University Memoir Analysis: Kincaid and Danticat on Women in Society

This essay critically assesses the works of Kincaid and Danticat, focusing on the portrayal of women in male-dominated and white-dominated societies. The paper argues that societal standards governing women's lives today are not significantly different from those in the colonial era, emphasizing the imposition of rules and structures designed to control women's behavior and roles. The essay highlights the authors' critiques of colonialism, with Kincaid writing from a Jamaican perspective and Danticat from a Haitian viewpoint, and explores themes of familial bonds and the challenges faced by women of color. The analysis concludes that women of color and women in general still face significant obstacles in society, validating the arguments presented by Danticat and Kincaid in their memoirs. References to relevant academic sources support the discussion.

Running head: MEMOIR: LIFE IN STORY
Memoir: Life in Story
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1MEMOIR: LIFE IN STORY
This assignment critically assesses the works of Kincaid and Danticat to discuss the
position of women in male dominant and white dominant societies. The paper argues that the
position of women as it was seen to exist in the colonial era, is not too different from societal
standards governing the lives of women today.
The purpose of the rules is to establish the fact that women are to live by orders and
structures that have been designed and which have been imposed on them by their society. They
need to learn how to properly hem a dress among other things, as it falls within girly duties to do
so. On the other hand, learning how to write is not as important for girls because society does not
require girls to be well learned and well educated and prefers that they be good homemakers
instead. In other words, women are supposed to live their lives in a way that is fit or worthy of
the private space. They are not meant to undertake activities in the public sphere as this is
something that is believed by society to be more fitting of the male members of a population
(Gilmore, 2017). Such a societal mindset is found to be existent in the writings of both Kincaid
as well as Danticat. The larger purpose of the rules that have been laid down for girls is to help
them in the art of being conformist, to live their lives according to standards prescribed by the
males in their society, and which are consequently largely patriarchal in their nature and scope
(Bigot, 2019).
Both Kincaid and Danticat write in a way that is critical of colonial rule. An apt critique
of colonialism can be detected in their writings. While Kincaid writes from the Jamaican
perspective, reflecting on the atrocities that were committed by the colonial rulers in the context
of Jamaica, Danticat writes from the point of view of Haitians. The difficulties faced by native
Haitians and Jamaicans when they migrate to America for a better life is something that is well
pointed out by both the authors in their work and their points of view are not really seen to differ

2MEMOIR: LIFE IN STORY
for the most part. Familial bonds and relationships shared between parents and their children
form the subject of discussion in the works of both of the authors (Lipman, 2019).
The larger connections that can be seen from the life and the stories of Danticat and
Kincaid and my own life is that the situation of women today seems to be much the same as what
it was at the time when these two authors were penning their works. Society is still largely
patriarchal and it is still quite discriminatory in its attitude towards women, especially women
who are of color. Women are definitely encouraged to pursue professional life and to be more
active in the public space than they were in the past, but their tendency or willingness to do just
this is challenged more often than not by patriarchal norms and standards (Persico, 2018).
The discussion above shows that women of color and women in general still have to
overcome many odds in order hold their own in the society in which they live, and that many of
the arguments made by Dandicat and Kincaid with respect to women, in their works, are valid
and legitimate.

3MEMOIR: LIFE IN STORY
References
Bigot, C. (2019). Diasporic culinary trajectories: Mapping food zones and food routes in first-
generation South Asian and Caribbean culinary memoirs. Journal of Postcolonial
Writing, 55(6), 795-807
Gilmore, L. (2017). Reckoning with History, Form, and Sexual Violence in American Memoir:
The Year in the US. Biography, 40(4), 680-687
Lipman, J. K. (2019). Immigrant and Black in Edwidge Danticat's Brother, I'm Dying. Modern
American History, 2(1), 71-75.
Persico, M. (2018). Specters of Home in Two Caribbean Memoirs. CLA Journal, 61(3), 207-222