Girl Jamaica Kincaid Analysis

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There are many unexplainable norms in Western culture that many of us have conformed to without question. For example, why is it that men who sleep around get cool points, but when women do it, they’re slut shamed. Growing up, I never asked questions when I was told not to do something because “I was a lady”. This society is shaped around many fallacies and ideologies of Western norms, values and culture. I will be explaining a few of them through “Girl”and
“Annie John” by Jamaica Kincaid. I feel the mother wasn’t right for trying to conform her daughter to Western culture just so she could be “normal”.
Social values held to be important in human society are effectively portrayed in literature.
Through literary works, individuals/writers are …show more content…
In Girl, the theme of conflicts between a mother and her daughter and traditional and
Western or modern values are portrayed by Kincaid's effective illustration of her relationship with her mother. Jamaica Kincaid, a contemporary American Caribbean writer, illustrates in her work the dynamics of human relationships among immigrants trying to assimilate with the
Martin 2 dominantly Westernized English society. Written in 1978, Kincaid details in her short narrative,
Girl, issues that the protagonist experiences as she and her mother's values clash against each other. In the narrative, the author enumerates the arguments, or facts of life, that her mother uses to her daughter in order to Kincaid to follow her mother's orders, especially when it comes to assuming the role and behavior that she must conduct in public. As the two begin their argument for and against Western culture, norms, and values, fallacies are evident, where the mother's arguments are usually grounded on beliefs that have no concrete or rational basis. This paper looks at the fallacies, ideologies that were illustrated in Girl to show superiority of Western culture, as portrayed by the mother, as both characters try to adjust and assimilate within

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Short Story Analysis of Girl by Jamaica Kincaid Essay

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