In Jamaica Kincaid's "Girl", the mother seems to be a no-nonsense working day wife. The entire story is the mother telling the daughter the smart way to do all the household chores, from ironing her fathers pants to how to grow okra. While many may read the story and believe the mother is a demanding control freak, it seems that the mother herself underwent a great deal of hardship in her life and is trying to prepare her daughter on how to be ready for the world.
             When the mother describes to the child how to iron her fathers pants, she is simply describing something that a woman in the mid 70's was expected to do. The typical housewife from the 70's was usually somewhat prim and proper, always had dinner ready and did most of the chores around the house. The mother's reference to how to set the table backs this up. "This is how you set a table for dinner, for tea, for lunch, for breakfast" (pg 296). The mother knows that it was the way things were done; making sure the family got feed throughout the day. No where in the story does it mention anything about how to get help from somebody. The mother knows that daughter will one day be in her shoes and doing all of this, so the mother is teaching her early all the things that are expected of a woman in those days.
             Throughout the story, the mother makes several references to improper behavior she believes her daughter is engaging in. At first, the mother asks if her daughter sang benna in Sunday school and without waiting for an answer tells her how to walk in Sunday school and "not like the slut you are so bent on becoming" (296), and informs her not to speak to "wharf-rat boys, even to give directions". Later in the story, she warns her how to conduct herself in front of strangers so they won't think her a slut. These warnings are like a primary defense. By constantly warning her daughter not to become a slut, sh...