Jamaica Kincaid's GIRL

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In the short story GIRL, Jamaica Kincaid insists that the mother see the daughter as a depiction of herself, and fears all that has happen to her may curse her daughter as well. It is clear that the mother is reverting back to her past and is now displacing her past errors onto her daughter vicariously. In this short story the mother dispenses, what is considered, helpful advice that is essential for daily living and what would help her daughter survive as a woman. Although the mother is giving her daughter wisdom on how to live life, her advice seems caustic and castigating, which makes one question, is the advice the mother is sharing happen to her that she is presenting to her daughter? The mother constantly points out to the daughter that she is going to become a slut. Why would a mother feel the need to tell her daughter she will become a slut? Is it that …show more content…
The main question to ask is, was the mother promiscuous herself at her daughters age? If so, the mother would try to teach her daughter ways to hide being a slut, if she could not prevent it; which she did. “This is how to behave in the presence of men who don’t know you well, and this way they won’t recognize immediately the slut I have warned you against becoming” (Kincaid). Not only did the mother try to teach her daughter how to behave in the presence of a man, but also how to love one. “This is how to love a man, and if this doesn’t work there are other ways, and if they don’t work don’t feel to bad about giving up” (Kincaid). Is it possible that the mother was encouraging her daughter to give into an impure relationship with a man that does not love her in order to create a nonexistent love? Truly, at this point is can be said that the mother has participated in such actions, that she feels the need to disclose information to a child, who should not hear or try to understand the

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