The works in At the Bottom of the River are usually denoted as prose poems by critics.[3]
“Girl,”[1] is the first story in the collection. It was originally released on June 26, 1978, in The New Yorker[3] and examines the struggles of growing up young and female on a post-colonial poor Caribbean island. “Girl” is a series of instructions, warnings and advice given by a mother to her daughter on how to behave especially in the presence of men. The mother frets about her daughter maturing into a woman, reflective of Jamaica Kincaid's own experiences growing up with her forceful mother in Antigua. The structure consists of a single sentence, punctuated by semi-colons, detailing the advice imparted from mother to daughter. The mother's voice is predominant in the narrative, only interrupted twice by the daughter who makes a feigned attempt to defend herself.
“In the Night”[4] was first published in The New Yorker on July 24, 1978. It explores the mystery and danger of an Antiguan night from the perspective of an adolescent girl. While walking in the evening, the girl ponders the relationship between her and her mother and her stepfather and the society in which she lives. It ends with the girl's wish to hear her mother tell stories about life before the girl's birth.
“At Last”[1] takes the form of a dialogue between mother and daughter. This piece can be read as a companion to "In the Night"[5] since it seems to be a mother's account of life before the birth of her child, responding to the final dilemma raised in “In the Night.” The mother here takes the opportunity to explain to her daughter some problematic issues while the daughter, an older child, echoes her jealousy and sense of neglect over the birth of her younger siblings.
“Wingless,”[6] was first published in The New Yorker on January 29, 1979. It traces the young girl's search to define her identity, independent of her mother as she becomes increasingly more self-conscious.
“Holidays”[1] follows the young woman through her quest for independence as she leaves home to take on a job as an au pair for an American couple. “It comprises an attempt to boost her self-image even as it communes on the division between life and art”.[7] Kincaid herself had left her island home in Antigua at age 17 to take on a similar position working for an affluent family in Scarsdale, New York.
“The Letter from Home”[8] was first published in The New Yorker on April 20, 1981. It is written in the form of a letter listing mundane household chores. The narrative perspective seems to shift liberally from mother to daughter. The daughter, having left home, is sent a letter informing her of what has taken place since her departure. “it chronicles the grief and pain of the domestic scene, and it transmits the sadness and loss of those who are left behind”.[9]
“What I Have Been Doing Lately”[1] was first published in The Paris Review in 1981. It chronicles the adventures of an unidentified narrator walking through an ever-changing and surreal landscape. “The narrator muses scenarios aloud to voice herself into an indeterminate environment, both visionary and material”.[7] The story is about exploring the world.
“Blackness”[1] is a despondent tale in which the narrator feels deeply isolated. “The daughter in “Blackness” experiences the detached calm of a dissociated state as she becomes swallowed up in the soft blackness. Absorbed in the blackness, cut off from the real world, she feels ‘annihilated’ and ‘erased,’ unable to point to herself ‘and say I’.[10]
“My Mother”[1] examines a power-struggle or love-hate relationship between mother and daughter. The young female narrator attempts to liberate herself emotionally and physically from her mother. “My Mother” exposes the daughter's burning anger and hatred for the all-powerful mother”.[10]
“At the Bottom of the River”[1] is the title story and the longest in the collection. The mother-daughter relationship is once again the main thematic focus. The young female narrator is now coming to terms with her identity and finally resolves to accept and embrace herself and her world. “The girl finds direction and substance, not so much in her visionary flights as in familiar objects: books, a chair, a table, a bowl of fruit, a bottle of milk, a flute made of wood. As she names these objects, she finds them to be reminders of human endeavor, past and present, though in themselves they are transient. She identifies herself as part of this endeavor as it betokens a never-ending flow of aspiration and creativity”.
