E. (2022). Kincaid, Jamaica. The Encyclopedia of Contemporary American Fiction 1980–2020, 1, 1-5.
Jayasree, K. (2018). “Linguistic-Literary Camouflage in Jamaica Kincaid’s” Girl.” IUP Journal of English Studies, 13(2).