Jane King stated in her essay entitled “A Small Place Writes Back” that “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 “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 and criticizes the average tourist with what appears to be evidence of racism towards white Europeans and Americans, but perhaps even more strongly she demeans her Antiguan homeland; however, contrary to …show more content…
King asserts that while anger at such unfairness is justified, it is unclear what Kincaid’s point of view is—Antiguan or tourist—and thus unclear whether her anger is justified.
The essay continues on to explain that while Kincaid comments quite frequently on both the race and attitude of the tourist, she also criticizes her home country in doing so. In one example, King attempts to summarize Kincaid’s opinion on tourists concisely when she states that “the tourist only goes to a place like Antigua “to have a rubbish-like experience” (Kincaid 67) and besides, is white” (King 894) It seems harsh to describe the Antiguan experience as rubbish, which King notes and explains by further quoting Kincaid:
Antigua was originally settled by “human rubbish from Europe, who used enslaved but noble and exalted human beings from Africa” although [Kincaid] softens the blow to those of her publishers’ complexion by continuing that once the masters ceased to be masters they ceased to be rubbish and once the slaves ceased to be slaves they ceased to be noble and exalted, each left being “just a human being”. (895)
Is it correct to assume that Kincaid believed that the Antiguan people as being “noble and exalted human beings” reduced to “just human beings”? According to King, it would only appear as though Kincaid believed that “Antiguans—at least the black ones—were good, these descendants of the noble and exalted slaves,
communities. In the United Sates, they were seen as black, members of a definite minority. The amount of education, the amount of income, and culture, didn’t erase ones blackness, as it would back home. Nor are whites sensitive to shade differences, as people are in Jamaica. Whatever their shade or achievements, Jamaicans were victims of racial discrimination in employment, education, and housing. For many Jamaicans, this was the first time that they became painfully aware that black skin was a significant status marker. New York Jamaicans are submerged in the wider black community of America. However, at the same time, Jamaicans distinguish themselves as different than the “indigenous” blacks. Therefore, the results are that their interactions with American whites are less painful. Jamaicans who came to New York City were not shocked by the racial situation, but were disillusioned when they found the city to be less glamorous and offering less economic opportunities than imagined.
Gentle waves, lush greenery, and sun-soaked beaches, Antigua embodies your ideal holiday destination. But Jamaica Kincaid turns your paradise upside down in her new memoir A Small Place. Using her pen as a sword, Kincaid slashes Antigua’s façade of perfection into shreds and presses the blade against the throats of tourism, colonialism and corruption.
Kincaid clearly attacks the tourists for not understanding the value of Antigua and its heritage; they are “ugly human being(s)” (115) because of their ignorance. The vacant gazers are ugly because when they have reached the zenith of banality in their own lives, they use the poverty of the natives of a tourist destination like Antigua to feel better about themselves; the natives’ lack of wealth, opportunities and education all make that pasty-skinned tourist feel superior. The ugliness stems from the tourist’s use of the native’s backwardness to propel themselves forward.
A Small Place, a novel written by Jamaica Kincaid, is a story relating to the small country of Antigua and its dilemmas from Jamaica Kincaid’s point of view. 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 A Small Place, Kincaid does an exceptional job in arguing that, her country Antigua has corrupt government officials due to British influence by appealing effectively to pathos, logos, and ethos.
To begin, Kincaid uses emotional appeal throughout the essay to further her argument. She begins by painting the audience a picture of themselves in their everyday life. Walking with an everyday crowd, they begin to realize “how alone you feel in this crowd, how awful it is to go unnoticed, how awful it is to go unloved” (Kincaid 206). Kincaid starts off her piece by making her audience feel isolated and alone, setting the tone for the rest of the piece. She makes the everyday audience, who can afford to escape their everyday life, feel unappreciative of their situation. This furthers her argument by making the audience feel poorly about things they may take for granted, that many natives from poorer countries cannot afford. They may have the luxury to travel outside of their bubble, while natives do not have the same luxury as them. In addition, Kincaid makes the reader feel embarrassed. Kincaid restates, “An ugly thing, that is what you are when you become a tourist, an ugly, empty thing, a stupid thing, a piece of rubbish pausing here and there… behind their closed doors they laugh at your strangeness” (207). She gives the reader the idea that the natives are mocking tourists because they are not familiar with their surroundings. Where people should feel the joy of exploring new places, Kincaid
It’s hard to imagine someone’s personal experience without actually being the one enduring it; however, Jamaica Kincaid’s use of language contests other wise.Through intense imagery and emotional response, Jamaica Kincaid utilizes rhetorical appeals such as logos, pathos, and ethos, which successfully convinces her audience by creating a conversation between herself and the reader. Jamaica Kincaid’s A Small Place is an expression of her inner feelings on the transformation her hometown, Antigua, and the everlasting postcolonial impact that occurs. Kincaid reacts to the feelings she had as a young girl and compares that mindset to the opinions she holds today as an adult. Kincaid’s piece evaluates the foreignness, race, and power that consumes Antigua. While she descriptively explains the circumstances she faced in Antigua, Kincaid incorporates historical background which provides logical support to her purpose. Notably, the author’s first hand experiences gives her credibility, ethos, and allows the audience to clearly understand the context from her perspective. Not only does Kincaid effectively describe her experiences, but she also makes her audience feel as though they are looking through her eyes. Her purpose demonstrates the difficulty and impossibility of returning to origin after crucial influences. A Small Place proves that the effects of racism and racial inequality are long term and culture cannot simply return exactly how it once was in that specific culture,
Jamaica Kincaid successfully convinces her audience that post colonial impact still remains. Through the use of rhetorical appeals such as pathos, logos and imagery she successfully explains her claim. Through this novel she gives an insightful explanation of what antigua is like from a person who comes from that area. Kincaid being born in antigua, she gives us a view from her eyes on what antigua is really like while going through post colonial impact. Kincaid incorporates historical background in text to convince her audience that this impact is holding back antigua from the good and enjoyable place it can really be. She develops a connection with the audience when she makes them feel like the tourist that is figuring out what's going on in the background of antigua. This connection serves as pathos as it makes the audience feel the emotion of anger and disappointment for not knowing what mess is really going on in this small island. This demonstration shows how cultures everywhere are affected by postcolonialism and how there is a negative global commonality between tourist and natives.
She feels that the Britishers showed their power everywhere and did not do anything that benefitted the Antiguans. For example, a library which was very near and dear to the author was not well-maintained by colonialists. She mentions in her book that there is a sign that says, “REPAIRS ARE PENDING” (Kincaid 9), and how there has been nothing done to repair the building. As the government was very corrupt, they were caring for themselves. Kincaid also mentions that due to racial segregation, she was very stressed and mentally weak. She describes how the natives should be treated equally without any racial discrimination and desires to be a tourist. She mentions, “Every native would like to find a way out… every native would like a tour”(Kincaid 18). This quote explains on how the natives will never get the feeling of being free, how they will never sense the feeling of luxury, and how they will always be in poverty. Jamaica Kincaid reveals that she lacks an actual culture to live up to. She always says that the English ruined it for her. As Hirsh and Schweitzer wrote, “Kincaid lacks a real homeland”. Kincaid also writes about the reason she changed her name, was wanting to express her cultural identity. In an interview with Hirsh and Schweitzer, she said that she renamed herself “Jamaica Kincaid”, because it suggested her West Indian
This is the message Kincaid, conveyed, when she expresses how tourist “marveled” at how in tune the Antiguans are with nature and how they are able to take simple things and create useful things and she tells the tourist that what you surprised at, the only reason why we are left in this state serving you because we don’t have the resource to escape our realities is because your ancenstors enslave us and left us poor that they benefited from. So you the tourist come, leaving your luxurious life to enjoy a pleasureable vacation all at the hands of the poor
Kincaid, Jamaica.“Girl”. In The Compact Bedford Introduction to Literature. Ed. Michael Meyer. 8th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2009. 541-542. Print.
Elaine Potter Richardson, more famously known as Jamaica Kincaid, is recognized for her writings that suggest depictions of relationships between families, mainly between a mother and daughter, and her birth place, Antigua, an island located in the West Indies. She is also familiarized with Afrocentrism and feminist point of views. Kincaid’s work is filled heavily with visual imagery that produces a mental picture in readers that helps them connect stronger to the reading. An example of this really shines through in her short story piece, “Girl.” This short story describes the life of a lower class woman living in the West Indies, and also incorporates thick detailing between the relationship between her and her mother. Jamaica Kincaid structures the story as if her mother is speaking to her. She writes broad, but straight to the point, allowing readers to imagine to picture her experience. Kincaid uses visual imagery and repetition consistently throughout “Girl” to reveal the theme and tone of the story; conflictual affair between a mother and daughter.
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 who was the first writer and the first individual from her island of Antigua to achieve this goal. Her genre of work includes novelists, essayist, and a gardener. Her writing style has been described as having dreamlike repetition, emotional truth
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.
Yet an explicit affirmation of this hatred is not necessary; the reader is quick to appreciate the irony and utter absurdity of her situation and that of Antigua. Kincaid makes us want to condemn the imperialistic attitudes which fostered this indoctrination of English values and also the supposition that this culture was somehow inherently superior to any other. By putting her readers in her own position, and by appealing to their sense of the absurd, Kincaid is very effectively able to elicit sympathy.
Antigua is a small island that was discovered in 1493, by Christopher Columbus. The natives that lived there were made slaves by the British and the economy thrived on producing sugar. In 1834 the British abolished slavery giving Antigua its independence. The sugar industry was failing so the economy relied on tourism. A Small Place by Jamaica Kincaid is about Antigua. Kincaid narrates her novel in second person, blaming the tourists for ruining the culture of Antigua. Kincaid explains that the British were cruel to the Antiguan people but she forgives them for it. Kincaid also talked about how the Government is currently corrupt and how beautiful Antigua’s land is. Kincaids novel is broken up into four parts that address all of these issues in Antigua.The way A Small Place by Jamaica Kincaid was written is effective in the way that it tries to persuade and inform the readers.