Second Reflection of the Week on Jamaica Kincaid's "Girl"

While reading "Girl" by Jamaica Kincaid I took a few short hand notes on the lines that stuck out to me:

• "...benna in Sunday school...": This phrase showed up a lot throughout the entire short story. At first I thought "benna" was slang for the word "better" but then the use of benna in some of the other lines shows that benna may have been a type of song or way to sing.
• "...the slut I know you are so bent on becoming...": This phrase also shows up a lot throughout the entire short story. The narrator seems very strong on his/her thoughts and opinions and clearly has some hatred or remorse towards whomever he/she is referring to.
• "this is how to make a good medicine to throw away a child before it even becomes a child;": This phrase stood out to me solely because of how hateful it is, and to think that someone would even think to say that strikes me by surprise. 

After reflecting on the lines that stood out to me I did a little bit of research on the author, Jamaica Kincaid, and on the short story. I discovered that Kincaid and her mother did not have a very positive relationship and this short story relates back to the relationship that they had. As soon as I discovered that the author and her mother did not have a positive, healthy relationship I read the short story over again to discover that "Girl" is a mother talking to her female child, only letting the child speak twice: "but I don't sing benna on Sundays at all and never in Sunday school" and "but what if the baker won't let me feel the bread?".

Reflecting on "Girl" and how negative and unhealthy the relationship between the daughter and mother is in the story, makes me appreciate the positive, strong, healthy relationship I share with my mother. Growing up, my mother taught me all of the right things to do in life, learning by experience and mistakes. It seems as if the mother that the narrator describes is telling, not teaching, her daughter how to do things and puts her down by referring to her as a "slut". Obviously, the mother in the story did not have a good childhood and it is now reflecting on to her parenting and relationship with her daughter. Personally, my mother comes from a strong christian, successful family and that definitely reflects the way that she has raised me. I am so fortunate to know that I have a positive influence on my life and do not have to worry about my mother putting me down like the girl in this story must worry about on a daily basis. Everyone makes mistakes and my mother knows that, but it seems as if the mother in "Girl" does not live by that motto and does not want her daughter to make mistakes and wants her to live by strict rules. Overall, this short story made me realize how lucky I am to have a strong, intelligent, thoughtful, and caring mother that understands the situations I go through and guides me in all of the right directions.