Analytical Essay on Girl by Jamaica Kinkaid

Jamaica Kincaid's story "Girl" allows readers a glimpse into the strict, demanding manner in which parents reared their children almost twenty years ago. Through Kincaid's careful structuring of "Girl," readers capture the commanding tone of the story. The relationship between the mother and the girl also reeks of empowerment and distance, as best seen through the girl's short-lived speech in the story. Most important, "Girl" shows readers how particular the lessons taught to the children two decades ago were.

Jamaica Kincaid shows us many things in the very short story named "Girl." One is simply the change in parenting technique as orders like this would not typically be issued today. Another is the oppression of women in Kincaid's world and the lack of options for women. Jamaica Kincaid uses structure and language to convey tone and theme in this short piece.

"Girl" is a one-sentence, 650-word dialogue between a mother and daughter. The mother does most of the talking; she delivers a long series of instructions and warnings to the daughter, who twice responds but whose responses go unnoticed by the mother. There is no introduction of the characters, no action, and no description of setting. The mother's voice simply begins speaking, "Wash the white clothes on Monday," and continues through to the end. Like all of Kincaid's fiction, "Girl" is based on Kincaid's own life and her relationship with her mother. Although the setting is not specified in the story, Kincaid has revealed in interviews that it takes place in Antigua, her island birthplace.

The mother in "Girl" expects a great deal of her daughter, and she does not hesitate to let the girl know it. The fact that the two-page-story is entirely one sentence - and almost all of that emanating from the mother - gives off a powerful message: the mother demands a lot of her daughter. From the very beginning, the mother commands her daughter to perform tasks. Kincaid writes that the mother dictates "Wash the white clothes on Monday and put them on the stone heap" (1190). The mother's reluctance to speak gently or even use the word "please" strongly suggests that the mother is in full and overwhelming control of her daughter.

With strict instructions such as the mother's to her daughter, it is easy to see that the daughter is intimidated by her mother. Kincaid's sentence structure again demonstrates the meekness of the girl whose thoughts and questions are represented a mere two times in the story. The first phrase the girl mutters represents the distance in the relationship between the girl and the mother, as the girl interrupts her mother with "but I don't sing benna on Sundays at all and never in Sunday school" (1190). The mother, however, continues with her lecture. Jacqueline Austin views this relationship as very mechanical. Austin points out that the conversation between the mother and daughter was almost "in a rhythm so strong it seemed to be hypnosis, aimed at magically chanting out bits of ...