Jamaica Kincaid, an Antiguan-American novelist, wrote the short story under consideration. It presents one paragraph, which is really a flow of advice the mother gives to her daughter. The pieces of advice are separated with either semicolons or commas, while stops are completely absent. The end of the text is left open as it finishes with a question mark. Interestingly, the long list of the mother’s advice is interrupted twice with her daughter’s remarks highlighted by italics. Overall, the text produces quite an unusual effect due to the extraordinary punctuation. Therefore, the list of advice, the main point of which is domesticity and decent behavior, is designed to keep the daughter from a promiscuous life, and it is one of the ways a mother’s love and care is expressed.
The reader immediately understands that the mother views domesticity as the foundation of a young woman’s life. According to her, it is what ensures decency. This is the reason the mother provides her daughter with all kinds of advice, which will help the daughter to live on her own in the future. She tells her how to cook, sew, plant, act, speak, and even make medicine. She explains to her daughter how to act in church, and how women should behave in everyday life. Overall, following the advice ensures a female will keep a good social status. For example, a church is the place where the daughter should act as instructed, and not in the way that would corrupt her reputation in the community. The mother tells her daughter how to cook food in order to avoid being hungry. She offers instructions on how to sew clothes that will make her look decent. She warns her of inappropriate behavior when she is around men so that she did not look like a giddy young thing. She emphasizes how important it is not to express interest in strangers, and not to stand close to men. She should avoid any unnecessary advances a man makes, and she should walk away: “this way they will not recognize immediately the slut I have warned you against becoming.” (Kincaid, p. 171). The mother is portrayed as being strict and serious. Her demeanor in the story is guarded and straightforward. She is saying serious things and hopes her daughter is listening and understands what she is trying to teach her. Her main mission is looking after her daughter and preventing her from getting into trouble. The tone demonstrates her seriousness and concern with her daughter’s well-being: “Her character portrays concern for her daughter not to turn into a slut.” (Girl).
It is obvious, all the advice that the mother gives her daughter are aimed at keeping her from a promiscuous life. She offers her girl strict rules, hoping to discourage her inappropriate behavior. One might say that wisdom is being passed on to the girl. It is interesting to note that the mother suspects the girl of having had sexual experience. The part where she asks the girl about benna songs implies that she suspects the girl knows too much about sexuality: “is it true that you sing benna in Sunday school? don’t sing benna in Sunday school.” (Kincaid, p. 171). In Antiguan-American culture “benna” is a song, which contains scandalous gossip, including the ones of the sexual character. (Popular music of Antigua and Barbuda). Besides, the mother shares secrets on how to get rid of a baby with the help of some homemade medicine. Basically, she teaches her how to perform an abortion of an unwanted child. It leads the reader to believe that the older female obviously had experienced an unwanted pregnancy. The idea, which is sustained throughout the story, is the proper behavior of a young woman. If the girl ignores the rules, she can become a tramp. It is a life lesson, which displays the positive and negative outcomes. The mother’s character constructs the two scenarios, and guides her daughter in accomplishing a positive lifestyle without hindering it by acting like a slut. The girl is listening to the advice that is being given to her. She learns how to take care of herself, and how to make a home in the future. As it has already been said, there are only two remarks that belong to the girl. The first remark concerns benna, and she denies singing it in Sunday school: “but I don’t sing benna on Sundays at all and never sing in Sunday school.” (Kincaid, p. 171). The second remark expresses her doubts about squeezing bread before buying it: “but what if the baker won’t let me feel the bread?” (Kincaid, p. 171). It is obvious that the girl respects her mother since she does not contradict her: “The daughter only speaks when she is defending her character and explaining to her mother she is not a slut.” (Girl). Instead, she listens to the advice she is given, and only speaks when her mother asks her a question. The advice is a focal point, and the daughter is to listen and act in accord with her mother’s instructions.
The story is the embodiment of a mother’s love and care for her child. She does her best to share all the knowledge and experience she has gained during her lifetime. This is her way of helping her daughter be a respected young woman in the society. She wants to make sure her daughter understands that. One can assume she wants her daughter to grow up and be independent. The mother’s choice of words and the tone support this claim. Undoubtedly, she did not intend to put her daughter down with the insinuations about her possible sexual experience, but she tried to warn her of what could happen if she did not take her lessons seriously. The list of advice ends with the mother’s reaction to her daughter’s remark about bread: “you mean to say that after all you are going to be the kind of woman who the baker won’t let near the bread?” (Kincaid, p. 171) This question illustrates the importance of bread in the Antiguan-American culture. The mother is sure that only in case you are a decent person you can touch it; and vice versa, if you are not allowed to touch it, it means you are not decent. Thus, here she expresses her doubts related to her daughter’s understanding of the instructions.
Works cited
Girl. Dir. Chicago Humanities Festival. Perf. Jamaica Kincaid. 2015. Web.
“Popular Music of Antigua and Barbuda.” bestantigua.wordpress.com. 2015. Web.
Kincaid, Jamaica. "Girl." The Norton Introduction to Literature. 2012. 171. Web.
