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Alex Alves De Paula
Professor José De Paiva Dos Santos
Reading and Writing about Literature with Critical Theory
*Essay#2 (Feminist Criticism)
29 September 2014
The relationship between mother and daughter in Jamaica Kincaid's short story "Girl".
In Jamaica Kincaid’s short story “Girl”, the mother sees herself as the only
person who can save her daughter from living a life of disrespect and promiscuity.
Throughout the story the relationship between them is showed through advices that the
daughter receives from her mother. All the advices given by her mother deal with
subjects that are stereotypically "women's work”. However, the narrative is contructed
based on feminist perspective, since the mother is trying to protect her daughter from
bad behaviors as much as she can .She needs to teach her how to grow up in a
patriarchal society and show how is hard to be a female in it.
At the beggining of the story the mother says what her daughter has to do and
this is the first of the long list of things that girls in a patriarcal society have to deal
with. It is not easy to be a female in it and a girl must be in charge of domestic affairs.
“Wash the white clothes on Monday and put them on the stone heap; wash the color
clothes on Tuesday and put them on the clothesline to dry” (1-2). All of the advice
offered by the mother shows the role of women in the community. The girl in the short
story will be a woman soon and her mother really wants to teach and protect her
because she begins a new cycle in her life.”Soak your little cloths right after you take
them off” (5). The girl is becoming an adult and It is up to the mother to protect and
teach her daughter what she learned in terms of how to survive in a patriarcal society in
which women are not viewed as independent human beings with their own goals, needs
and desires.
In addition, the mother wants the girl to cook well. She warns her to pay
attention when she is cooking any kind of food. “Always eat your food in such a way
that it won’t turn someone else’s stomach”(9). This means that someone is always
watching girls and they have the responsibility to prepare tasty food. Another way to

protect her daughter is when she advices her to avoid boys that have bad intentions
regarding girls. There’s no doubt that the mother believes that a woman’s reputation or
respectability determines the quality of her life in the community and according to her,
sexuality is something that must be kept in order for a girl to be respected in a society.
So, She basically believes that there are only two types of women: the respectable kind
and the “sluts.” Although the mother seems to be aggressive when she gives the girl
some advises, she sees herself as the only person who can save her daughter from living
a life of disrespect and promiscuity . Consequently she doesn't consider her daughter to
be mature, and tries to prepare her for adulthood and womanhood:
“on Sundays try to walk like a lady and not like the slut you are so bent on
becoming; don’t sing benna in Sunday school; you mustn’t speak to wharf-rat
boys, not even to give directions; don’t eat fruits on the street—flies will
follow you; but I don’t sing benna on Sundays at all and never in Sunday
school; this is how to sew on a button; this is how to make a buttonhole for
the button you have just sewed on; this is how to hem a dress when you see
them coming down and so to prevent yourselffrom looking like the slut I
know you are so bent on becoming.”(Kincaid 10-17)
This a very interesting passage in the short story because the mother fears that the girl
becomes a woman with different behaviors in a patriarcal society. She wants to prepare
her daughter to not suffer the consequences in the future. That’s why she hopes her to
absorb her advices.
The advices which the mother give to her daughter in the short story lead us to
think that the relationship between them is complicated since, teenagers don’t absorb
them easily. The mother carries inside her the instinct to protect her daughter from bad
behaviors that could break down gender roles:
“this is how you set a table for lunch; this is how you set a table for breakfast;
this is how to behave in the presence of men who don’t know you very well,
and this way they won’t recognize immediately the slut I have warned you
against becoming; be sure to wash every day, even if it is with your own spit;
don’t squat down to play marbles—you are not a boy, you know; don’t pick
people’s flowers—you might catch something; don’t throw stones at
blackbirds, because it might not be a blackbird at all; this is how to make a
bread pudding”(kincaid 31-38)

It seems the mother fears all the time that the girl becomes a person who the society
could one day rejects . The “suitable pattern” will be free of any kind of prejudice if a
woman has her roles performed precisely.. However, the narrative is contructed based
on feminist perspective, since the mother is trying to protect her daughter from bad
behaviors as much as she can. Surviving in a patriarcal society is very hard and it
depends on what is imposed by it.
Thus, Kincaid conveys a message of how is hard to be a female in a patriarcal
society. “Always squeeze bread to make sure it’s fresh; but what if the baker won’t let
me feel the bread?;you mean to say that after all you are really going to be the kind of
woman who the baker won’t let near the bread?”(52-53). A girl in her youth needs to
follow some steps and has a good behavior if she really wants to be a respectful woman
in the future. The mother seems to be cruel in order to show her daughter the
importance of being a “decent”woman in a community dominated by males.
REFERENCES
KINCAID, Jamaica . “Girl”

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