Girl Jamaica Kincaid Maypole Mother Laura James Jamaica

Girl Jamaica Kincaid

“Maypole Mother” Laura James

• Jamaica Kincaid on her writing: “I think in many ways…Americans find [my writing] very hard to take. They are inevitably looking for a happy ending. Perversely, I will not give the happy ending. I think life is difficult and that is that. ”

• Her fiction is very autobiographical, particularly in reference to her relationship with her mother which she has said was difficult since she was a small child. • Kincaid on her mother: “The fertile soil of my creative life is my mother. When I write, in some things I use my mother’s voice, because I like my mother’s voice. I feel like I would have no creative life or no real interest in art without my mother. It’s really my fertile soil. ”

• “Girl” is a one sentence, 650 word dialogue between a mother and daughter. • It is written in the stream of consciousness style. • It is told from the 2 nd person point of view. • No action, no formal introduction of the characters, no traditional plotline.

Important terms and concepts for this story: • Stream of consciousnessa manner of writing in which a character's thoughts or perceptions are presented as occurring in random form, without regard for logical sequences, structure, etc. • Second person point of view the narrator tells the story to another character using "you"; the story is being told through the addressee's point of view.

Important terms and concepts for this story: • Analogy a likeness or a comparison between two things that have some features that are the same and others which are different • Monologue A long speech by one character

• Antigua was colonized by the British and was an important part for commerce and as a producer of sugarcane during the nineteenth century. • African slaves were brought to the island to provide labor to this industry.

• After its abolishment in 1834, slavery would leave a bitter legacy, with most Antiguans remaining in poverty. • This is a legacy that remained up into the twentieth century, with most of the Eastern Caribbean behind in economic and technological developments. • Kincaid addresses this Eurocentric culture in “Girl, ” showing its duality with more traditional island beliefs.

Afro-Antiguan Culture European Culture

• Obeah is an African based religion similar to voodoo. Women in Antigua would practice it along with Christianity, using spells and secret medicines to ward off bad things. • In obeah beliefs, objects may conceal spirits, thus many believers do not trust appearances.

• Kincaid on her childhood: “I was very interested in [obeah]; it was very much an everyday part of my life, you see. I wore things, a little black sachet filled with things, in my undershirt. I was always having special baths. It was a complete part of my life for a very long time. ”

• Blackbird as jablesse “she devil” • In Caribbean folklore, the jablesse is a shape shifter that often takes the form of a beautiful woman, luring men into isolation to devour them. • She is beautiful, deceptive, and deadly