Girl Jamaica Kincaid Analysis

Kincaid’s poem “Girl” uses the relationship between the daughter and the mother to show the strict, commanding tone of the story. Although the setting was not directly told by the narrator in the story, it gives you a idea in which the culture was written. The story gives a “sneak peak” into how strict parents were to their children in the 1980’s.

In Kincaid’s story there is no introduction of the characters, no action, and no description of setting,but it does supply a insight of the relationship between the daughter and the mother. In this poem, the mother tries to teach instructions and behavior that she sees proper or right for any young woman. With that being said it is evident the daughter is pressured to peform these instructed behaviors.

It takes the form of a series of lessons; the point of the lessons, according to the mother, is to teach her daughter to behave and act properly” (Wellesley, pars. 1-2) .The daughter realizes that the mother commands a lot of her. Starting at the very beginning of the poem, throughout and at the end of the poem the daughter is demanded by the mother to perform tasks.”Wash the white clothes on Monday and put them on the stone heap” (Kincaid). The way the mother talks to her daughter we can automatically tell that the mother is in complete control of her daughter and is not going to have anything less of greatness from her daughter. The mother’s unwillingness to talk to her daughter calmly and nicely shows how much she wants her daughter to be a lady and how much control the mother has over the daughter. With the mother’s strict tone and commanding instructions we can obviously tell how much the daughter is scared or intimidated by the mother. The daughter feels like she has to listen and obey all of her mom’s

Although the setting is not directly told by the author in the narrative, the reader is able to comprehend the culture in which “Girl” was written.

Kincaid seems to be the passive narrator, gathering the demands from her mother on how to live in their present life in Antigua. The mother really does focuse on two main points in her intsructions, social manners and how to be a lady. The theme in "Girl" really strongly suggests that a woman should be a “stay at home mother “ and there is a certain way that she should act.The theme of girl backs up this