Abstract
This paper examines Jamaica Kincaid's short story "Girl" to "Boys and Girls" by Alice Munro. Both are stories about the coming of age of teenage girls and the rules enforced on them by society. The paper explores gender roles and mother-daughter relationships.

From the Paper
"The title of the story, "Girl," is an essential part of the work itself. The title provides several ideas. First, the title represents the age of the daughter. She is not a woman, not yet on her own, but a girl, still reliant on another, still with much to learn. Second, the title symbolizes the mother's awareness of her daughter. She does not deem her a woman or a young lady, but a naive girl in need of steady instruction and supervision. A third idea of the title is that it represents the daughter's struggle to find her own rising identity in the shadow of her mother and the shadow of the identity her mother wants her to take on. She is not named in the story, nor is her place defined; she is not "daughter," "sister," "mother," or "wife," but "girl.""

Tags:adolesence, identity, society, role, gender