He romantically compares her to summer’s day to get his point across. The claim in Jamaica Kincaid’s “Girl” is as follows: for a woman to lead a respectable life, she must give into a life full of repression and sexism. Ethos is the most powerful appeal in this work because the mother speaking clearly has experience. She is teaching her daughter what she believes is right from wrong, so her daughter does not grow up to have a poor reputation.
She also addresses the other observation, that there aren't very many females in the book, by saying “It was such a passive society. Girls got their status from their boy-friends. They weren't interested in doing anything on their own. ”(Malone). This quote shows that there aren’t many females in her book because most of the girls didn’t want to do things on their own and just stuck around their boyfriends who gave them their social status.
The contrast between success and independence is what makes this short story so memorable, it is a give and a take for the mother, the mother gives her the idea of her success while saying she is a slut that she is bent on becoming makes the undertone of freedom. The story overall though can be taken many ways can be seen as a mother reaching out to a teen girl in hopes to make her a great
During the 19th century, women were overshadowed by the men of their household, therefore they had no sense of independence nor dominance. In Mary Freeman’s short story, “The Revolt of Mother,” the author presents Sarah Penn, a woman who takes a stand against her husband. In the beginning, the reader learns that Sarah is a hardworking mother and wife. She maintains the household work and meets her children needs. She is suddenly confused of her husband’s actions concerning their future.
Hood lays the foundation for the story and the generational gap from the opening line of the short story. They had Quarreled all morning, squalled all summer: how tight the girl’s cut- off jeans were, the “Every Inch a Woman” T-shirt, her choice of music… her practiced inattention, her sullen look. (Hood 410) The grandmother struggled with the girl and her free spirit as if the grandmother had been apart of this story before expecting a different result; she hoped for “The surprise gift of a smile” (Hood 411).
Her mother is jealous of her daughter, and because of that their relationship is weak. This is shown by the author’s choice of tone and usage of rhetorical phrases emphasizing on the point that their relationship is not family like. Moving on throughout the story the mother daughter relationship continually weakens. Connie’s mother compares Connie and June by commenting “Why don’t you keep your room clean like your sister” and then compares the beauty products both sisters use, specifically hair spray, and tells Connie “You don’t see your sister using that junk”(1), The author’s usage of a comparison of beauty products both sisters use shows how she favors June instead of Connie. Most commonly the mother daughter relationship in a family should be the strongest but opposite to this is the relationship is Connie and her mother, They are very distant from each other and it even goes to a point where Connie “wished her mother was dead”(1).
The daughters statement was clearly just her opinion on her mother passing not with any back up evidence which would of gave the mother a more solid thought on just her passing. So the speaker doesn’t seem so enthusiastic about the way her family judges her value, her worth, or her performance. The mother seems in distress which is also just like a student being graded in school and they don’t meet the standards that are set for them by others. The irony here is that rather than parents mark their children, it is the children and father who is marking her, which is the commonly thought to be the most important figure in the household and family.
The “They” she talks about is society, and society has made it so there is an archetype that mothers should follow, or else they are deemed unfit. The narrator is still only a teenager and she is bound to make mistakes, but since she is now a mother, society places even more blame on her for her mistakes. The relationship between the narrator and her daughter when she is a baby starts off wonderfully, but when the narrator has to go work away from her child, the two become distant.
A wise woman once said, "The more a daughter knows about her mother 's life, the stronger the daughter" (http://www.wiseoldsayings.com/mother-and-daughter-quotes/). As any girl raised by their mother can attest, the relationship between a mother and her daughter is a learning experience. As young girls, you look up to you mother as your greatest role model and follow in their steps closely. In Jamaica Kincaid 's short story "Girl", a mother uses one single sentence in order to give her daughter motherly advice. Her advice is intended to help her daughter, but also to scold her at the same time.
She calls her daughter a “slut” and wants her to see she is not a boy. She tells her, “on Sundays try to walk like a lady and not like the slut you are so bent on becoming; don’t sing benna in Sunday school; you mustn’t speak to wharf-rat boys...” (180). She must keep her reputation up. She thinks her daughter already knows too much about sexuality and that she is being disobedient by singing the benna in Sunday school.
Many of the things are common directives such as, eat with manners, the proper way to sit, how to sweep, and how to cook certain foods. Other things that the mother directed the daughter on were not as common such as not walking barehead in the sun, hemming a dress, and choosing cotton that does not have gum in it. Then there were those few things that the mother kept repeating; such as, “don’t sing benna in Sunday school” and above all not to “look like the slut I know you are so bent on becoming” that made me think that maybe this was not just the mother teaching a young daughter the proper way to behave, but perhaps a mother that was not too pleased with some past behaviors of the daughter (1627). As I read the poem, I thought that maybe the mother and daughter are talking in perhaps a place in which the daughter cannot escape, so she is trapped and has to listen to the mother nag about her version of the proper way to
As I read the title I found myself delighted that the daughter could possibly be the narrator along with appreciation the daughter has for her mother then I thought to myself how cute that is. I’m convinced that the message through the text but mostly through the art is no matter what circumstances or tragedies a family may go through, together a family can hope for better and brighter days. The art which is definitely appealing to me in A Chair for My Mother illustrates with warm, bright and sadly a few dark colors. In any picture book it’s very important to realize the art that the illustrator is interpreting. Many illustrators convey messages in their art in many ways whether it’s through color, lines, or shapes.
The time when this story took place was a time when women were viewed as second class citizens. Mothers had traditional roles, which usually left them in the house, while men also had their roles, outside of the
What it means to be a woman It means nothing. It literally means nothing. I don’t mean that in an offensive way, or even an inspiring way (could that even be taken as inspiring?). Biologically and physically, there is much empirical evidence to support the idea of difference between genders, but aside from that there are none.
The daughter's life is marked by poverty, illness, and a lack of opportunities. The mother recognizes these circumstances' impact on her daughter's life and feels a sense of guilt and regret for not being able to do more for her. The story is set in the mid-twentieth century when women were expected to fulfill the traditional gender roles of wife and mother. Single mothers were stigmatized and viewed as a failure for not conforming to these gender roles. This societal norm resulted in economic and social discrimination against single mothers, making it even more challenging for them to raise their children.
