A Rhetorical Analysis on "Girl"

            As the prose poem begins with listing commands, it can be inferred that a mother is leaving her daughter in charge of chores while she is gone as she tells her to "wash the white clothes on Monday and put them on the stone heap." But what is revealed in the poem encloses a deeper meaning than a simple to-do list. Instead, the mother focuses on giving her daughter the guidelines on "How to be a Lady" at a young age. In "Girl", Jamaica Kincaid portrays the hardship becoming a lady and obtaining independence at a young age during times of poverty.

            Kincaid's sentence structure in the poem avoids rhythm and lines but includes one, long run-on sentence filled with commands and advice from the mother such as "don't walk bare head in the hot sun; cook pumpkin fritters in very hot sweet oil." The word "don't" demonstrates a command while cooking in "very hot sweet oil" is something the daughter can take into consideration. Kincaid's use of commands and advice's from the mother to the daughter presents the basic guidelines on how to become a lady. She continues to point up symbols such as food and cloth which have a double meaning. To illustrate, the mother informs her daughter on how to make medicine, okra, pumpkin fritters, etc as a way to pass down traditional recipes. Also, she tells her how to wash cloths and set them on a table as a way for her to become familiar with housekeeping.

            In order to be independent from a man, one must gain the skills and knowledge that men acquire. The mother informs her daughter, "this is how to catch a fish; this is how to throw back a fish you don't like..." to prevent her from having to rely on a man for food and/or shelter. The voice that Kincaid gives to the mother, making her open and knowledgeable to the different ways of life, makes the daughter resent her mother and her methods. In times of poverty, there is more work for a woman who is poor than one who is wealthy. The mother attempts to display their condition during this time, but the girl begins to resist.

            The poem concludes with the mother angry as she says, " you mean to say that after all you are really going to be the kind of woman who the baker won't let near the bread?" As the mother struggles to teach her child how to be independent and be able to overcome anything, the resentment the daughter has for her mother blinds her from seeing these advice's coming into place in her future. Kincaid presents the life a mother, in times of poverty, trying to direct her daughter at an age where she is still considered too young to take in all responsibility.