Women

The short stories "Girl"by Jamaica Kincaid and "Everyday Use" by Alice Walker are both written from a mother's point of view and define the role of the woman by focusing on the mother-daughter relationship.

Both short stories show a negative depiction of the mother-daughter relationship. Even though both are written with the mother as the narrator, "Girl" is a mother's critical view of her daughter while "Everyday Use" is a daughter's critical view of her mother. The narrator in "Girl" looks down on her daughter by making remarks like, "to prevent yourself from looking like the slut I know you are so bent on becoming" (350). The word slut obviously has a negative connotation and is never a good thing. The narrator is unsatisfied with her daughter and makes what seems to be an assumption since it is not objected by the daughter herself. It is apparent in this story that the way everyone views a woman is important. The narrator covers everything from how to dress to how to smile to each person. In "Everyday Use", the narrator begins by describing her daughter Dee. She gives us an image of Dee succeeding and starring on television. She starts off by saying, "In real life, I am a large, big boned woman with rough, man-working hands" (327). To describe how Dee looks down on her mother, the narrator gives us a contrasting image of what Dee would want it to be like if her and her mother were to be on television. She says, "But of course all this does not show on television. I am the way my daughter would want me to be: a hundred pounds lighter, my skin like an uncooked barley" (327). This shows that Dee's mother is not up to her standards. For the narrator of "Everyday Use", appearance means little to nothing. Her daughter feels differently since she looks down on her mother's appearance and where she comes from.

"Girl" and "Everyday Use" also focus on a woman's work to run a household. The narrator of "Everyday Use" works in a different way than what is usually thought of when running a household. Some of the chores the narrator in "Everyday Use" performs are depicted by saying, "I can kill and clean a hog as mercilessly as a man" (327). Or, "I can work outside all day, breaking ice to get water for washing" (327). The narrator of "Girl" speaks of work in a much different way, "Wash the white clothes on Monday and put them on the stone heap; was the color clothes on Tuesday and put them on the clothes-line to dry" (350). From what I could tell, the narrator in "Everyday Use" behaves in a way that tells me there is  not a man in the household because of this, the narrator's role is to be both the man and the woman of the household. "Girl" does mention a father being present so this may explain the absence of dirty work that was present in "Everyday Use". Both stories only talk of the woman's role and never compare or contrast it with that of a man's. However we know that killing and cleaning hogs is a man's job by the way the narrator of "Everyday Use" words the sentence.

"Girl" and "Everyday Use"show the roles of the women. Both narrators have the responsibility of running a household and raising daughters. These ladies have a lot on their plate and even though the mother-daughter relationship is strained, they make it work.