The complex mother and daughter relationship

The complex mother and daughter relationship

The Complex Mother and Daughter Relationship
An individual’s character is molded by various factors such as their environment and the influence by everything that surrounds the individual, like friends, teachers, television and other media, and most importantly, family. If the individual is a female, the strongest influence always comes from the mother and their relationship, and this is clearly visible in Jamaica Kincaid’s dialogue “Girl”, where the mother daughter relationship is fundamental in character development, the child’s view of the world, and their life style. “As mothers and daughters mature it appears that in most cases the bond becomes even closer, for some women this bond never comes, for others it’s natural, and yet for others it requires considerable work (Deon Melchior).” The mother operates not only as an embodiment of the personal sphere but also as a mediator of the political and ideological values present in childhood.
Motherhood as an institution is universally major theme in writings by black women writers, and Kincaid’s dialogue “Girl” is mainly a personal tale about the discovery of one’s identity marked by colonial and family oppression.
When a mother doesn’t accept her daughter as an adult and respect her daughter’s decisions the same rebellion that took hold during those earlier years, especially the teen years, will resurface. The daughter will begin to hear control in every word issued by the mother and the mother will hear only anger when the daughter speaks (Melchior).
The mother-daughter relationship in the dialogue “Girl” reflects the tension between colonialism and her indigenous origin. Kincaid herself experienced cultural and familial issues, and now neither can she clarify with her mother. Moreover, because of how the dialogue is written it comes off as if it were recited from the protagonist’s memory. The mother is the primary speaker, based on the amount of her comments, but it is...