Jamaica Kincaid's "Girl"

The dominant speaker of Kincaid’s poem is a mother who is directing her daughter through the processes of becoming and fulfilling the duties of a woman, as dictated by the 20th century Caribbean culture she is a part of. Among those responsibilities are specific tasks that apply to the making and cleaning of clothes, one’s own personal hygiene, meeting the cultural expectations of behavior while interacting and entertaining men, and finally providing for her family with the preparation of meals. One of the elements of providing sustenance for her family that the speaker includes is how to make pepper pot.