Junot Diaz’s The Cheater’s Guide To Love Vs. Jamaica Kincaid’s Girl
The New Yorker, in both cases, published the texts “The Girl” and “The Cheater’s Love Guide”, which tell the stories of two women: one is a young woman who tries to move on from the girl she cheated with in 2012 while the other, “Girl,” was written in 1978 by Jamaica Kincaid. Both texts are about what girls should be like. The two texts are written in a way that makes the reader feel like the protagonist. They include what the reader should be thinking and do, which creates an emotional bond. The reader can still relate to the story, despite the fact that the tone is informal.
The reader is drawn in by the story because the narration is in a direct manner. As seen in the sentence “Your girl caught you cheating”, the overall tone of the book is informal. The narrator is actually your girlfriend, but it doesn’t matter. The reader is addressed directly in “The Cheater’s Guide to Life” (The Cheater’s Guide to Life). The reader can fully grasp the meaning of the story by observing the tone and writing style.
The narrator in both texts speaks directly to their readers. Although they have a similar style, the writing and tone are different. In “Girl”, the text is just a list of what a girl needs to know. The italics represent the girl’s thoughts and comments. The different tone emphasizes that “The Cheater’s Guide to Life”, a story, is about the effects of actions on the long-term. In contrast, “Girl”, a book that has been written by a woman in her own words and voice speaks back to the reader.
“Girl”, written in the late 70s is an excellent example of how women should behave. It is clear that the author is condescending to women because the story has no narrative and is just a series or sentences telling them what to do. This text, for example, contains just a handful of lines, which show that the only thing the text is, is a series of sentences giving instructions on what a woman should do. The text “Girl”, which is devoid of narrative, gives the reader direct instructions and advice to help them feel like a woman at that time. The reader can better understand the way women were addressed. Italicized statements by the reader, like “but what if I can’t feel the bread?” (Girl), show that women weren’t allowed to speak up and would be silenced if they did. The reader is ignored the first time she speaks. The Girl replies to the second time the character, who is the reader, speaks, “you mean to tell me that you will be the type of woman whom the bakers won’t allow near the bread?” The reader is more emotionally affected because the words are addressed directly to them. They understand that the lives of women were viewed as less important than those of men.
In general, both texts address the reader directly in order to make a story more personal, relatable and engaging.
