POV Adaptation/Modification of “Girl” by Jamaica Kincaid
The lady of the house told her on Monday to wash the white clothes and put them in a pile; on Tuesday to wash the colored clothes and hang them on the clothesline to dry on; to not walk under the hot sun without a hat; to use hot and sweet oil when cooking pumpkin fritters; to soak small clothes immediately after taking them off; to make sure there is no gum on the cotton she is buying to sew a blouse, or it won’t be in the same condition; to soak the salt fish overnight before cooking; the lady of the house asked the girl if she sang benna at Sunday School; to always make sure to not eat in a way that is not nauseating; to walk lady-like on Sunday’s, rather than a promiscuous woman the girl is leaning towards becoming; to not sing benna at Sunday school; to not converse with pickpocketing boys even to guide them in the right direction; to not consume fruit from the streets — or dirty things will follow her; but the young girl replied that she never sings benna on Sundays and never at Sunday school; the lady of the house turns her head to the girl to make sure she is paying attention and continues telling the her how to sew a button; to hem a dress in order to prevent the girl from looking like a slut she is so leaning towards becoming, if the hem becomes undone; to iron her father’s shirt and pants to prevent horizontal lines across it; how to grow okra far from the house because it attracts red ants; the lady instructs her to make sure to dasheen get plenty of water when growing it because her throat will itch when eating it if she doesn’t; to be sure that the girl always stay clean, even if she had to resort to her own spit; when playing marbles, the girl is not male so do not squat down; to not pick others’ flowers or else she might catch something; to not throw stones at blackbirds, because it might not actually be one; she sighs continues telling the girl how to sweep a corner, yard, and the whole house; to fake a smile to someone she does not like; to smile to someone she does like; to set tea, breakfast, lunch, dinner, and dinner for important guests on the table; to act infront of unfamiliar men so they don’t see the promiscuous woman the girl is leaning on becoming; to make doukona and pepper pot; how to make fine and adequate remedies for a cold; to make a remedy to abort a child; to catch a fish and throw it back so the girl won’t have any consequences; to bully a man; the lady explains how a man bullies the girl; how to love a man in may various ways, and if those methods don’t work, the lady advises to not be let down if the girl gives up; how to spit if the young girl feels like it, and move quickly to not let it land on her; to make end meet; the lady of the house tells the girl to squeeze the bread, making sure it is fresh; the girls asks what if the baker won’t let her feel the bread; the lady of the house asks sarcastically if the girl is going to be the kind of woman whom the baker won’t let near the bread.
The Artist Statement
I chose to modify “Girl” by Jamaica Kincaid because I found the structure and content of the piece interesting. It consisted of a lengthy list of instructions and directions on how to conduct and carry out specific tasks of a young lady. The author’s use of semicolons to list many independent clauses was unique and I also thought about how she portrayed the role of ladies and what tasks they are burdened with. The unique portrayal of women in society and the structure of the piece led me to choose and modify “Girl”.
When modifying this piece, the young girl’s replies seemed to have an overwhelmed attitude to the lady’s extensive list of dos and don’ts. However, the lady seemed to respond to the girl’s intermittent replies with frustration and aggressiveness which was shown through her claims that the girl is bent towards being a “slut”. I found it difficult to modify the piece into a third-person limited point of view because it was challenging to identify the thoughts and feelings of the individual voice who was giving the instructions, assuming it was the “lady of the house”. But knowing that the “lady of the house” had an aggressive tone when replying to the girl, I focused and based the third-person limited view on her. I included gestures of the lady to describe the character’s thoughts and feelings: sighing and the purpose of turning her head to make sure the young girl was listening. By modifying the point of view of the piece to third-person limited, I learned that the point of view affects the reader’s sentiment towards the main characters. The modified version of “Girl” made me feel more empathetic towards the character that I assumed was a “young girl”. Rather than perceiving the instructions given to her as chores in the original piece, I perceived the modified version as the strict societal roles of women, assuming that the piece took place before the 21st century. This is because the directions given to the girl seemed to not have been influenced or caused by any feminist movement. Therefore, my empathy as a reader towards the girl and my appreciation of living in modern society allows me to have a different perspective when the “Girl” is modified to a third-person limited point of view. Through this, I can grasp the significant effect of the point of view on the reader.
