Your responses to “Girl” / “In Case You Ever Want To Go Home Again”
Posted: September 6, 2013 in UncategorizedComments
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an infinitely hot & dense dot 
Christian Morales
9/6/13
“Girl” seems to me like guidelines on the proper upbringing of a woman. Every sentence is almost like a rule that can’t be broken in order to keep a lady like appearance. I don’t believe all these things have to be learned to be a proper woman. What are funny are the lines saying that she secretly wants to be a slut. I’m not sure if every girl secretly wants that, but I’m not very into sluts. That’s gross. Also the line that says not to speak to wharf-rat boys, which I’m guessing are like asshole guys who like to sleep around or something of the sort. Whose to say all these things have to be learned? Some of them seem practical, but others like “don’t walk bare head in the hot sun” seem unnecessary. It’s almost like perfectionism in my opinion. Perfectionism may look good to some people but in the end, it’s not fun. Life has to be about what makes you happy from day to day, not everyone else. There shouldn’t be a set of rules. Towards the end it starts getting a little more intense, for example the medicine to kill the child before it’s a child. Basically the morning after pill or maybe birth control. This all insinuates that sex must be becoming a regular thing, or maybe a sign of maturity if she is starting to go on the pill. I feel like it may have to do with a girl who is somewhat like a boy by the way they talk about the marbles. Also, the spitting into the air and moving quickly makes me think that as well. Throwing stones at birds seems different from the rest of the lines in the story as well. The rule is odd because it only says not to throw them at blackbirds just because it may not be a blackbird.
“In Case You Ever Want to Go Home Again” is a story about Barbara Kingsolver. She grew up in a small town in Kentucky. A town where you can imagine that not much occurred and if something did happen, everyone knew about it almost instantaneously. A world where this young woman grew up knowing the same people for half of her life. People that she had good times and bad times with, people that she had good relationships with and some that have bad relationships. Then, she is gone for twenty years. She starts off by saying how the time away has taken away her Kentucky accent, but how she never really got the chance to save the loss. Her memories are painful because she can’t go back and see people or places, because they are no longer present in that time. She reflects on her old school, and her grandfather snapping his fake teeth. She reflects with a heavy heart knowing that the buildings were torn down and her grandfather’s teeth are now permanently placed. It is now some sort of picture perfect town instead of the old brick, chicken wired window school. Barbara then starts to speak of her writing career. She originally wrote in a spiral notebook but soon she found out that her works were going to be published. Barbara wasn’t ecstatic like some writers would be, instead she was panicked. As she asks herself the question “what have I done?” Her works were based around this small town that she grew up in. The characters were people that were once part of her life. Her mind starts racing wondering if people would recognize their character, would they be offended? Would they feel honored? Her high school career wasn’t pleasant. Nobody had ever asked her on a date. Friends didn’t want to hang out with her? Now here she is a strong woman that learned from the past and it inspired her to become something new. The town gets ahold of her book and to her surprise, everyone loved the book. Everyone felt a hint of mystery trying to figure out which character was who and the people around her were proud of her works. These people that once had looked down upon her now looked up to her as some sort of hero.
I really enjoyed reading “Incase You Ever Want to Go Home Again” by Barbara Kingsolver. It was written in a way that I have never seen before, which made it more interesting for me to read. She wrote about herself and her life story and her journey to becoming a writer, which seemed to have been a hard trip. I think she did a good job at attracting the attention of the reader because she seemed to be so honest about her life, even though some of points were embarrassing for her. My favourite part of the story would have to be on page 471 when it says: “It’s human, to want the world to see us as we think we ought to be seen.” She writes this after explaining how she would wipe her daughters face of peanut butter before having her photo taken just so that she will appear more beautiful. I think it is very true that we want to appear as perfect as possible when we take a photo even though we may not have the perfect life. It is a way of concealing our flaws and not showing the world what lays beneath the surface of our skin. It is funny how photographs can trick the eyes but I think it is not only photographs that do so; girls too use make-up to cover up and appear prettier even though one is perfectly pretty without make-up. It is society that has turned us into perfectionists and society that make girls wear make-up in order to appear ‘prettier’. I too liked the fact that she made the boys that had given her a hard time in High School wait the longest in line to get her autograph just because she was able to do so now that she had become famous.
“Girl,” by Jamaica Kincaid has a style of writing, which I have never read before. Phrase after phrase seeming to get more and more involved with how to live her life. Some even borderline malicious being an emotional attack on Kincaid by her mother. “Looking like the slut I know you are so bent on becoming.” Who would say this to their own daughter?
This piece has barely any structure what so ever which adds to the overall all feeling. As if she was trying to convey that all of these things were connected in someway by the use of semicolons after each one. Little to no punctuation throughout made it seem like this list could keep going indefinitely.
What I took away from this was that she was listing everything her mother said to her when she was young. Phrase after phrase on how to live your life. What to do and what not to do. These phrases are how she was brought up on how to become a respectable woman. As instructed by her mother on everything she does. These could have come straight from her mothers mouth or altered someway in Kincaid’s own mind to what she believed what her mother truly meant. As if they all possibly had some other underlying meaning to them.
I believe that in every family there are repetitions of phrases like this. Said over and over as you grow up. Trying to integrate a parent’s beliefs and ways of life on to their offspring. What is right and wrong, what is proper and improper. I can remember many things embedded in my psyche while being brought up in my household, “be kind to others; treat others the way you want to be treated; kill them with kindness.” These were the type of things I heard over and over again much like Kincaid but possibly a little bit more direct…
Barbara Kingsolver, the author of the story “In Case You Ever Want to Go Home Again”, goes through a very sticky situation after her novel becomes published. Barbara is a woman born in Maryland but she grew up in Kentucky. Now, 20 years since she last lived in Kentucky, Barbara writes this story. She explains about how, in the past 20 years, her Kentucky accent has gradually faded away. In fact, she said it happened so gradually that she did not even notice it. Barbara compares this to the relationship between her and her former hometown in Kentucky. Explaining that her memories, the people, and the places are gone and that she cannot visit them anymore.
This ideas of this story arose from the “game-changing” and unusual circumstances that came about on April Fool’s Day. First, on April 1, 1987, Barbara gave birth to a newborn baby girl. Then, later that day, Barbara received a call from New York explaining that her novel had been published. She was ecstatic. Her heart filled with joy for both the newborn and for the published novel. Later, regarding the novel being published, she realized that her life would never be the same. In the novel, she wrote about her hometown in Kentucky, and thought about what the other folks of the town might say. She realized that things would never be the same between her and her hometown. With much thought, Barbara decided to do a book signing in her hometown. On this day, she explained that she remembered every detail. Everyone was so loving towards her and they were so happy for her, giving her a sense of confidence, belonging, and accomplishment. It was as if she never left the small town in Kentucky in the first place. If there is anything to take from this, it is to remember and respect your roots, and if you do, they will always have your back.
“In Case You Ever Want to Go Home Again” by Barbara Kingsolver tells an interesting story. She spent much of her youth in a small, rural town in Kentucky. The town was your usual stereotypical small town where everyone knew everyone and people end up spending their entire lives in the town. She was not a popular kid in school. She was teased for having cooties, she was never asked out on a date, and she had few friends. However, she got to move to Africa for a period of time because her parents would volunteer over there, and she cherished the experience of living in a different culture. After returning from Africa she would go on to attend college in Indiana. Eventually, she decided to write a book called The Bean Trees. Bean Trees was about a woman who grew up in a small Kentucky town much like her. Barbara then gets this idea in her head that the people around her would think that the characters in her book are based off of them and get upset. But, to her surprise the opposite is true. Her hometown, which does not have a bookstore, invites her to do a large book signing, even though she had not been back to visit in 20 years. People who had previously ignored her or teased her in school were now acting like they had always been friends. The local gas station owner was thrilled that she “based” the gas station in the book off of his. Her first grade English teacher kept telling people that she was the one to teach Barbara how to write. Even more surprising to Barbara was the fact that more than one of her old schoolmates came up to her and said that they knew that the main character from her book was based off of them because they were both insecure.
Lindsay Hoop
“Girl” by Kincaid exemplifies a mother’s concern for her daughter, and how she will carry herself as she becomes a woman. The mother in the short story is intentionally giving her daughter helpful advice, while scolding her at the same time. The repetition highlights the importance of growing up and how to be raised properly. Within the poem “Girl” the mother explains to her daughter how to do general household things to be successful when she becomes a woman. Not only is she giving her advice on how to sew, do laundry, and iron clothes, but she informs her of relationship advice with guys as well. Although it seems harsh, the mother explains how she does not want her daughter to be a slut as she grows older. Her daughter’s reputation within the community will determine her quality of life, and whether or not she will lead a respectable future. The prose poem “Girl” portrays a typical mother-daughter relationship, and how a mother’s deepest concern is always wanting best for their daughter. The mother displays the idea of how boys and girls act differently, and carry themselves differently when it comes to being respectable. A girl’s upbringing is what guides her in life, and teaches her to have certain morals. The mother seems intense towards her daughter because she is so worried about her future, like most mothers tend to be in life. Rather than helping her, and teaching her to learn from her mistakes, she gives her daughter a list of do’s and don’ts. I personally don’t think is very helpful because her daughter might be confused in the future, or they might not have a healthy bond with eachother as she grows up. Her mother does not tell her of the basic lessons of life like being nice to people, but instead imbeds in her mind not to be slutty.
I really enjoyed reading “In Case You Ever Want to Go Home Again.” I found her story of growing up in a small town relatable because I grew up in a small town as well. By having the small town connection I could fully understand her point of view. In her story she went into detail describing her experience of growing up in a small town. I think this helps readers that have not been in a situation like that understand her perspective, but also sympathize with her on her bad experiences growing up. I loved the fact that she went into details about her personal life to exemplify how much of an outcast she was growing up. Kingsolver talks about how she didn’t “fill out” her clothes and her family made comments about it, having “cooties” in school, and how her family was different than the other ones because they read Thoreau and Robert Burns and didn’t care about frivolous things. Despite the fact that everyone from her hometown dubbed her as an outcast growing up, everyone treated her differently as soon as she became published, like the past didn’t exist. After seeing their change of opinion, she decided to make them wait as long as possible to get a signed copy of her book as a form of payback. I found it ironic that even though she didn’t base the insecure character of Lou Ann off anyone particular, but the people she grew up with and the people she was not friends with thought Lou Ann was based off of them.
After reading “Girl” I noticed that many of the lines depict stereotypical jobs of a woman. Jobs like sewing, doing laundry, and cooking. From the way it is written it seems as though the lines are instructions or commands.
The structure of the poem is quite unique. Jamaica Kincaid doesn’t really use periods in this particular poem. Instead, she frequently uses semicolons. We all know semicolons are used in order to create a moderate pause and also to form a list. We can infer that Jamaica Kincaid obviously knew this rule and used it to her full advantage. I feel as if the mother is talking to her daughter and just dominating the conversation. She has given a moderate pause enough to catch her breath and also enough time for her daughter to think about and fully comprehend what’s going on. The way the mother is speaking to the daughter is just like how my mom use to talk to me. She would basically just give a long list of things she expect to be done and never really gave me any time to question her sayings. It was just expected for me to have everything done. I like how Kincaid allows the mother to ask a question at the end of the story and act like the daughter will actually answer it. Instead, she answers her question with another question, which I think was very clever. My mom would do the same thing and I feel as if this just shows how dominant her mom was. I feel as if the daughter respects her mom enough to sit there and listen and knows not to question her at all. Also, I feel like the time period of this poem really plays a role in the effectiveness of the tone. At this time, kids were expected to always listen to their parents and also always do what they were told. Kids weren’t raised to question their authority figures, which is why I feel like this poem wouldn’t be very common today. I strongly feel that this poem is unique and strongly depicts how life was in that time period.
Creating a sense of growing popularity, Barbara Kingsolver begins her passage as a blur of her past. As the story progresses it seems that he remembers her past but does not seem to agree with it. In the passage “In Case You Ever Want to Go Home Again” Kingsolver seems to be at the bottom of the chain. She lives in a small town and grows up only meeting new friends in Kindergarten. She is not very popular but instead she is shy. She explains how not many people are like her, only one other girl has cooties like her. This helps defy why she holds all the people who put her down. The entire passage she is afraid of hurting the people in her old town but then realizes you have to say how you feel. It does not matter if her opinion clashes with another person. The story begins slowly but then one day comes that takes her out of her equilibrium mentally and physically. She has a baby and gets a call from New York saying parts of her book are being published. This changes her character completely she begins to become the popular one. This is ironic because in her novel she is alone and writes about gossip and other things popular groups talk about in her diary. Now all the positions changed and she is at the top. In my opinion she was the underdog and she pulled herself out of her shyness and wrote everything down. People who are shy also have things to say but they don’t blurt everything out. Most of the things they are thinking are very important and intelligent. That’s why she is at the top and as time passed on she became the new leader and is now the popular woman in town.
“Girl” by Jamaica Kincaid is a very interesting, unique piece. She uses heavy repetition of the phrase “this is how to” to create a rhythmic poem filled with orders on how to be a proper woman. She uses a second person narrative style that seems to be talking straight to the reader, using “you” a lot. The author, however, is clearly talking as her mother talked to her – giving her directions to be a girl with class and etiquette. She started off with simple things like how to wash and dry clothes and how to eat with manners and then interjected with an interesting topic that kept coming up: singing benna in Sunday school. Benna is a genre of music that greatly contrasts the typical, conventional church music. Jamaica is told by her mom that she must never sing this kind of music in Sunday school. She swears that she does not do that, and that she never does out of church either. This is another example of her mother giving her orders on how to be a girl, but this one really stuck out because it seemed to just be plopped in the middle of other thoughts. Another interesting part that kept coming up was not becoming “the slut you are so bent on becoming”. This idea of acting proper so you do not become a slut really stood out to me because the other orders in the list were so light and simple (like how to sew, or cook, or set the table for a meal), but every time the author brought up this part, the tone of the piece became a lot more serious. It is easy to tell as a reader that that was an integral part of her growing up and really stuck in her mind. The ending was pretty funny to me and helped tie the whole piece together.
Girl by Kincaid seems to be rules that a woman should follow if she wants to be “proper”. What i found to be interesting about this piece is the way she wrote it. I did not see a single period in the whole piece. Their were a few question marks after some rhetorical questions, but no periods. The end of thoughts were simply marked with semi colons; making the entire piece one long sentence essentially. I found this to be quite interesting because I have never seen a piece of writing that has used this technique before this one. Also some of the guidelines for women seem quite strange, for example the one about never walking out in to the hot sun bareheaded. I’m also quite curious why there are so many lines about secretly wanting to be a slut, that just seems strange to me. The ending, another rhetorical question, simply asks if she is “really going to be the kind of woman who the baker won’t let near the bread?” This, I found to be an interesting question, and I was really curious what she meant by this. My guess is that she is implying that she won’t be one of those slutty girls who is seen as dirty, maybe even too dirty to be seen near the bread that the baker is making. That was about the only thing I could get out of this ending. This story left me wondering what a lot of these guidelines meant, and I can only wonder if they are meant to be taken literally, or as some sort of figure of speech that I am not familiar with.
In “In Case You Ever Want to Go Home Again” the author tells a story of herself and where she came from. The story encompasses her life as she grew up in Kentucky. She wasn’t popular at all and while growing up she was always made fun of by her classmates saying that she has cooties. Barbara was always worrying about what other people thought and how she didn’t fit into this small town. 20 years later she is writing a fiction story, one that she doesn’t not think will actually get published. Once hearing the news of her story being published the same day that her child was born, Barbara was beyond words. She was so excited for the miracle she had created and for one of her writings to finally be published. But she mood slowly changed when she realized that her fiction story had a lot to do with the old small town of Kentucky she grew up in and all the people in it. Thoughts began flooding her mind. Barbara was first worried that the story wasn’t even good enough to be published. She felt that the work in her story could have been better and now it was going to be out there for the whole world to read and judge for just $16.95. Barbara then began to think about her family and everyone else back home in Kentucky. She was plagued with a fear of being shunned and worrying that everyone in her hometown would pick out tiny details and realize that it was either about them or about the town. Barbara’s fears finally went away on the day of the signing when everyone who had once disliked her or thought she was weird at school was congratulating her on her book and its success. Many were excited to know that the book had taken place in Kentucky and were wondering if any of them were the inspiration behind the characters. This had placed a sigh of relief on Barbara as she did not have to worry about her story anymore.
Barbara KIngsolver lived a somewhat abnormal life in a classic American small town in Kentucky. She was not the homecoming queen, the captain of the cheerleading squad or even part of the squad, and she did not get pregnant like many girls in her small town high school. She was the shy bookworm who wore hand me downs. Barbara Kingsolver was the girl no one really remembers after high school. However, she became the biggest thing to come out of that small Kentucky town in decades. She brilliantly describes how people can preserve someone or something through a simple picture. When taking a picture, one wants to look their best. After you have passed, a portrait maybe all people remembered you as. A well dressed chap who neatly combs his hair to the right. What people may never know is that the photo may never tell who or what kind of person you really are. Mental snapshots are what Kingsolver remarks as the truths a portrait can never tell. Barbara Kingsolver explains that you can sometimes fool history, but you can not fool your memories or the memories of your intimates. In her novel “The Beans Trees,” she writes about a young shy girl growing up in a small town in Kentucky. Although the novel is fiction, she explains her worries of her old classmates or other citizens of her former small town relating to characters of the novel. Since she did not have great ties to her old contemporaries, she did not think people would relate to the characters. The town did not even have a bookstore, so the book may not even reach them she thought. But to her surprise, the complete opposite happens. There is a huge book signing where every one from her former first grade teacher to the athlete crush of her youth shows up. The citizens of the small town immediately relate everything on the print to themselves or even their cars. In a way Barbra Kingsolver did this on purpose. Although the story is fiction, the story was based on her life in the small town. As a fiction writer, she expresses her thoughts through allegories. The readers of the novel can relate to the characters and setting even if they did not grow up in the small town. Fiction always causes the shy to relate and be inspired to the underdog. The troubled you can always see themselves in the redeemed soul. Fiction will always allow readers to see themselves in the pages whether the truth is in the mental snapshot or not.
“Girl” by Kincaid is a poem that is a list of instructions on how to be a woman who is respected by men and other women. The poem does include a few insulting lines, suggesting the girl being instructed is bent on becoming a slut. There is also very little structure or organization, adding to the overall confusing didactic feeling of the piece. Every phrase is ended with a semicolon, making the piece one large sentence. This technique is used to show that each rule is just part of a list of instructions on how to be a respectable woman with class. What I took away from this piece was a deeper understanding of how society puts so much pressure on women to be proper, as described in “Girl,” as well as a view of how different family dynamics were during the time this piece was written, compared with today. This piece was written during a time of child obedience, where children never to question authority, and if they did they would be severely physically punished. Today, society’s attitude toward women is much different, as well as people in general. The poem describes making ones own clothes out of cotton, which is almost never done anymore. Growing your own food and catching your own fish is also a thing of the past. This piece was written during a time a gender roles almost always dictated what you would be doing all day. Now, the gender gap is closing, with women today being taught to be independent and not needing a man. It is interesting to see how women were expected to behave then, compared to how they are expected to behave today. While many of the values of the past have disappeared, extra freedom and independence is never a bad thing.
I found the story “Girl” to be a very interesting piece of literature. At first glance I thought that this story was written about a slave girl’s day on a plantation, but then I took a closer look and realized that the story had deeper meaning. The story in my opinion is very biased against women. The story explains all of the chores and activities that women are supposed to do in life. It makes it seem like women are the only ones that work hard and keep things running. It stereotypes the average woman. The woman is the one who is supposed to clean the clothes, cook the meals, and take care of the family. If they do not play their role, then they are depicted as a “slut”. Kincaid really tries to inform the reader of the many rules women must follow every day. She emphasizes that women are thought of having two sides (this also relates to the previous articles/ stories we have read such as the Indian story and the trans gender story, there is a consistent theme) , a good and bad. She depicts that women are so concerned with pleasing others that when they take time to think of themselves it is looked at as a negative. The use of constant repetition throughout the story implies the consistent ritual all women face. The writer tells it like it is and is very straight forward with the audience. Because there are few punctuation marks in the story (mostly commas and breakpoints) the story can be read as if the writer is lecturing the audience. Anger and frustration are products of the writing. I personally agree with Kincaid’s opinions relayed through the story. I feel like women have a label among society to act and look a certain way. Society puts a lot of pressure on women.
The short story “In Case You Ever Want to Go Home Again” was quite enjoyable. I was able to see a different perspective of life of someone who grew up in a small town rather than a suburban area like where I lived. When Kingsolver lived at Kentucky during her middle school and high school years her parents made her strive for independence but also forced her to not portray herself as promiscuous. In school she didn’t really fit in with her schoolmates, she was a bookworm that lacked self-confidence and was quite shy. Afterwards she decided to take summer classes at the University of Kentucky where she started having positive experiences such as getting a boyfriend right away. This seems typical to happen in college as there are so many new different types of peoples with a wide variety of personalities. Eventually a complete one-eighty life changing event happened in which on the same day she realized that she possibly could soon be a mother as well as have her first novel published. Both these events she knew would completely change her life. When the book was published she was treated as a completely different person, all the people that used to shun her as some sort of outcast visited her at her book fair and couldn’t wait to receive her signature. She took advantage of this situation and forced the people that once ignored her to wait to receive her signature. She felt so accomplished that she took “mental snapshots” of the scenery. It seemed as if Kingsolver was now some sort of star, even elected officials, her class teacher and almost everyone from her high school went to visit her and obtain her signature. This made her blissful, and she had a huge sense of pride after this event. This portrays a message that negative past experiences can be overlooked when something significant is accomplished. She finally got to become popular like she always wanted to be in her adolescent years.
The short story, Girl, by Jamaica Kincaid, felt almost like a poem. There was a lot of repetition throughout that helped give the story a deeper meaning, each repetition building to the last. For example, Jamaica would write a specific phrase, such as “this is how you sweep a corner” and then she would proceed to enlarge the complexity of that phrase, “this is how you sweep a whole house; this is how you sweep a yard”. With each next phrase, Jamaica describes a larger and larger responsibility.
The overall story seems to be a list of things that a growing girl in an underdeveloped area should be doing and how she should be acting. Several times she mentions not acting like a slut even though she wants to. In many underdeveloped societies, you girls are turned on to the life of stripping and prostitution because it is a reliable and easy way to make money. Jamaica also references having to buy cotton to make a shirt and learning how to sew on buttons. These and several other phrases she writes all come back to the idea of poverty.
The story also talks about the way a female should act in the presence of others. Things like not bending over to play marbles or eating and cooking the correct way. This adds the feminism concept to the short story. An old fashioned, traditional way a woman should act, usually still found in small, underdeveloped countries. I think the last line is what really brings this feminist concept together. She writes “you mean to say that after all you are really going to be the kind of woman who the baker won’t let near the bread?” In my mind, this references that the female under examination in the story will eventually become the slut she hopes to be and that this will allow her access to the baker’s bread. Also, the bread could be anything. It could be the farmer’s grain. Basically she is saying that she will be the type of girl that can get what she wants through sexual deeds.
To me “girl” seemed more like a list put together than an actual story. It feels like if its being told from the perspective of an over protective mother who wants her daughter to be the common housewife in the future. “Girl” is just saying everything that girls used to do back when they were looked at as if they were inferior to men. Men were the priority and women had to learn all of these things just to fit in and be equal. But nowadays the ideas of “girl” don’t necessarily apply to girls anymore, there are a limited number of mothers who still want their daughter to grow up with this kind of mentality. Also today there are also stay at home husbands who somewhat have to know how to do some of the things on this list. I feel like the girl’s mother who is telling her daughter to learn all of these things was raised the same way by her own mother, and probably wants her daughter to teach her granddaughter the same ideals. “Girl” is told from the mothers point of view with the daughter occasionally drifting into the conversation to ask questions. Also the mother is accusing the daughter of wanting to become a slut and if she did not learn all of these things the mother implies that she would have turned out that way. The mother wants her daughter to learn all of these things to prevent her from becoming a “slut.” It almost feels as if this list of things is punishment for the daughter because of something she probably did. The girl is trying to learn all of these crazy things to do and occasionally interrupts her mother to ask questions. overall I didnt really find “girl” to be that amusing, it just made me think of the old days when girls were forced to learn all of these things just to fit in.
Jamaica Kincaid’s “Girl” describes the idealistic guidelines that parents deeply ingrained into their daughters both in the past and modern day. The short story begins with a list of universally common list of skills that one learns over time, some are meant for comedic effect such as “don’t walk barehead in the hot sun.” Progressively later on in the story the advice suddenly shifts to a more serious note through the line “try to walk like a lady and not like the slut your are bent on becoming.” This denotes how parents deeply stress about how their daughter must be prim and proper in order to fit into society. These societal pressures often stereotyped other people whom weren’t part of the “proper crowd” as seen through the explanation of “wharf-rat boys.” On top of this stress the person is receiving through the lecture, she is once again told to dress in a way that is not “slutty” or revealing. Clearly, the mother enforcing these ideas holds a strong fear that her daughter will become into one of these “sults” or supposed bad example in their societal timeline. This strong hatred the mother has for such people illustrates how she is preoccupied on how her daughter will look like to others in society and how they as parents must put up with the disdain that others will place upon the family. Such attitudes show how individuals only judge on how people dress or act, and not on personality. On another note, the story shifts to how the mother teaches the daughter to be a proper housewife and how she is deeply worried on others discovering that her daughter is now a “slut.” The story now fixates on the sexual liberation that has apparently happened during the timeline of the mother’s advice. This shift is indicated through the reference of not bending down, and taking “medicine to throw away a child before it becomes a child.” A different shift also presents its self later on in the story through the allusion of not throwing stones at blackbirds. This allusion could mean that the daughter should not judge other people for what they are before she actually knows that person on a deeper level, because in the end the assumption could be completely false. Towards the end of the story, the mother shifts on a more serious note of how men can treat women, and how she could handle it. This final piece of advice reveals the more serious situations that women must face in the “real world,” and by contrast all other worries are dwarfed by it. The last sentence of the story closes with a present day note, on how the mother is assured that her daughter is ready to face reality and is confident she will be able to make her proud.
The author, whom I assume is the narrator of this story, writes about her visit to her home town. She remembers the town in a very hostile matter. She remembers the unaccepting kids, cruel teacher, and the way she tried to fit in. She fought a futile attempt to make the world forget her past. Her original awkward image appeared to be stamped to her forever. Now she has returned to this town after being a successful writer and accomplishing to get published. The book that was published used the setting developed on the image of her hometown. The fame she has gained on a national level has increased recognition of the town she once lived in. Fear of the old town she had left was lingering in her mind. She instantly believed the members of the small community would only find the book insulting. She hide from her hometown and refused to return. However, she is there. She is visiting the unaccepting, un-forgetting town she fears. Everything is different this time. She is accepted, because she now means something to them. She recognizes everyone, but doesn’t understand their actions. She believed they would criticizes her, but instead they honored her. It seems rather greedy of the town people, to not recognize someone and treat them right until they mean something to them. Humanity has a strange tendency to change its opinion on something only if it can become useful to them. It may be an extreme message to take from this story, but it is true. Humanity has always shown a greedy face. In many situations throughout history. We tend to ignore the weak until we realize, we could gain so much off of them if we didn’t treat them poorly. We then try to regain their trust, faith, and companionship. In many cases we are successful, in many cases we are not.
-Brian Lyn-