Analysis Of Jamaica Kincaid s Girl - 1543 Words

Being a woman in not only today’s society, but throughout history is one of the most difficult things a person can be. Being a woman that is respected by her peers and by men is even more challenging. There are specific rules that women are expected to live by everyday, in order to fulfill the task of being an â€Å"acceptable† woman in the eyes of society. In Jamaica Kincaid’s short story â€Å"Girl†, she illustrates a mother teaching her daughter the rules of life for a woman. Though this story was written in 1978 and takes place in what can be assumed as a predominantly African-American populated area, a vast majority of the lessons is taught are still relevant today. These lessons, combined with the lack of sugarcoated language, create a handful†¦show more content†¦It is ironic that the young girl is taught how to deal with both lovers and bullies, yet most young men are never taught to not be bullies to begin with. Girls are taught to never put their drinks down at parties in fear of being date-rape drugged but boys are never taught not to put drugs in someone else s drink. After reading Kincaid’s short story, though it never states it directly, it is shocking to see the different things that girls and boys are taught at a young age. A father would never sit down his son and tell him not to act like a floozy. A father would never dictate how his son is suppose to walk by saying â€Å"Sundays try to walk like a lady and not like the slut you are so bent on becoming;†(Kincaid 430 ). Men are never taught to not be promiscuous but instead they are often congratulated for their promiscuity, while it is the complete opposite for women of all ages. The concept of femininity is a topic that the mother is obviously concerned about when it comes to her daughter. All their lives, women are trained to be good housewives and always to act like a lady, they learn to cook and clean along with how to take care of their husband. The mother solidifies this fact by telling her daughter â€Å"this is how you love a man and if that doesn t work there are other ways† (431). A women is also expected to complete all of these tasks while looking dainty or womanly. The mother is obviously worried about keeping upShow MoreRelatedAnalysis Of Jamaica Kincaid s Girl And The Mask1117 Words   |  5 Pagesas parents pass down the values and standards that have been upheld throughout numerous generations. Thus, the way that a child is brought up is considered traditional. Both the story â€Å"Girl† by Jamaica Kincaid and the video â€Å"The Mask You Are In† both explore the negative side of cultural conditioning. While Kincaid reve als the oppressive nature of the female identity construct, â€Å"The Mask You Live In† criticizes society’s efforts to teach boys how to â€Å"be a man.† Men and women both have standards toRead MoreEssay on Short Story Analysis of Girl by Jamaica Kincaid873 Words   |  4 PagesShort story analysis of Girl by Jamaica Kincaid Have you ever wished that someone had given you a guide on how live the right way? Jamaica Kincaid does just that in  her short story, Girl. The narrative  is presented as a set of life instructions to a girl by her mother to live properly in Antigua in the 1980’s. While the setting of the story is not expressly stated by the author in the narrative, the reader is able to understand the culture for which  Girl  was written. Jamaica Kincaid seems to beRead MoreA Literary Analysis Of Girl By Jamaica Kincaid1927 Words   |  8 PagesLanguage, Culture, and a Mother s’ Influence: A Literary Analysis of Girl by Jamaica Kincaid Girls, young women, and mature mothers. Society has consistently given women strict guidelines, rules and principles on how to be an appropriate member of a man’s society. These rules are set at a young age and enforced thoroughly into adulthood. When not followed accordingly, women often times too many face reprimanding through means of verbal abuse, physical abuse, or social exile. In the midst of allRead MoreLiterary Criticism : The Free Encyclopedia 7351 Words   |  30 Pagesnovel is sometimes used interchangeably with Bildungsroman, but its use is usually wider and less technical. The birth of the Bildungsroman is normally dated to the publication of Wilhelm Meister s Apprenticeship by Johann Wolfgang Goethe in 1795–96,[8] or, sometimes, to Christoph Martin Wieland s Geschichte des Agathon of 1767.[9] Although the Bildungsroman arose in Germany, it has had extensive influence first in Europe and later throughout the world. Thomas Carlyle translated Goethe’s novel