A Small Place by Jamaica Kincaid - 1447 Words

In â€Å"A Small Place† by Jamaica Kincaid, Kincaid criticizes tourists for being heartless and ignorant to the problems that the people of Antigua had and the sacrifices that had to be made to make Antigua a tremendous tourist/vacation spot. While Kincaid makes a strong argument, her argument suggests that she doesnt realize what tourism is for the tourists. In other words, tourism is an escape for those who are going on vacation and the tourists are well within their rights to be â€Å"ignorant†, especially because no one is telling them what is wrong with Antigua. The biggest aspect of Kincaids argument that makes it flawed is her anger. That is not to say that there arent times where anger is justified. At the same time, the harsh language†¦show more content†¦A tourist is under no obligation to know about the history of an island, city, state or country. It should be acknowledged that Kincaid displays anger at nearly every entity in Antigua, but at the same time it is her anger at tourists which seems to be the most misplaced because they are the ones who have the least power in fixing the problems the people in Antigua have. To the above point, one of the reasons that Antigua is a destination for tourists is because of its aforementioned aesthetic beauty. Antigua’s beauty belies the reality of the situation that the people have, but it is not something that tourists should feel any responsibility to change. More to the point, Antigua’s beauty is one of the reasons that tourists should not be challenged. Indeed, touris ts have no reason to believe that the people of Antigua are miserable because of the beauty of the land and the hard work that the people of Antigua put in to make sure that the tourists have a good time (even if the tourists acknowledge that the workers may be poor). One example of how Kincaid’s argument is flawed is when she says that tourists appreciate the fact that Antigua has no rain, when the lack of rain actually leads to droughts which negatively affect the natives in the long-term. Kincaid’s discussion of rain is representative of the difference between her perspective and the perspective of the tourist. The tourist has no stake in Antigua beyond how it profiles as a vacationShow MoreRelatedA Small Place By Jamaica Kincaid1266 Words   |  6 PagesA Small Place by Jamaica Kincaid analyzes the ugliness of tourism through the effects of colonialism. The book is a punch in the gut for every tourist, westerner, and individuals who are the product of colonialism. Most western education does not teach the full context of colonialism. The extension of students’ knowledge is the Berlin conference of 1884, which divided African territory between Europeans and US leaders without the inclusion of Africans. The education in the West does not delve intoRead MoreA Small Place by Jamaica Kincaid1389 Words   |  6 PagesA Small Place by Jamaica Kincaid presents the hypothetical story of a tourist visiting Antigua, the author’s hometown. Kincaid places the reader in the shoes of the tourist, and tells the tourist what he/she would see through his/her travels on the island. She paints a picturesque scene of the tourist’s view of Antigua, but stains the image with details of issues that most tourists overlook: the bad roads, the origin of the so-called native food, the inefficiency of the plumbing systems in resortsRead MoreA Small Place By Jamaica Kincaid1525 Words   |  7 Pages Jamaica Kincaid, an essayist, explains the idea t hat history of the Caribbean (specifically Antigua), helps shape identity through her book, â€Å"A Small Place†. In regards the history, Kincaid also discloses how capitalism and colonialism are used as a foundation in shaping our epistemological ways of knowing the self and the world around us. In this essay, Kincaid uses tourism as a way of viewing the effects of capitalism and colonialism. She disliked tourist and through her accounts, there is tensionRead MorePersuasive Analysis Of Jamaica Kincaid s A Small Place1451 Words   |  6 PagesPersuasive Methods in A Small Place Jamaica Kincaid’s influential work of nonfiction â€Å"A Small Place† (1988) tells how a once beautiful island in the Caribbean has been transformed into a disgusting holiday resort that is there to only accommodate American and European tourists. Kincaid seeks to inform the readers about the situation and the history of Antigua, and also to remind them of the role they played in the downfall of the small island. 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In this novel Kincaid is trying to inform her audience that Antigua is in a poor state due to British imperial, government corruption, and tourism. Kincaid exposes her audience to the effect of these very problems in Antigua by using persuasive visual language. In the third part of Jamaica Kincaid’s ARead MoreExposing the Ugliness of Tourism in Jamaica Kincaids Book, A Small Place763 Words   |  3 PagesJamaica Kincaid addresses the reader as a tourist in her book A Small Place. Throughout the book her sarcasm and resentment towards the postcolonial state of the country cannot be missed. She exposes the â€Å"ugliness† of tourism, she writes, â€Å"The thing you have always suspected about yourself the minute you become a tourist is true: A tourist is an ugly human being† (14). Kincaid points to the fact that the tourists (European and American) and the tourism industry are morally ugly. The first sectionRead MoreLucy by Jamaica Kincaid Essay1613 Words   |  7 PagesJourney into Discovering My True Self Jamaica Kincaid’s success as a writer was not easily attained as she endured struggles of having to often sleep on the floor of her apartment because she could not afford to buy a bed. She described herself as being a struggling writer, who did not know how to write, but sheer determination and a fortunate encounter with the editor of The New Yorker, William Shawn who set the epitome for her writing success. Ms. Kincaid was a West-Indian American writer whoRead MoreAnalysis Of Ann Hood And Jamaica Kincaid1373 Words   |  6 Pagesand Jamaica Kincaid, their family’s both certainly had enough of an impact on them to write articles about their personal pasts. Although the articles have a much different flow and a much different objective, they both touch on the effect their families have had on them growing up. When reading both articles it is apparent that Ann Hood has a better grasp on the importance of family values than Jamaica Kincaid does, because of the more nurt uring way Hood was raised, in comparison to Kincaid. AnnRead MoreBanal Racism in Antigua: An Examination of A Small Place and its Critics1186 Words   |  5 Pagesentitled â€Å"A Small Place Writes Back† that â€Å"A Small Place begins with Jamaica Kincaid placing herself in a unique position able to understand the tourist and the Antiguan and despise both while identifying with neither† (895). Another critic, Suzanne Gauch, adds to this claim by asserting that â€Å"A Small Place disappoints†¦readers when it undermines the authority of its own narrator by suggesting that she is hardly representative of average Antiguans† (912). In her narrative A Small Place, Kincaid often attacks