Empathy Expressed Through Jamaica Kincaid’s Poem
Throughout the story “A Clean Well-Lighted Place,” Ernest Hemingway shows how the concept of “loneliness” is displayed throughout the entire story. This suggests that the people who seem rich and happy will eventually have some of the darkest times in their life. The story “Girl” by Jamaica Kincaid is about a mother's relationship with her daughter. This story gives many major descriptions of how the mother expects her daughter to live her life how she wants her to. Empathy is expressed through a “Clean Well-Lighted Place” and “Girl” by both stories explaining how the characters wanted someone to feel sorry for the choices they made in life, or how they chose to live their life. But “Girl” by Jamaica Kincaid expresses empathy more through the mother as she tries to get her daughter to dress, live, and do things the way she felt was the most ladylike and appropriate way for society.
When the girl mother warned her “when buying cotton to make yourself a nice blouse, be sure that it doesn’t have gum on it, because that way it won’t hold up after a wash” (56-57). The girls', mother was trying to tell her that how you dress out in public represent what type of person you are. Back when I was growing into my age, my mother used to always talk to me about how I dress in public, even if it is simply a quick run to the store. The way you dress out in public can mean many things. Some men might find you sexually attractive, or the older people might shake their heads at how you look. When people see your clothing give them something good to say or think about you.
By the time I was 10, I knew how to eat at a table. The girl mother wanted her to have appropriate table manners, so she told her, 'Always eat your food in a way that it won't turn someone else's stomach. '(57). As you are starting to get older, you should know the appropriate ways to eat at a table. With the society that girl lived in, her mother wanted her to be alert on what was going on. But my mother taught me the appropriate way to eat at a table because it was a way of showing manners.
The mother then starts telling the girl how to do proper house chores, 'wash the white clothes on Monday and put them on the stone heap; wash the color clothes on Tuesday and put them on the clothesline to dry. '(56). My mother ensured I knew how to clean up around the house. She would make Sundays clean-up day. Early Sunday mornings, we would turn gospel music on and clean the entire house. She would cook breakfast when we were done cleaning up. My sisters and I used to complain, but after doing it for so long, we grew to enjoy cleaning up on Sundays. Cleaning up on Sundays is probably normal for some people.
The girl mother tells her how to cook, and how to make medicine that would keep her healthy. 'this is how you make a bread pudding. ' (57). 'this is how to make a good medicine for a cold. ' (57). Girl mother was telling her this important information so that she would know how to take care of herself. My mother stayed on me about taking care of myself, especially when it came to hygiene. She would tell me, 'you are a girl you supposed to stay clean. ' Listening to her tell me that every day, you could never catch me dirty now. I handle myself, my apartment, and my car in a clean way.
That is not the only thing the mother wanted the girl to know. 'On Sundays try to walk like a lady and not like the slut that you are so bent on becoming. ' The mother thinks the way you walk determines who you are or your sexual background. She does not want her child to walk in church or anywhere looking sluttish. She prefers her to have some class and pride in how she dresses, and carry herself. Not only my mother but my grandmother stayed on us about how to carry yourself out in public. Our mothers tell us important things we need to know out in the real world.
Last but not least the girl's mother warned her about accepting things as they are in life because everything will not always be peaches and cream. 'don't throw stones at blackbirds, because it might not be a blackbird at all. ' (57). Mother was telling the girl if life comes hard at you don't fight off the people who tried to help you. Mother did not want the girl to grow up looking for handouts, or neither expecting someone to always be there to help you. My mother used to tell me, 'life is not like Burger King; you will not always have it your way. '
Concluding everything together, this short story by Jamaica Kincaid is a stern lesson from a mother to a daughter. The mother wanted her daughter to live the best life possible and showed so much empathy through expressing how she wanted her daughter to wear her clothing, act, and do things appropriately. When mothers give you the knowledge to survive on your own, that is a mother you should be grateful for. I don' know where I would be or how my life would be flowing if I didn't have my mother schooling me on how to take care of myself.
