A Mother's Purpose

A Mother’s Purpose In Jamaica Kincaid’s story “Girl” we are given a dialogue of a mother and her daughter. The dialogue consists of the mother giving her daughter instructions on how she is to behave and carry herself. She wants her daughter to become a lady, not a slut, and learn to be a good housewife for her future husband. The mother instructs her daughter on how she is to walk, talk, and sing at church on Sundays the proper way. She does this in order to prevent her daughter from being judged wrongly in the future. The mother is concerned about her daughter learning these things because in her culture the women’s role is that of a housewife. Young girls are not only taught the duties of a housewife, they are also taught to carry themselves as ladies this way they won’t be judged as grown women. In Alice Walker’s story “Everyday Use” we also witness a mother and daughter relationship. In this story Dee, the older daughter, lives away at college. She is given the role of an ungrateful daughter. Although Dee was able to go to college with the help of her mother, she still treats her ungratefully. In the beginning of the story Mama describes a dream in which Dee and she are in a television show. She dreams of Dee embracing her and explains how in her dream she is the way Dee will want her to be; a hundred pounds lighter and her skin like an uncooked barley pancake. Given this statement we can already see how Dee does not appreciate her mother the way she is regardless of the things her mother has done for her, making her an ungrateful daughter. In both stories we can see how both mothers care for their daughters. We witness how they both in their own unique way strive at providing their daughters with a good future. In the story “Girl” the mother provides the daughter with instructions on how to become a lady. The mother is aware of the kind of culture practiced in her community. She knows her daughter will be judged if she doesn’t behave the proper