It seems to be an obvious topic to cover, but the expectations of a woman nowadays versus the previous requirements have vastly changed. Today, women are mostly seen as equals to men, but that has not always been the case. In the past, women were raised to serve men and anyone else superior to them. Mothers raised their daughters to perform household duties, similar to those that the mother was often responsible for. This appeared to be a mentally painful and somewhat depressing lifestyle for women, but it could be difficult to see that from the surface. Since all of these duties were expected of all women, it became the normal way to live life. However, a woman's outlook on these rules of life is possibly concealed by her desire to please her husband and fit in with the norm of society. "Girl" by Jamaica Kincaid explores the stereotypical and expected duties of a girl through her journey of growing into a woman. These supposed duties and actions are not viewed as acceptable, especially through the eyes of a woman. Jamaica Kincaid's "Girl" must be closely analyzed through its symbolic repetition, ambiguous language, and a surprising ending.

For a relatively short piece of writing, a large portion of Jamaica Kincaid's work is based on heavy repetition of certain words, phrases, and general ideas. Repetition can be used to display importance and meaningfulness behind a term, but it can also show different aspects to an idea. The daughter in "Girl" is called a slut by her mother more than once. The mother states that if her daughter does not poise herself properly and cleanly, she presents herself as "the slut [she] is so bent on becoming," (Kincaid 300). The mother is making an assumption that her daughter is an aspiring slut, though this is not a fair assumption for her to make as she does not let her daughter get a word in edgewise. This is a clear representation of the time period during which Kincaid grew up, as something as small as posture could be used to draw conclusions about a young woman. As the mother tells her daughter that others will "recognize immediately the slut" that she has become, the daughter's innocence is brought into light (301). The daughter has likely not done anything wrong, but her mother is most worried about preventing her daughter from shaping an improper image for herself. The mother points out that it is especially important to "walk like a lady" on Sundays, almost to prove that the Lord's day make's one's appearance much more important and noticeable to others (300). In terms of other repetition regarding Sundays, the mother first asks the daughter and then demands that she not sing "benna in Sunday school" (300). According to The Daily Observer, benna is an activity for slaves to "ease the anguish of a torturing hour" (The Benna). Eventually, after a disgruntlement, "Benna was banned" and anyone who engaged in it was "whipped at home" (The Benna). With a bit of explanation, benna is clearly something that is considered punishable for those who participate in the making of the music. However, the apparent connection to Sundays implies that engagement in benna is acceptable on the other six days of the week, those days that do not belong to God. By repeating certain words throughout her work, Jessica Kincaid successfully highlights the symbols that must be closely examined by her readers.

This work by Kincaid has been designed for extreme reading between the lines, as it has been designed to make the reader question the meaning of each action. There are several demands from the mother that can be expected by the audience; however, the formation of the writing seems to be a bit scrambled. Very few of the demands from the mother follow a logical order: the majority of the piece is just a list of demands with no rhyme or reason. After stating "how to sweep a yard," Kincaid's mother moves on to "how to smile at someone you don't like," and these two demands seem to have little to do with one another (Kincaid 301). It is unusual how the mother has worded her monologue, but it suggests something that is not clearly stated in the text. Many of her statements seem disorganized, and she tends to jump around from one subject to another. Speaking on the topic of "how to set a table," the mother quickly changes subjects to "how to behave in the presence of men" (Kincaid 301). This randomized order of rules hints at the mother's own anxiety when dealing with these tasks because she knows how much stress this lifestyle can put on a person. After being raised and then raising a daughter through these guidelines, the mother likely feels a bit of remorse for submitting her child to this way of life. The conclusion provides an interesting outlook on the mother's beliefs towards teaching her daughter these laws of life.

After closely analyzing "Girl" by Jamaica Kincaid, there comes a surprising twist at the end of her piece. The majority of the writing is simply the mother giving her daughter commands on how to act as a woman, but just before concluding she seems to offer some options for her daughter. She explains to her the ways to love a man, but she notes that she should not "feel too bad about giving up" (301). Yet again, this line is open for interpretation because the mother never states that the daughter has the right to leave the man, only that she could possibly stop trying to mend the relationship. The confinements that the daughter's mother sets up for her allow little room for options, and she is nearly forced into all of these actions, as there is no other choice for her. While speaking to her daughter on the method to pick out the best bread, the mother states that she must "squeeze bread to make sure it's fresh," but the daughter questions if she will be allowed to touch the bread or not (301). She seems to be asking out of sheer curiosity, but the mother feels otherwise towards her daughter's question. She then asks her daughter if she expects to grow up to be someone that "the baker won't let near the bread", and it seems as if the daughter has now been punished for trying to understand her commands (301). The mother's response strengthens the fact that the daughter has no privileges or rights because she is scolded by her own mother for asking a question. This ending concludes that the girls of past societies had no room to think for themselves because if they were raised differently with more freedom, they should have no reason to inquire why certain things are the way they are.

Through looking at the mother's hidden feelings, her stress on repetition, and her hinting towards her daughter's right to freedom, it can deduced that the mother feels miserable due to her own tasks in life that must be passed down to her daughter. The symbols of the writing are developed through out Kincaid's work due to her repetition, as this emphasizes the attention each word deserves. However, the scattering of these symbols and other actions are ordered to present the mother's anxiety in her own life and for her daughter's future. She constructs a bit of a cliffhanger as a conclusion, leaving the reader wondering what the mother's true feelings are. Understanding the former social positions for women make this piece more than remarkable, as the conspicuous wording spurs on differing thoughts for the readers. The present roles for women must be contrasted to their previous social standings because Kincaid's piece "Girl" alludes towards this changing of positions.

