Jamaica Kincaid Girl Essay

The idea of gender roles in a society has continuously shaped the lives of everyone affected. Jamaica Kincaid, an African-American writer, uses the oppressive relationship between mother and daughter in order to reveal that domestic expectations of women are universally damaging towards a young girl in a patriarchal society. As the poem progresses, it is quickly inferred that it serves as more than a “to-do list” describing the domestic duties that were expected of Kincaid as a child. Through her experiences, “Girl” portrays the hardships that came with learning to be independent and finding a young girl’s place in an unjust society. Kincaid starts off the poem by describing the demands that her mother imposes upon her in lines 1-13. She begins by listing the items such as “wash...walk...cook...soak”, and many others but she writes

In lines 13-19, she repeats “this is how…” in every sentence to demonstrate to the readers that she had to go through countless hours of just learning how to do ordinary responsibilities in order to fit the standards placed by her mother. This begs the question of whether her mother was told and taught to do the same menial tasks such as ironing her father’s khaki shirt so it doesn’t have a crease, as well, and if so, why did she feel the need to pass it on to her own daughter? Her mother later repeats again “...the slut you are so bent on becoming” which further emphasizes how any stray from her societal expectations, would surely mean that she is a “slut,” or in this case, someone who does not conform to society and acts in undesirable ways. As for the subject of her father, Kincaid uses anaphora by bringing up her father throughout the poem. This gave readers a clue into with whom the conversation was with and also to further demonstrate how even as an adolescent she is taught to serve the men in her