Girl isn’t so much
a story as a lecture. Jamaica Kincaid’s
first published story is a long list of expectations handed down from a mother
to a daughter. The speaker goes on in
one long sentence, how to do this, when to that, why this needs to be
done. A lot of it is practical
advice. A lot of it is about keeping
house, and taking care of yourself. A
lot of it is about relationships, how to handle people, how to handle
yourself. All of it is written in the
tone of an exasperated mother. You can
feel the listener cowering in response to this deluge of edicts. So many expectations, so many disappointments
to overcome. The mother repeatedly
reminds the listener not to “act like the slut you are so bent on becoming”
although the daughter is still young enough to be playing marbles ( 1725). The two times the daughter tries to
interject the mother either ignores her or insults her.
Although the tone is cold and practical I think most daughters
can recognize the lecture. These are the
things women need to know. This is how
life is. The mother seems to have learned
all of it the hard way, and now the daughter has her turn. “This is life, this is what you need to do-
don’t screw up” seems to be the message.
And Kincaid has captured the
cadence of the mother’s lecture. Half
practical, half magical it is an initiation into womanhood. And it’s hard being a woman.
Kincaid, Jamaica. Girl. The Norton Anthology of World
Literature: New York: W.W. Norton and Company, 2013. 1724-1726. Print.
