Week 15 Analysis: Literary Analysis of Girl


The short story "Girl" by Jamaica Kincaid is written in one long, winding sentence. This emphasizes how long the list of expected behavior for girls is, which contributes to the overall theme of girls being burdened with many responsibilities from a very young age due to restrictive gender roles.

The story serves as a reflection of the many gender roles that girls must perform. She tells her daughter about doing every type of housework, from laundry to sowing to cooking to all types of cleaning, and so on and so forth. Even though the girl is expected to find a husband, the mother makes no mention of splitting the chores, and even gives the girl advice on how to continue working even when you are exhausted. She expects her daughter to shoulder this burden with a smile, teaching her how to appear happy even when she is miserable. This reflects how society expects women to do all of the chores and even call it "women's work" but don't want to see a woman look tired or anything but content. They want to convince themselves that women are happy with their unjust treatment, and women are expected to play into that fantasy. Also, there is a lot of slut shaming in the story. The mother tells her daughter to walk like a lady and not like a slut, and also accuses her of wanting to become a slut. This reflects society's constant policing of a woman's sexuality, often before she is even old enough to think about those things for herself. The idea that once a woman has sex she is tainted leads mothers to being terrified and protective of their daughters, not wanting her to lose her only perceived value.

The character who is saying the entire story is the mother of the girl, passing on the burden of knowledge onto her daughter as was likely passed onto her by her mother. The fact that she can just recite all of these rules as if the are second nature shows how deeply ingrained society's expectations of women are in her mind. The daughter only speaks once, towards the end of the story when she asks how she is supposed to squeeze the bread to check for freshness if the baker doesn't let her near the bread. Her mother responds that after all she has been taught, she shouldn't be a woman who a baker wouldn't let near bread. This reflects society's demand for a woman to always appear confident and competent, sure of what she's doing as long as it involves the household chores she is expected to perform.


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