Girl, a la Shmoop: She’ll Be a Woman Soon.
From the Stone Age. . .
. . .to the Middle Ages. . .
. . .to the Renaissance.
. .
. . .to the 21st Century.
. .
. . . mother-daughter relationships have been…
complicated.
Take the mother and daughter
. . .in Jamaica Kincaid’s Girl.
The mom barely comes up for air.
. .
. . .as she hurls a series of instructions.
. .
. . .as well as a few less-than-motherly comments,
at her almost silent daughter.
So, we just have to ask.
. .
. . .why does this mother come down so hard
on her kid?
Is she just being a good mom. . .
. . .trying to prepare her daughter for the
rocky road she faces?
Could be.
. .Jamaica Kincaid was raised by a single
mom in Antigua>. . .
. . .a patriarchal, British colony that was
challenging for black women.
Mom’s got a lot to cover . . .
. . . and maybe she's just not the sugar-coating
type.
Or maybe she’s barking all those orders
. .
. . .to make sure her daughter doesn’t end
up like dear old mom.
She talks about being bullied by men. . .
. . .and how to get rid of an unwanted baby.
Maybe her own life has been so difficult.
. .
. . .that she’ll do anything to stop her
child from repeating her mistakes.
Or maybe we should consider the opposite.
Perhaps this woman is one heck of a bad mother.
. .
. . .who loves getting on her daughter’s
case.
It could be she’s just a mean and miserable
person.
. .
. . .rattling off a to-do list with no regard
for her daughter’s feelings.
That nurturing mom gene has been known to
take a hike once in a while.
So, what’s your take?
Does the Mother come down hard on Girl to
get her ready for an inevitably tough life.
. .
. . .to keep her from ending up in her shoes.
. .
. . .or because she’s just a nag who likes
ordering her kid around?
Shmoop amongst yourselves.
