Monday 15 November 2010

Whose voice dominates "Girl" by Jamaica Kincaid?

As the
previous Educators have mentioned, it is the voice of a mother which dominates the narrative,
which is a . We know that it's more than likely a mother speaking, as opposed to a grandmother,
an older sister, or an aunt, due to the admonishing tone of someone who is worried that, if the
girl misbehaves, it'll reflect poorly back on her. The speaker also tells the girl how to iron
her father's khaki shirt and pantsa task that would have usually been performed by a
wife.

The other Educators have discussed the narrator's focus on propriety,
but the speaker also passes down key aspects of culture, particularly cuisine and home
remedies:

this is how to make a bread pudding; this is how
to make doukona; this is how to make pepper pot; this is how to make a good medicine for a cold;
this is how to make a good medicine to throw away a child before it even becomes a child . .
.

The repetition of "this is how" stresses to
the girl that there is a particular way to do something. This...

No comments:

Post a Comment

To what degree were the U.S., Great Britain, Germany, the USSR, and Japan successful in regards to their efforts in economic mobilization during the...

This is an enormous question that can't really be answered fully in this small space. But a few generalizations can be made. Bo...