Honestly this way of thinking is fairly old and may be common in some religions, but I think it’s unnecessary for parents to think/teach their kids how to act a specific way.  It wasn’t a very informative guide to become a “woman.” What the mother was doing was just shoving her idealistic ways for her daughter to not become a slut.  Her mother refrains the protagonist from doing a lot of things such as not allowing her to sing benna and not allowing her to speak to wharf-rat boys. She doesn’t want her daughter to be expose to these kind of people and in a way she seems overprotective in a wrong way. The mother constantly tells her daughter that there is a only one way to treat person A and how to smile to person B. In a way the mother is setting up her daughter to become like her and it’s overbearing for the daughter.

The story continued on with the mother’s rant and “this is how to do this” kind of talk. It got pretty redundant towards the middle to the end. When the mother said “don’t squat down to play marbles – you are not a boy” (page 1) it all ties back to the mom demanding that the daughter better not associate or become a slut. This sort of advice isn’t helpful because the daughter obviously lacks the experience of being an adult. Also telling her daughter how to act in front of a male and how to smile seemed like the mom is trying to pick out a guy for her daughter.

In the end, the daughter didn’t  take in all the information that the mother gave in when she asked her mother, “but what if the baker won’t let me feel the bread?” (page 1). When the mother commented back, I noticed that this has to connect with the mother trying to convince her daughter to not be a slut. When the mother specifically said “you are really going to be the kind of woman…” (page 1) she probably was talking about the probability of her daughter being a slut because she didn’t comprehend the information. The mother’s notion is that sluts/wharf-rat boys are dirty and so the baker won’t let them touch his bread unless the daughter isn’t that kind of person.

The short story “Girl”, by Jamaica Kincaid is possibly about an older mentor type figure giving advice to what seems like a younger female about the cultural expectations of the society in the time period. It seems to be more directions and direct advice than a conversation going to between the two, because there isn’t much back and forth at all. Some lines seem to be “what not to do” and some seem to be “you are expected to…” It could be possible that this short story is a lecture from a parent to a child on how to act politely or orderly in such a time period or society.

The first time I read through “Girl” by Jamaica Kincaid’s Girl it just looked like a giant list of what to do and how to do things. Reading through “Girl”  the two characters that can be guessed are a parent or guardian and girl. Throughout the short story it was just a parent or guardian is telling the girl do this and do that like they are reading off a giant list of how the girls life should be. It gives off the feeling of giving you these options and limiting the girl to only these options like how girls used to live in the past, where they were raised to be a perfect wife. A life where everything is chosen for them and not something that they choose themselves. They short story itself doesn’t feel like it gives the girl a choice and letting them  choose how they would want to do things but instead just being told do this and do that. Reading through Girl felt like they were making a machine, taking away the girl’s choice to do things the way they would. It feels like the road has already been made for them and being made to follow that road instead of choosing the road they wish to take just like how women used to live in the past. A life where they aren’t able to choose their own path like how nobles in light novels marry off their daughter for power, political reasons, financial reasons, etc. The short story does show the parent or guardian pushing their views on how a girl should be and not allowing the girl to be what they want to be. In the short story the parent or guardian telling them “this is how you set a table for tea, this is how you set a table for dinner, you don’t squat down to play marbles because your not  a boy” etc.

After reading through the short story, I honestly lost interest in it. It felt like I was just reading a list that just keeps going on and on without it ever ending. It didn’t feel like something that I could connect to probably because I am not a girl so I cant really connect to the story which is being told in Girl. The short story feels like it tells the life of how a girl used to live in the past though not a literally identical. It is similar in that the girl is not given a choice on how they want to live life and more in that they are just ordered to do things and they just follow without the girl being allowed to voice their opinion. The one time that it felt like the girl actually said something which was the line “but what if the baker won’t let me feel the bread?” the parent or guardian shoots down the girl’s opinion with the line ” 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?” Throughout the story it is just the parent or guardian making a set path without any input of the girl forcing their view on to the girl and telling them this is how I did it and this is how you will do it.

In the reading “Girl” there is not much back and forth between the person talking and the person being talked to. It seems to me like it would be from an older female to a younger female about how to be a girl in their culture/society.  I guess it is trying to show the complexity of growing up as a female in a society with high expectations socially with little benefit or respect. During the the end of the paper i started to realize how many women have to deal with in terms of just being acceptable in the eyes of others. But it also shows you that the attitude of most people pushing misogynistic views are also the same people who are oppressed by it, kinda like a house slave but the house slave of society it in a way.  This also more of an older generation forcing people to live under the faults of the a culture/society without ever thinking how we can improve on making it better for everybody.

The short article “Girl” written by Jamaica Kincaid is basically telling how a girl should behave in public, such as something that a girl should do or not to do in order to act politely. This short article  is not that interesting for me, because I’m a guy and I was doing something which is a little different from the contents of this article. Generally the author of the article is like parents which teaching their girls how to act in the society and things to do everyday.

The author of the article said, “don’t walk barehead in the hot sun”, Just like what the parents told their girl and like what girls do in public, in order to protect themselves from the sunburn, the parents usually told their girl to put on a hat when they walk out from the house. The author also said, “when you are growing dasheen, make sure it gets plenty of water or else it makes your throat itch when you are eating it”, this showed the concern from the parents in order to protect their girls and showed how much they love their girls, the author is sharing her experiences to the girl as the protagonist to guide the girl what to do after she experienced the similar troubles.

To be honest, after reading the whole article, I literally get bored on the contents itself since it was like the direct conversation from guidance of the parents to their girls, to tell their girls what they should do or things they should be aware in public in order to live their life better.

When I first read this, I feel depressed what this girl is going through. Now I don’t know if their is an actual character who is a girl since it was never mentioned. For now I believe the protagonist is a girl and the antagonist seems to an adult probably to be a parent or guardian. Throughout this short novel, the narrator seems to be a parent or guardian because this person is probably teaching a young girl to be a proper girl from their point of view. From the reading narrator keeps saying “this is how to,” then it explains how the action is supposed to be performed. The tone that the narrator is giving feels like a parent teaching his or her child how to do things properly. However this feels different, from my understanding their aren’t trying to make a proper girl but more like a slave or creating this girl to be a “perfect wife” for somebody. When I say “perfect wife” I mean forcing her into an arrange marriage. I have read before in some countries, parents train their daughters to be “perfect wives” to be used as a bargaining chip to achieve riches. This is a possibility that this is what’s happening to the girl. The narrator also uses a harsh tone when saying “don’t” then explains the action. The narrator wants the girl to be a proper lady, not like a “boy” who plays marbles, not to “eat fruits in the street”as if it would gather attention to her. The narrator also mentions before that she must not be “the slut you are so bent on becoming.” This is mostly that the girl does not intend to be “slut” but to be free. Why does she want to be free because she wants to break she shackles of captivity, she wants become whoever she wants to be. This is possibly what the protagonist is thinking. The majority of people or maybe everyone would want if they were in this situation. Upon reading this novel several times I have notice that the girl, protagonist, does exist in this novel. I have discovered that she spoke in this story. There isn’t quotation marks but the author changed the font of the text to represent that she is speaking. This happening twice in the novel in the beginning and close to the end of the novel. The first time was when she was responding to a statement that the narrator made about not to sing benna on Sundays or during Sunday school. The second time was when she asked a question about if the baker won’t let her feel the bread. The first comment was ignored as the narrator follows the list of how to be a lady. The narrator then answered her question with a question as if it were make the girl feel like an idiot. Throughout this novel, the protagonist has to follow the narrator’s orders in order to become a proper lady or a proper girl. This is depressing life for, anyone would pity her and no one deserves to live like that.  

As the story “Girl” by Jamaica Kincaid is told, we see the narrator talks about different aspects of a how a woman should behave in life. She is being taught the right way to go about her “duties” in the house, as a woman, and is being prepared to live with her own family that she will eventually have. This story in essence is being told for young girls to understand how to behave in society and how it was in the old days.

Even though the story has a protagonist, the story really resonates with the world today. Representing all young girls who are constantly being told to act a certain way or how to live their lives by societies standards. The “person” telling the young female how to live her life is a representation of society and how the world views females that don’t follow the norm. In the story, the quote, “try to walk like a lady and not the slut you are so bent on becoming;” is repeated differently three times, which in itself shows how controlling society is on the bringing up of females. These quotes, “but I don’t sing benna on Sundays and never in Sunday school;” and “don’t squat down to play marbles – you are not a boy;” can be interpreted as what girls should behave in public and what activities they can and can’t do, because of gender.

Of course this is only one interpretation, another way to see the story is through the eyes of a parent taking to her child about how the world will evaluate and criticize you for the better or the worst. To avoid this at its best is to behave and follow rules that the world has placed as the norm so that you may grow up right and be happy. The parents only want whats best for their child, to grow up a rightful woman, so that she is someone respectful that is worth marrying. Fearing that she will become a “slut” is the reason why the parents are telling her these things to lead her down a correct and righteous path.  However, I think you can only be happy if you are true to yourself.

At the end of the story, the quote, “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?” i didn’t really understand it very much but after looking at the lines before the end of the story, I began to understand that it refers to a man choosing a girl. The right girl that followed the rules, and if a guy doesn’t pick you its because she isn’t perfect.

When reading the quote, “don’t squat down to play marbles – you are not a boy;” it made me think about the standards society put on men as well and how society doesn’t really tell boys how to live their lives. The story is one sided, but it is to be expected because the story is about how young girls should live their lives not how people should live their lives, both males and females.