Jamaica Kincaid Research Paper
Who is Jamaica Kincaid? Jamaica Kincaid, originally known as Elaine Potter Richardson, is a writer born in 1949 in St. Johns, Antigua. She received a British education while in Antigua and was often at the top of her class. Kincaid, was an only child until her mother gave birth to 3 of her bothers when she was 9, changing her close relationship with her mother, forever. She was taken out of school once her step father fell ill and could no longer be the bread winner. Her mother sent her to America to be a maid for a family, but was not sending money back to Antigua for her family like she was ordered to do. Since she felt her needs were not as important as her brothers she quit her job, changed her name and began writing for the ‘New Yorker’,
where she eventually got her own column. Kincaid, ended up marrying her editor’s son; from there they got married and had 2 kids of their own and settled in Vermont. “Girl” is a redundant story that leaves its readers feeling annoyed. The story’s speakers are a mother and her adolescent daughter. In the writing, the mother is instructing her daughter on her take of how she should go about life; from cooking and cleaning to social skills and love. Despite its brevity, "Girl" is a work that accurately and intimately gives its readers a bare look inside a mother-daughter relationship. It tells them what an expected women's roles are throughout life. The title of the short story, "Girl", is a part of the work itself. The title serves several purposes.
First, the title represents the speaker’s daughter. She is not a woman yet, but a girl in her adolescent years, still dependent on her mother for guidance, with much to learn.
where she eventually got her own column. Kincaid, ended up marrying her editor’s son; from there they got married and had 2 kids of their own and settled in Vermont. “Girl” is a redundant story that leaves its readers feeling annoyed. The story’s speakers are a mother and her adolescent daughter. In the writing, the mother is instructing her daughter on her take of how she should go about life; from cooking and cleaning to social skills and love. Despite its brevity, "Girl" is a work that accurately and intimately gives its readers a bare look inside a mother-daughter relationship. It tells them what an expected women's roles are throughout life. The title of the short story, "Girl", is a part of the work itself. The title serves several purposes.
First, the title represents the speaker’s daughter. She is not a woman yet, but a girl in her adolescent years, still dependent on her mother for guidance, with much to learn.