Motivation In The Short Story Girl By Jamaica Kincaid

Motivation The short story “Girl” is a literary fiction written by Jamaica Kincaid. The story focuses on a mother instructing and counseling her young daughter through short consistent sentences. Throughout the story, the mother constantly demands while the young girl only speaks out twice. After analyzing the short story “Girl”, it has been observed that the main character, the mother, holds a sense of motivation for her wisdom and instruction towards her daughter. According to the textbook Literature Craft & Voice, the definition of motivation is “what causes people to behave as they do” (234). In the short story “Girl”, the main characters motivation for her constant demands is the thought of her daughter becoming a responsible and respectable young woman. It is understood that the mother intends to teach her daughter responsibility. In particular, the mother presents her motivation through instructing her daughter on how to correctly completely chores. She gives a series of commands. For instance, the mother …show more content…
For instance, the mother instructs her daughter to act like a “lady”. She makes comments such as “don’t squat down…you’re not a boy…”, and “this is how you behave in the presence of men...” (Kincaid 163).The comments suggest that the mother realizes that her daughter is growing up, and it is time for her to learn the nature of a woman. Moreover, the main character teaches the young girl the role as the woman of the house. In particular, she lectures on washing clothes and cooking certain dishes. Furthermore, the mother belittles promiscuous behavior. She explains to her daughter that she trying to teach her so that she doesn’t become a “slut”. The word “slut” is used multiple time throughout the story in a condescending way towards the young girl. Altogether, it shows her motivation for her daughter to be a presentable young woman (Kincaid