Comments on Girl by Jamaica Kincaid

ENG 113

Instructor Risch

Donna Stevens

January 29, 2011

Comments on “Girl” by Jamaica Kincaid

My initial response to the reading was that this was advice from a mother to a daughter. The advice was about the life skills of every woman. First of all the advice was practical like ironing, washing, and going out into the sun. Next the advice was spiritual. The advice of how and what to sing in Sunday school was so that the integrity of the church can be maintained. The author made it clear that the church was not to be construed into a club atmosphere but kept as a sanctuary. The theme throughout the reading was that the daughter was not to become a “slut” like every girl easily could (699). She was to know how to keep herself beyond reproach but also be smart enough to gain favor when she needed it. The daughter knew how to iron her father’s clothes. Later, she would iron her husband’s clothes so that he may go out into the world and be respectable. Or, maybe she could teach her husband how to iron his own clothes! Her mother also taught her how to behave socially. She taught her how to behave around people she liked on various levels. She also taught her how to entertain company. Personally, she taught her daughter the importance of keeping clean. She says “ wash every day, even if it is with your own spit”(699). Her mother meant she needed to take a bath every day because it would be obvious to strangers if she were dirty. Also, in keeping with becoming a woman she told her daughter “not to squat down to play marbles” (699). This is something young girls need to be reminded to do. Even though they see themselves as children, the world is looking on and they are indeed becoming young women so they have to develop modesty. The mother even gives the girl advice on how to “throw away a child before it even becomes a child”(700). This was a very sad line. However, this reality has always been present in some way throughout humanity. The mother feels she must educate her girl in every way. I really appreciated the fact that she advised her daughter on ways that a man bullies a woman. This is extremely important information for women. Also in the man department, she advised her daughter on how to love a man, but if she gives it her all, not to be destroyed if it does not work out. The advice about spitting is basically about how to do things that are unladylike without getting bitten by them. The day to day advice about how to make ends meet is another absolutely essential part of a girl’s education. My absolute favorite advice reminds me some advice my own mother still gives me. Basically, it is that when you need a favor especially from a man, that you know how to get it, respectfully of course.

Works Cited

Kincaid, Jamaica. "Girl" The Bedford Introduction to Literature. Michael Meyer. Massachuttes: Bedford, 2011. Print.