Critical Analysis of Girl by Jamaica Kincaid

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it was to the mother to have her daughter be considered honorable within the community. She was extremely harsh on her throughout the duration of the text and assumed that her daughter was, "bent on becoming a slut". She used her authority as a mother to scare her daughter into becoming the woman she wants her to be by saying if she didn't do the tasks listed the way she described she wouldn't be a respectable woman in the society. Society expected, and still expects women today to act like a proper lady in all social settings. Acting promiscuous, disgruntled, or upset in public is frowned upon because women are always expected to set the proper example of how to act for their children, especially young women in social settings.
The mother also uses the technique of ignoring her daughter when she contests her mother's wishes. This tells us as readers that the mother is using guilt to get her way and isn't too concerned with how her daughter feels about their relationship as ...

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to the best of their ability, which is probably why it's so important to the mother that her daughter conform to the norms set forth for her in their culture. Her daughter's obedience reflects her skillset as a mother. It could be stressful for one person to run a household, get all the chores done, be a good wife, and raise children to be respectable men and women all at the same time. In the text the mother says," wash the white clothes on Monday and put them on the stone heap; wash the color clothes on Tuesday and put them on the clothesline to dry," why is her mother not pushing her to break out of the societal norms and achieve something better for herself (Kincaid 320)? The ...

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