The short story Girl by Jamaica Kincaid gives the reader an almost voyeuristic look at a conversation between mother and daughter- it reads like an actual transcription of their private dialogue, focused on the universal concerns that parents have in regard to their children. I felt like I was eavesdropping, but rather than embarrassment on my part, I empathized with the both of them. What Kincaid has accomplished is impressive- rather than the typical short story with plot and setting and other literary devices, she has submitted a “slice of life”, unadorned. The story is simply a mirror that reflects a short scene. It is up to us as readers to fill in the blanks and come away with our own interpretations.

      Reading the interview with Kincaid, as well as hearing the audio reading of the story in a West Indian dialect, sheds a bit of light on Girl, without being overly influential. It adds some spice to hear the very musical quality of this culture's spoken voice, and adds depth when we consider the author's comparison of mother/daughter to empire/colony and the inherent similarities. But the story stands on its own without these embellishments. For me, the story exemplifies the idea of “tough love”.

      Most parents share this mother's concerns and fears for their offspring. They don't want them to make the same mistakes, and these range from the practical to the more ethical ones. “Wash the white clothes on Monday...” (Charters 507) seems a fairly banal admonishment, as do many of the following items in the checklist- how much do these really matter? It's simply how the mother does things, and if good enough for her, then likewise for daughter. The more telling instructions center around worries of how the daughter will be perceived by others. I was particularly touched and amused by the recurring motif of “the slut I know you are so bent on becoming” (507). Obviously the daughter is coming of age and beginning to show an interest in boys- a nightmare for many parents, and no doubt especially so for the mother of an adolescent girl.

      Another thing that we can read between the lines is the daughter's respect for her mother's authority, in that she only protests twice, and very briefly. The hyphenization of her two retorts, followed only by a semicolon, and then right back to the mother's dialogue- these convey the power structure between the two and the flow of their exchange quite brilliantly. The mother is delivering an example of an almost free-association litany; a random string of things she feels her daughter must know, but spoken perhaps more for her own benefit than the girl's. It's a mirror into the mother's mind and how it works, and Jamaica Kincaid's minimalist technique in Girl polishes that mirror beautifully.

Charters, Ann, ed. The Story and Its Writer: An Introduction to Short Fiction. Boston: Bedford/St. Martins, 2011. Print.