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The story of “Girl” by Jamaica Kincaid is about a mother and her relationship with her daughter. This story is a conversation between a mother and her daughter but with a mother having almost the entire talking. The story shows the expectations that the mother has from her daughter, from chores, to how she plays or interacts with other people, and to what she can sing in church.
The mother uses the metaphor or symbols when she is talking to her daughter. The mother is trying to show her daughter what she is saying with image related to it so that her daughter could better understand. For example, when the mother is telling her to walk like a lady on Sundays but not like a slut she so bent on becoming. The mother is accusing her daughter of misbehavior and interpellated her to not doing it. The mother also warns her daughter about eating on the street “don’t eat fruit on the street-flies will follow you”. With this metaphor, the mother is telling her daughter to not despise or diminish herself or else people will take her as a trash or with no value. The mother really wants her daughter to be a better person whom everyone appreciate.
The mother’s tone is tough throughout the whole short story. She is demanding her daughter does these things as she dictates. The mother is afraid of seeing her daughter becoming promiscuous and not respectable. Therefore, the mother looks like a dictator and she is not negotiating with her daughter instead she is giving her orders to follow. Another symbol example is the importance on clothing. The mother cautions “when buying cotton to make yourself a nice blouse, be sure that it doesn’t have gum on it, because that way it won’t hold up after a wash”. The mother’s emphasis on clothing highlights her view of how you dress is a reflection of you as a person. Its gives insight to your character and personality that you take pride in how you look. Clothing is used to cover your body, when you are covered you are seen as respectable in your community. In the conversation “this is how to hem a dress when you see the hem coming and so to prevent yourself from looking like the slut I know you are so bent on becoming”. In this example, the mother is telling her daughter to not be a neglecting person, that she should take into consideration every single detail in her life.
The mother concludes that there are only two types of women: respectable women and “sluts.” and thinks that she has to make all the efforts to shape her daughter with her instructions that she has to follow appropriately. The mother replies to her daughter’s reaction and says” you mean to say that after all you are really going to be the kind of woman who the baker won’t let near the bread?” This show the mother’s expectations after all the instructions and lessons of how to behave in the community so that her daughter could be a respectable and trustful person. Therefore, if she becomes a slut the baker will not allow her to touch the bread