Kincaid Girl
Jamaica Kincaid
“Girl”
While reading all the commands the little girl needed to know, I was appalled at how the talk was and demands were. To me in this excerpt some of the themes that I came across were race relations, representation of women, gender roles and sexuality. All of which during this time frame were suitable and women understood that.
When reading all the commands that came out to the young girl seemed to be labeled that maybe she was the maid or the help around the house. Doing all the chores and making sure everything is set up properly as to this is how you sweep a corner; this is how you sweep a whole house; this is how you set a table for tea; this is how you set a table for dinner; this is how you set a table for dinner with an important guest; this is how you set a table for lunch; this is how you set a table for breakfast; (Kincaid, 2012) This to me could be labeled as race relations.
The representation of women consisted of the women smiling or not smiling at someone they liked or disliked. this is how you smile to someone you don’t like too much; this is how you smile to someone you don’t like at all; this is how you smile to someone you like completely; you mustn’t speak to wharf-rat boys, not even to give directions; (Kincaid, 2012) Women were trained to be fake and not actually be able to completely be their-selves.
As part of the gender roles, the whole excerpt was stating what the growing female child had to learn in order to be a tolerated young women. All the rules of what and what not to do. The gender roles come in with the cooking and cleaning and how to take care of someone with medicine like the race relations. cook pumpkin fritters in very hot sweet oil; soak salt fish overnight before you cook it;this is how you grow okra—far from the house, because okra tree harbors red ants; 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 is how to make a
“Girl”
While reading all the commands the little girl needed to know, I was appalled at how the talk was and demands were. To me in this excerpt some of the themes that I came across were race relations, representation of women, gender roles and sexuality. All of which during this time frame were suitable and women understood that.
When reading all the commands that came out to the young girl seemed to be labeled that maybe she was the maid or the help around the house. Doing all the chores and making sure everything is set up properly as to this is how you sweep a corner; this is how you sweep a whole house; this is how you set a table for tea; this is how you set a table for dinner; this is how you set a table for dinner with an important guest; this is how you set a table for lunch; this is how you set a table for breakfast; (Kincaid, 2012) This to me could be labeled as race relations.
The representation of women consisted of the women smiling or not smiling at someone they liked or disliked. this is how you smile to someone you don’t like too much; this is how you smile to someone you don’t like at all; this is how you smile to someone you like completely; you mustn’t speak to wharf-rat boys, not even to give directions; (Kincaid, 2012) Women were trained to be fake and not actually be able to completely be their-selves.
As part of the gender roles, the whole excerpt was stating what the growing female child had to learn in order to be a tolerated young women. All the rules of what and what not to do. The gender roles come in with the cooking and cleaning and how to take care of someone with medicine like the race relations. cook pumpkin fritters in very hot sweet oil; soak salt fish overnight before you cook it;this is how you grow okra—far from the house, because okra tree harbors red ants; 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 is how to make a