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In this very short story, which runs to just a couple of pages, a mother offers advice to her teenage daughter about how to behave like a proper woman. ‘Girl’ was originally published in the New Yorker in 1978 before being reprinted in Kincaid’s collection At the Bottom of the River in 1983.
Mother gives the girl instructions on how to socialize, including how to give a particular smile depending on one’s feelings about a person, how to set tables for tea and mealtimes, and how the girl should behave around strange men. The focus of these lessons is on self-presentation.
- Introduction
- Summary of The Story: Personal Reflection
- Annotations on The Story
- Feminist Critical Theory
- Conclusion
- Works Cited
The gender distinction and stereotypes are subconsciously nurtured into our perception of the world since childhood. The “Girl” is a short story written by Jamaica Kincaid that interprets the societal prospects regarding what a girl child advancing into womanhood should be. The protagonists of the story are both female characters, a mother and her ...
Kincaid’s story provides valuable insights concerning gender stereotypes and the relative freedom it can be perceived within modern society. In “Girl,” a mother gives a set of advice to her daughter on how she should behave like a woman or rather perform the role of a woman as commonly seen by society at that time. More specifically, a mother wants...
The basic concept of the story is built upon the relationship between the men and women within the societal norms at that time. The story concerns one of the critical tenets of feminist theory: sex and gender roles. The mother’s instructions restate and reinforce the norms and obligations forced by society upon women, to a significant degree focusi...
The advice that a girl’s mother gives genuinely relates to the mature issues that are difficult to comprehend for a young daughter. Some of it can be construed as generally benevolent guidance on housekeeping and practical skills: cleaning, cooking, sewing. However, it is not the inclusion of these topics, but the exclusion or condemnation of other...
The grim realities of addressing gender biases and marginalization through both literature and the real world are indeed complex issues to examine. To sum up, Jamaica Kincaid incorporated the specific aspects of a young girl growing up to convey the enhanced sense of the hardships caused by the stereotypes. Such literature pieces aim to eliminate s...
Kincaid, Jamaica. “Girl.” The Story and its Writer: An Introduction to Short Fiction, edited by Ann Charters. 6thed., Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2003, pp. 320–321. Tyson, Lois. Critical Theory Today: A User-Friendly Guide, 2nded., 2006.
“Girl” Theme: Mother/Daughter Dynamics. The dominant mother’s role depicted is of teacher. Her speech is a stream of instructions and warnings. The advice is mostly concerned with doing practical things for herself and around the home, as well as how to behave publicly. A major takeaway from this litany is the lack of warmth.
Complete summary of Jamaica Kincaid's Girl. eNotes plot summaries cover all the significant action of Girl. In this single-sentence story, a mother instructs her daughter in the...
What is a good analysis of the short story "Girl" by Jamaica Kincaid? Analyze how the mother's instructions in "Girl" relate to modern society. Ask a question
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Girl Summary. The speaker, whose voice is that of the titular girl’s mother, begins her monologue with instructions on how to do laundry. According to mother there is a proper way and a proper day on which to wash whites (“on Monday” and “on the stone heap”) and colors (“on Tuesday” and “on the clothesline to dry”).
