Introduction
Jamaica Kincaid is a renowned Caribbean American writer whose narratives mainly focus on the reminiscent family relationships and her Antiguan nativity. Girl is a prose poem of a 650-word almost one-sided dialogue between a mother and her daughter. The story is narrated in the second person with the mother giving out authoritative instructions to her daughter concerning various life issues, such as becoming a woman. It is a string of instructions, dos, and don’ts of unpunctuated didactics concerning the unobjectionable activities surrounding the routine life of a proletarian female concerned about the future of her daughter. The simple language used and the straightforward structure (prose) of what appears as a to-do list makes a reader curious to understand the message that the author wanted to convey. A writer of Kincaid’s standing cannot simply write for the sake of it; hence, the need for deeper scrutiny of this story. In Girl, Jamaica Kincaid seeks to highlight the themes of the traditional mother-daughter relationship, the dangers of being a woman, and the transformative power of domesticity using the symbols of food, cloth, and folksongs as discussed in this paper.
Short Summary
The story starts with the narrator, mother, giving a list of commands to her daughter, which perhaps indicates that she (mother) is leaving. The narrator says, “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; don’t walk bare-head in the hot sun…” (Kincaid). This form of communication with the mother giving instructions continues throughout the story with the daughter remaining silent throughout – she only interrupts twice when defending herself and asking a question. The narrator seeks to help her daughter learn how to become a responsible woman using authoritative and scolding language. The writer uses semicolons to separate sentences and lots of repetition throughout the story. In addition, the narrative does not have a beginning, middle, or and ending, and thus it does not progress chronologically.
The narrator tries to be as practical in her advice as possible to ensure that her daughter gets all the relevant information that she will need as she transitions into adulthood. She is instructed on how to accomplish simple household chores, such as washing, sweeping, cooking, ironing, and sewing among other innocuous routine duties. In addition, she is given important information on how to become independent by fending for herself through fishing and making her own medicines. The mother also delves into the issue of male-female relationships and informs her daughter that she should be careful with men because at times they bully their partners. The narrator offers useful information on how to talk with people, especially those that the daughter dislikes. However, the mother is overly worried and convinced that her daughter is likely to become a slut, but she (daughter) protests this perception by insisting on her innocence.
Themes
Traditional Mother-Daughter Relationship
The mother-daughter relationship, which is the central theme in Girl, evokes the traditional form of association between these two parties in most cultures. The narrator comes out as what Jackson refers to as a tiger mother, which is a description of a “mother who pushes her child to the limit, expects them to excel in all they do and never accepts anything less than an outstanding performance.” In this story, the mother sounds authoritative and condescending judging by the way that she utters instructions. Kraft and Kosta argue that traditional mothers prepared their daughters for the life that lies ahead in adulthood by teaching them the virtues and social graces and the need to cherish virginity (p. 74). Kincaid underscores the same sentiments as she presents an almost one-sided conversation between the characters in the story, Girl.
According to Adel Nasser, the nature of the relationship portrayed in Kincaid’s narrative highlights the inherent disconnection between mothers and their daughters, as “shown in the way the mother harshly gives her daughter strict and organized set of verbal guidelines that teach her how to be a proper woman in that society” (p. 15). The mother is overly concerned about the future of her daughter, and thus she wants to make sure that her instructions are followed carefully. As such, she speaks plainly without using nuances – in other words, she is a commanding mother. As the story opens, she goes directly to the objective of the conversation and says, “Wash the white clothes on Monday…wash the color clothes on Tuesday…don’t walk bare-head in the hot sun…cook pumpkin fritters in very hot sweet oil…soak salt fish overnight before you cook it…always eat your food in such a way…” (Kincaid). Consequently, the reader learns about the relationship between the two early in the story. The one-way communication with the daughter remaining silent throughout the conversation indicates that the mother expects her to obey everything that is said without questioning.
Apart from giving guidelines on how to accomplish various household chores, the mother raises the issues of sexuality and gender, albeit harshly. First, she cautions her from singing Antiguan folksongs called benna –“don’t sing benna in Sunday school; you mustn’t speak to wharf-rat boys, not even to give directions; don’t eat fruits or the street-flies will follow you” (Kincaid). The mother adopts a parent-centered approach towards the advice to her daughter without creating an enabling environment for a response. She offers layers upon layers of instructions, and from the way she talks, it is clear that she does not expect her daughter to give her opinions concerning the underlying matters. The daughter protests by saying, “but I don’t sing benna on Sundays at all and never in Sunday school” (Kincaid). However, the mother does not respond to the objection – she simply continues with her instructions as if she has not heard her daughter speak.
The mother’s perception of her daughter’s sexuality is based on suspicion and mistrust. She is convinced that the daughter will become a slut. She says, “Walk like a lady and not like the slut you are so bent on becoming…prevent yourself from looking like the slut I know you are so bent on becoming” (Kincaid). The mother is verbally abusive and cold towards her daughter. However, she behaves this way from a point of love – the undying quest to prepare her daughter for adulthood in a society where women are treated as the weaker sex. The daughter is being prepared to become a housewife, which is the traditional role of women in society.
The Danger of Being a Woman
From the conversation, it is clear that the mother is worried about her daughter’s sexuality as she transitions to adulthood. She is afraid that if not taken care of, the daughter will become promiscuous; hence, the need to rethink her behavior. She needs to respect her sexuality and conduct herself in a certain manner that does not paint the wrong picture to men in society. For instance, she should not “squat when playing marbles” (Kincaid) and behave in a specific way, especially when before men that she does not know, otherwise they immediately recognize that she is a slut. Clearly, the mother paints womanhood as a dangerous affair that should be guarded and handled carefully. She warns the daughter, “You are not a boy, you know” (Kincaid), which insinuates that being a girl is delicate, and it cannot be compared with maleness. The theme of how the daughter should behave is central to this story – a clear indication that being a woman is dangerous.
Transformative Power of Domesticity
The narrator believes that having extensive knowledge of domestic matters will go beyond saving her daughter from becoming a slut to prepare her to be an independent woman. She will become a productive member of society without the need of depending on men for her daily needs. She is told, “This is how to make a good medicine; this is how to catch a fish; this is how to bully a man; this is how to love a man, and if this doesn’t work there are other ways” (Kincaid). This information is transformative, as it adequately prepares her for womanhood as an all-rounded person – she can handle household chores and fend for herself and her family, which underscores the power of domesticity.
Symbolism
Kincaid uses various symbols to communicate the underlying message in the themes discussed in the preceding section. First, she uses benna, which according to Adel Nasser, is “an Antiguan folk song usually focused on scandalous and bawdy rumors and gossip” (17). This song is a symbol of sexuality, and this assertion explains why the narrator uses it to scold her daughter for singing such songs in Sunday school. The mother asks, “Is it true that you sing benna in Sunday school?” and warns, “Don’t sing benna in Sunday school” (Kincaid). In this context, the mother is worried that her daughter knows a lot about sex matters for her age, which explains the stern warning against the same. The daughter seems to know the symbolic relevance of benna because she vehemently denies that she does not sing the songs on Sundays leave alone in Sunday school. From this conversation, the mother could be warming her daughter not to engage in sex, because she quickly adds, “You mustn’t speak to wharf-rat boys, not even to give directions” (Kincaid). Similarly, the daughter’s response that she does not sing benna on Sundays could be an indication that she has not started engaging in sex.
Food is also used symbolically throughout the story to show that true happiness is intricately linked with domesticity. The narrator spends a lot of time explaining various elements associated with food, such as “cook pumpkin fritters in very hot sweet oil” (Kincaid), dinner, breakfast, and lunch, especially when hosting an important guest. Food also helps the writer to contextualize the story and place it in Antigua, especially with the mention of doukona and pepper pot, which are common in this part of the world. Therefore, food promotes the story’s theme on the transformative power of domesticity and allows the reader to link the narrative with its setting.
Similarly, clothing has symbolic connotations in this narrative, specifically concerning the importance of good housekeeping. From experience, the mother knows that clothes speak a lot about a person’s character, and this is why she is categorical about washing them. She insists that white and colored clothes should be washed separately, if possible, on different days. Additionally, the daughter should be careful when buying “cotton to make yourself a nice blouse, be sure that it doesn’t have gum in it because that way it won’t hold up well after a wash” (Kincaid). The insistence of how the daughter should appear through her dressing supports the theme of domesticity and the importance of preserving the place of womanhood in society.
Conclusion
In Girl, Jamaica Kincaid uses a simple language to express the traditional mother-daughter relationship in preparation to embrace adulthood as a woman. The mother is authoritative throughout the story to make sure that her daughter understands what is expected of her in society. She should know how to execute household chores, such as cooking, washing, and sweeping among other related activities. She is also expected to respect herself and avoid promiscuity as a way of honoring womanhood. The themes of the mother-daughter relationship, the transformative power of domesticity, and the dangers of being a woman are discussed extensively in this story. The writer uses benna, food, and clothing as symbols to communicate her themes. The daughter remains silent throughout the narrative save for two instances when she interrupts briefs to defend herself and ask a question, which is a clear indication that she is supposed to follow the instructions without objections.
Works Cited
- Adel Nasser, Shaden. “Mother-Daughter Conflict in Margaret Atwood’s “The Art of Cooking and Serving” and Jamaica Kincaid’s “Girl”.” Journal of Scientific Research in Arts, vol. 21, no. 1, 2020, pp. 1-24.‎
- Jackson, Stevi. “Mother/ Daughter Relationships: Cultural Difference and Modernity.” Discover Society, 2014.
- Kincaid, Jamaica. “Girl.” The New Yorker, 19 Jun. 1978. Web.
- Kraft, Helga, and Barbara Kosta. “Mother-Daughter Relationships: Problems of Self-Determination in Novak, Heinrich and Wohmann.” The German Quarterly, vol. 56, no. 1, 1983, pp. 74-88.