Jamaica Kincaid's short story "Girl" will at first appear to be just another dialog between a grandmother and a granddaughter in which the grandmother is giving the granddaughter age old advice. However, if the story is taken as a whole one can see evidence of this being more of an internal conflict that is taking place between the girl and a superego that consists of all of the different stereotypes of how a woman should act. Upon looking deeper and taking a psychological and feminist interpretation of the short story one can see elements of the superego, ego, and id from a male point of view about women, which in "Girl" suggests that women are to serve men and fall into a certain mold and if not they will be perceived as sluts. "Girl" even mentions the Electra Complex by saying that women are born sluts.
The superego, ego, and id play a major roll in the interpretation of this story. The superego in "Girl" is a list of rules and advice that the girl has received over time by many different people. The important thing to notice about the superego in "Girl" is that it is from a male's point of view about how a woman should live her life, and basically show servitude towards men. One key example of "this is how you iron your father's khaki shirt so that it doesn't have a crease" (584). This shows the male as being the superego here because the girl isn't ironing and hemming just her own close but also ironing her father's, a male, cloths as well which is an example of servitude. Women serving men can also be seen in other places through out "Girl" like when the superego says "this is how you sweep a corner; this is how you sweep a whole house; this is how you sweep a yard" (584). Once again the girl is the only one depicted as doing anything which puts her in a place of servitude for men, also known as the superego. Then later she starts recalling other advice like how to carry herself in the presence of other people especially men.
