Jamaica Kincaid's short story "Girl" is the opening piece in a collection entitled At the Bottom of the River. Critics have noted that the use of language in "Girl," as well as in the other stories of this collection, is one of its most notable features. "Girl" is unusual in that it is a short story written in the "second person" voice, meaning that the narrator addresses the reader as "you." The narrator here is a mother giving advice to her daughter, who is the "you" in the story. Kincaid's use of language in this story is key to understanding the nature of the mother/daughter relationship which it conveys. Grammatically, the entire story is a single sentence, which reads like a list or string of statements made by the mother to her daughter. The use of repetition and rhythm renders the mother's words almost hypnotic. In...