Girl

The mother figure in this short work of fiction is demanding and strict. She achieves this tone by using the imperative, infinitive forms of verbs to give instructions and educate her daughter on how to behave: what to do and not do in their household and community. For example, she tells her daughter “soak salt fish overnight before you cook it” (Line 12) and “don’t walk bare-head in the hot sun” (Lines 5-6). The mother is also hypercritical of her daughter’s purity and virtue. She questions her daughter “is it true that you sing benna in Sunday school?” (Lines 12-13). Benna is a Caribbean term for a calypso-style genre of music referencing gossip and sexuality. Her fear that her daughter is partaking in this style of music indicates her anxiety over her daughter’s blossoming womanhood and curiosity. This mother figure initially comes across as conservative. She desires her daughter to “walk like a lady and not like the slut you are so bent on becoming” (Line 15). The mother wants to control her daughter’s physical actions in the domestic sphere as well as her sexual expression.

While the mother initially comes across as traditional and conservative, she also has expresses feminist ideals as she tries to imbue her daughter with a sense of self-worth and empowerment.