Analysis Of Girl By America Kincaid
Girl can best be analyzed by the Feminist perspective because it is about a girl who is being taught the “right” way to do things as a woman. Girl is written in the second person point of view, in which the reader is the girl that the speaker is speaking to and advising about how to behave.
At the beginning of the short story, it seems that the girl is just being taught some basic rules and manners that one should always remember, but then the speaker throws in, “on Sundays try to walk like a lady and not like the slut you are so bent on becoming;” (Kincaid Line 11). The girl the narrator is referring to is often told to not be “the slut you are so bent on becoming”.
The diction, tone, and style of this story make it seem as if the speaker …show more content…
is telling the girl how a proper lady must behave. The diction degrades women; the word “slut” is used to describe a girl that does not behave like a “proper” lady. The tone is commanding; we see a repetitive “this is how” throughout the short story. The style of the short story is in lines, which allows each line to be a command. For example:
“This is how you smile to someone you don’t like too much;
this is how you smile at someone you don’t like at all;
this is how you smile to someone you like completely’” (Kincaid Lines 28-30).
Another aspect that affects the view of women in the story that should be noticed from the feminist perspective is the setting in which the girl is placed in.
When the speaker says “When buying cotton to make yourself a nice blouse” (Kincaid Line 7), it makes the reader assume that the story may take place back in the day when it was common for women to make their own clothing. The title tells us that the story was written in 1978. The setting of the story may be before or in 1978, which would coincide with the view of women’s roles portrayed in the story. Women have always had fewer rights than men have. Women have always had to behave a certain way, and do certain things to be considered a proper woman. It used to be frowned upon, and still is by some people, for women to engage in things that were “manly”. One of the commands given to the girl: “don’t swat down to play marbles – you are not a boy, you know” (Kincaid Line 39), depicts this point exactly. Women were held on a short leash when it came to behavior. It is obvious that speaker in the short story speaks on behalf of society when she/he tells the girl how to act, how to do things, how to walk, how to smile and how to be a proper woman, not a slut. The short story basically portrays what society expects from a proper woman, anything less is considered a
slut.
At the beginning of the short story, it seems that the girl is just being taught some basic rules and manners that one should always remember, but then the speaker throws in, “on Sundays try to walk like a lady and not like the slut you are so bent on becoming;” (Kincaid Line 11). The girl the narrator is referring to is often told to not be “the slut you are so bent on becoming”.
The diction, tone, and style of this story make it seem as if the speaker …show more content…
is telling the girl how a proper lady must behave. The diction degrades women; the word “slut” is used to describe a girl that does not behave like a “proper” lady. The tone is commanding; we see a repetitive “this is how” throughout the short story. The style of the short story is in lines, which allows each line to be a command. For example:
“This is how you smile to someone you don’t like too much;
this is how you smile at someone you don’t like at all;
this is how you smile to someone you like completely’” (Kincaid Lines 28-30).
Another aspect that affects the view of women in the story that should be noticed from the feminist perspective is the setting in which the girl is placed in.
When the speaker says “When buying cotton to make yourself a nice blouse” (Kincaid Line 7), it makes the reader assume that the story may take place back in the day when it was common for women to make their own clothing. The title tells us that the story was written in 1978. The setting of the story may be before or in 1978, which would coincide with the view of women’s roles portrayed in the story. Women have always had fewer rights than men have. Women have always had to behave a certain way, and do certain things to be considered a proper woman. It used to be frowned upon, and still is by some people, for women to engage in things that were “manly”. One of the commands given to the girl: “don’t swat down to play marbles – you are not a boy, you know” (Kincaid Line 39), depicts this point exactly. Women were held on a short leash when it came to behavior. It is obvious that speaker in the short story speaks on behalf of society when she/he tells the girl how to act, how to do things, how to walk, how to smile and how to be a proper woman, not a slut. The short story basically portrays what society expects from a proper woman, anything less is considered a
slut.