Jamaica Kincaid's "Girl," is unusual for its form—a monologue from a mother to her daughter, in which the former gives instructions to a presumably adolescent girl on how to be a woman. It is told in second-person and the "girl" interrupts only twice; once to tell her mother that she does not, in fact, sing benna, which are calypso songs in call-and-response format which were a form of folk communication, particularly for the spread of gossip; and again to ask her mother what she ought to do if the baker will not allow her to squeeze the bread for freshness.
What is absent from the list of instruction is advice on how to understand oneself. The speaker just wants her daughter to be presentable, to know how to do the chores that would be expected of her, and how to survive in a romance. It is mostly a list of restrictions and warnings.
What I think would be interesting is if the "girl" answered her mother's rhetorical question about being "the kind of woman who the baker won't let near the bread." The kind of answer the girl would give would be based on your own sense of her character, on what the girl has said previously, and on her fears around her mother's stern judgments.
The intention for doing this would be to illustrate how the girl sees herself, and address the mother's dismissal of self-knowledge. Is the girl compliant with her mother's values, or will she go against them? Rebellion is suggested by her mother's insistent belief that the girl will become a "slut." If the girl responds with a question, such as "What kind of woman is that?," it would register confusion with the overall point the mother is trying to get across. It could also serve as a sharp rebuttal to the mother's understanding of what it means to be a woman.
I think that a response to that question, while it would still follow the action of the story, could take the narrative into another direction and open up some contrast in the reader's mind.
Thursday, June 26, 2014
What would be a good scene/episode that does not exist in this short literature that follows the action of the original story (like a sequel) which the author did not include that you think might have worked well? Add a meta commentary that explains what you did in your piece and why.
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