Girl By Jamaica Kincaid
-
Vedica Bhasin
The story begins with specified instructions on how to execute certain
daily chores and continues to instruct (without a single full stop- an element
that perhaps reflects the frustration of the writer who is at the receiving end
of the instruction) through the story. A
story without any structural fragmentation in my opinion almost reflected the
monotony of the instruction- one that could have easily been extracted from a
lecture at a Victorian era college for women or at a finishing school.
The writer uses great detail to emphasise the importance of and
precision with which the discussed instruction should be carried out (for
example- “white clothes on Monday.. Color clothes on Tuesday”).
The short but impactful story carries the hidden theme of social
standing of women, especially in comparison to that of a man. I found it
interesting that Monday and Tuesday, otherwise typically working days were
chosen to discuss the nitty-gritties of cloth washing while the ‘playing’ with
marbles or perhaps any other form of non-chore related time expenditure was to
be enjoyed only by men. This idea was resisted explicitly in the story - “you are not a boy, you know”). The repetitive
use of the word “slut” is almost used as a threat that highlights the re-enforcement
of social regulations on the writer. Simultaneously, the teachings about
diplomacy paired with the last line of the story that almost completely puts on
the contrary all the instruction initially put forth exposes the superficiality of what
is being demanded of the writer.
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