Mother-Daughter Conflict and Social Assimilation in Girl by Jamaica Kincaid
Social values held to be important in human society are effectivelyportrayed in literature. Through literary works, individuals/writers areable to express their subjective interpretations of life and social realityas they experience it. Literature as the mirror of social reality isexplicitly expressed in the literary work, Girl by Jamaica Kincaid. Thisliterary work illustrate literature as a medium through which Kincaid wasable to express her views about the values and norms imposed on women bythe society, and sometimes, their own community and social group as well. In Girl, the theme of conflicts between a mother and her daughter andtraditional and Western or modern values are portrayed by Kincaid'seffective illustration of her relationship with her mother. JamaicaKincaid, a contemporary American Caribbean writer, illustrates in her workthe dynamics of human relationships among immigrants trying to assimilatewith the dominantly Westernized English society. Written in 1978, Kincaiddetails in her short narrative, Girl, issues that the protagonist (orKincaid) experiences as she and her mother's values clash against eachother. In the narrative, the author enumerates the arguments, or f
" These lines express the fear that Kincaid's mother has over thesociety's impression on her daughter if she does not behave well in theWestern society. Kincaid as the daughter mostlynarrates in detail, through dialogues, her mother's sermon regarding theproper manner of behaving and conducting one's self in the public in theirnew society. Thus, conflictsbetween the two characters remain as each try to hold on cultures that theydeem more important to them. These two elements play a vital part inKincaid's narrative because clothing and good manners attempts to 'coverup' the characters' native culture by replacing it by wearing Englishclothing and following norms and behavior acceptable in English society. thisway they won't recognize immediately the slut I have warned you againstbecoming. Indeed, socialhierarchy, particularly stratification is evident in the narrative, makinga distinction between the acceptable (Western culture) and unacceptable(native African culture). an understanding ofthe social landscape that has little to do with true feelings or arecognition of human rather than social value" (52-3). Indeed, the hidingof true feelings and nature of an individual is symbolically expressedthrough good manners and clothing. acts oflife, that her mother uses to her daughter in order to Kincaid to followher mother's orders, especially when it comes to assuming the role andbehavior that she must conduct in public. This theme is argued in Paravisini-Gebert's (1999) analysis of the Girl,wherein she asserts, "[t]he importance of appearances-the hiding of thetrue nature of things"is a central theme of this story.
Common topics in this essay:
African-based Obeah,
Westernized English,
Kincaid Indeed,
Jamaica Kincaid,
,
American Caribbean,
western culture,
english society,
african culture,
mother daughter,
mother tries,
mother daughter kincaid,
daughter kincaid,
social reality,
clothing manners,
jamaica kincaid,
values norms,
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