Jamaica Candid’s “Girl” in Social Context Jamaica Candid short story “Girl” was the first fiction work, which she has written. 650 words of prose poem Is a mother teaching her daughter how she should behave and to do everything that Antigen women do. There Is no Introduction, no action, no character description and no composition seen, only two voices, which at the end appears to be the mother and the daughter. Antigen, was the place, were Candid grew up during ass’s and ass’s.
When she escaped from her family, Jamaica changed her name and started to write. The mother in the story seems to have full control of setting her daughter for her teenage years. While, the girl is kind of poor one, because she has to put up with the very intense rules that she gets from her mother. A mother gives commands to her daughter with a firm tone of voice, while daughter interrupts her mother twice: to protect herself and to ask the question.
Jamaica Candid, using only two voices, is able to open the major Issues: felicity, social classes and traditions. In like manner, despite the makeup and high heels, femininity is hard org If to mention cleaning the house and looking remarkable while doing It. In “Girl” woman seems to be Identified with the looking after the house and Its Inhabitants. It Is not surprising that In order to malignant their luxury and decent lady card, girls must obey the motherly advice.
In the following quote expressed by the mother of the girl, where she is giving commands for her daughter in order to teach her to be decent lady, femininity is one of the main clauses about the problem if to speak about being successful lady in the family. “Wash the white clothes on Monday and put them n the stone heap; wash the color clothes on Tuesday and put them on the clothesline to dry’ (1-2). This is the first commandment of a long list, that girl, in order to be honorable lady, must follow.
The commandment begins with the cleaning of clothing – and, in particular, this concerns the correct cleaning, to avoid the blending of colors. Commandments like this, always seems hard to accomplish. Generally speaking, Candid represents, that both the mother and the girl are controlled by the rules of fervently. Additionally, class and social standing have already been lassie back when someone had clearly more shiny stones than the other. In “Girl” it was not only just shiny stones, but also girl’s skin color, her table coating quality and smoothness of her seams.
In a colonial Antigen, where British culture is seen as a native, African descent Antigens as Candid and, as I think, also a girl, already are at the top of the hierarchy. In “Girl” it seems that the dead person can easily lose their social standing, and it is much more difficult to pick it up once you lose it. In the following quote expressed by the mother of the girl, where she is giving commands or her daughter in order to teach her to be decent lady; interaction with negligent boys and girls is forbidden, in order to be a respectful lady. You mustn’t speak to wharf-rat boys, not even to give Some people are so removed from society that they are not even treated as people; they are rats. Whereas slovenly men and women are even In lower social standing than the black people from Antigen, absolutely no one Is talking with them. As shown above, Candid stated that society Is based on policing behavior. In “Girl”, there is someone who is always watching. E keep our balance; it helps us to know how to narrate the whole world, that it makes matter a lot of easier, it can, of course, also be oppressive, archaic, and Just stupid.
In “Girl” the mother teaches her daughter traditions for several reasons; tradition can help the daughter to become a respected lady, retains lady successful life with no bad luck. In the following quote expressed by the mother of the girl, where she is giving commands for her daughter in order to teach her to be decent lady; the daughter is bound to keep up with tradition, in order to live a successful and fulfilling lady life. Soak salt fish overnight before you cook it”(7). Salted fish is fish that have been salted and dried to keep it not using the refrigerator.
The fish is very salty, so, in order to eat it, lady has to steep it very carefully. In a word, food is the most important part of the tradition, as it is associated with femininity lessons, whose have been thought by the mother. The British traditions are as important as the African ones in the “Girl”. Both are important details of the cultural heritage of the girl. In the final analysis, Jamaica Candid, using only two voices, is able to open he major issues: femininity, social classes and traditions.
The mother gives commands to her daughter in order to prepare her for the fulfilling and respectful lady life. Although we believe that the girl is helpless at the beginning, because she speaks only twice; trying to defend himself, but the motive of Candid gives all the power to the girl. This prose poem is a mother teaching her daughter how she should behave and to do everything that Antigen women do. There is no introduction, no action, no appears to be the mother and the daughter.
