Introduction
The stories describe the theme of the mother-daughter relationship, which is relevant in today’s world. Both writers try to convey that the mother is not just an important character in a child’s life. The entire human psyche is formed in the early relationship with the mother. The mother is the environment in which the child is formed. Moreover, its development is distorted when that relationship is not shaped to benefit the child. The novels “Girl” and “Why I Live in P.O.” have similarities and differences.
Themes of the Novel “Girl”
Jamaica Kincaid has extensively portrayed the troubled relationship between mother and daughter in her works. In addition to limiting the Girl’s sexuality, the mother’s reasoning also reinforces traditional gender roles: “This is how your father’s khaki shirts are ironed, so they don’t have creases on them” (Kincaid para 1). In this case, the mother implies that it is the woman’s task to take care of the men in her life, even in the most mundane details. Similarly, the mother dictates how a respectable girl should behave, especially if a suitable bachelor is around. The mother’s admonitions are saturated with prejudice, gender inequality, and stereotypes. In the story “Girl,” it is difficult to trace the expression of love, care, and tenderness from mother to daughter.
Themes of the Novel “Why I Live in P.O.”
In the piece “Why I Live in P.O.,” Eudora Welty raises the theme of the relationship between sisters and mothers. The narrator is the family’s eldest child, considered untalented and stupid: “And that it was as if I couldn’t learn to read until I was eight years old, and that I don’t understand how I even manage to sort out mail, let alone read other people’s letters” (Welty para 52). Stella-Rondo is the narrator’s younger sister, a spoiled brat and a real egomaniac. She came to the family home after separating from her husband and brought a child whom she claims to have adopted. This conflict is central to the plot of the story. The narrator’s mother, unlike the image of the mother in the first story, although she singles out one child, claims to treat them equally. She tries to understand the two sides of the conflict.
Similarities of the Novels
Both novels are written in the first person and can be considered credible because they are based on the writers’ experience. The stories describe the experiences of the heroines’ feelings. Although the girls are in different situations, they have one thing in common: a complicated relationship with their family, especially their mother. The mother admonishes, pressures, and humiliates her daughter in the first story. In the second story, although the mother is not as strict with her daughters and tries to treat them loyally, the narrator feels no love from the mother.
Differences of Novels
The main difference between “Girl” and “Why I Live in P.O.” is that in the first story, the mother figure paradoxically represents the colonizer and the colonized in a sense. In the second story, the mother tries to be kind to her children equally, though she does not succeed. In the story “Why I Live in P.O.,” the mother is not pressured by her daughters. Even though the younger sister brought a child into the home that no one knew anything about, there is no judgment in her direction. Stella-Rondo is not blamed for her separation from her husband or judged because she returned to the family home. There is no pressure on the women in this family, and they are not assigned any gender roles.
Conclusion
Thus, it can be said that both writers have in common that they are concerned with the relationship between mother and daughter. They raise this topic in their stories to draw people’s attention to this problem. One way or another, everyone has different experiences and worldviews, so there are both differences and similarities in the stories “Girl” and “Why I Live in P.O.”
Works Cited
Kincaid, Jamaica. Girl. San Francisco Examiner, 1991.
Welty, Eudora. Why I Live at the PO. University of Mississippi, Communication and Resource Center, 1987.