Girl by Jamaica Kincaid Summary

Girl, a brief, two-page story by Kincaid, is a series of instructions to an unnamed, unseen narrator by a nameless other character. The instructions detail how to be a "good girl," how to wash clothes and cook and various tips on housekeeping, intercut by various objections from the narrator, though the other character continues giving advice on how not to be a slut, how to entertain, how to do things from getting rid of pregnancies to going fishing.

Girl by Jamaica Kincaid Analysis

This humorous and dark short story demonstrates the contradictions that a young girl must assimilate to become a woman. In this narrative, the unnamed voice instructs the girl to do things that are constrictive, difficult, and varied. It is particularly concerned with living up to society's sexual expectations for a young woman. This conformity...