Monday, September 20, 2010

Jamaica Kincaid's, "Girl"

"Girl", by Jamaica Kincaid is written as a one sentence dialogue between a mother and daughter. Kincaid's choice to write this story in such a way creates a very strong tone which serves to be of great importance in the message of the short story. As the Mother is telling her daughter a long series of instructions and warnings, the daughter may respond, yet they seem to go unnoticed by her mother. During the time period of "girl" women were going through great oppression and it seems that the Mother is very imminent on informing her daughter of what to do in order to live the "right" life as she develops into a woman. This story truly is a philosophy about how to become a woman who is successful in the current culture of the world. 

Kincaids one-sentence dialogue is truly amazing; resulting a feeling that is is even stronger to a reader, rather than reading the same story as individual sentences. 

3 comments:

  1. I agree with you. This story tell how women success in the society. But I think these ideas are kind of stereo type.

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  2. What is the time period of "Girl," and is it, in some ways, an example of several time periods?

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  3. Yes, these ideas are very stereotypical. However, these are not of my own but of what, in my opinion, the Mother in the story believes to be true in order to be successful during the time period which is when women were still very oppressed.

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