Walcott vs Kincaid: Views on Colonialism
Aspects of both Kincaid’s and Walcott’s literature pieces show great comparison with each other along with a few contrasting ideas. “A Far Cry from Africa” and A Small Place both demonstrate the movement from colonialism to post-colonialism and describe how the characters feel and are reacting to the major change. Walcott’s poem “The Sea is History” compares to A Small Place in the way that both pieces of literature deal with history being bias towards the person who is reflecting on it. Colonial corruption and oppression become significant throughout Kincaid’s A Small Place and Walcott’s poem “Ruins of a Great House”. Kincaid’s A Small Place and Walcott’s poems “A Far Cry from Africa”, “The Sea is History” and “Ruins of a Great House” all are centered around the main idea of colonialism and allows the reader to compare the similarity and differences of each author’s views.
Kincaid’s A Small Place and Walcott’s “A Far Cry from Africa” both demonstrate how the characters and countries are reacting to and dealing with being colonialized. Kincaid is very against the idea of tourists and foreigners coming into Antigua and trying to colonialize the island. She in turn sees the English as people who are coming into her country and trying to overrun it instead of trying to help. She blames the tourists for all of Antigua’s problems and describes the tourists as “ugly human being[s]” (Kincaid 14). Since the repairs of Antigua “the island
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.
Antigua is a beautiful island in the Caribbean that got its name from Christopher Columbus in 1493 when he first visited the small 108 square mile island (Niddrie). Antigua was later colonized by England in 1632, and won its independence in 1981 (Niddrie). Antigua was originally a country that was planned as a slave-breeding colony, but never became one; the slaves who were imported came to live self-reliantly in their own community (Niddrie). After, Antigua gained its independence; it established a constitutional monarchy, where the British monarch is still head of state, represented by a governor general (Niddrie). Sadly, Antigua is an impoverished country that has a history of being a victim of British imperialism, government corruption, and tourism (Kincaid). Kincaid informs her audience
The 1800s were a time of change in the world. Industry and imperialism became the main focus of many nations, no nation more than Great Britain. Britain already being a world power, lead the charge of industry throughout the world, using their far superior technology at the time to imperialize and colonize almost any nation that would benefit them. Britain was the workshop of the world and required an abundance of raw materials to fuel their industry. After losing a majority of its land in the west to American independence, Britain turned its attention to the east. Britain expanded to Africa and India both full of resources, and both full of people with different cultures, customs, and religions. When the British colonized these new lands, they changed things. Britain advanced the land and the territories greatly in terms of technology and society, it came at the expense of the native peoples.
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.
The reader gets a rare and exotic understanding of a totally foreign and ancient culture experiencing the growing pains of colonial expansion during the British domination
Throughout american history, examples of the United States’ domination of the political, economic, and social aspects of other countries can be seen. This domination, also known as imperialism, was primarily caused by a growing sense of nationalism, the influence of supply and demand, and a desire to maintain global military power. Imperialism is categorized into three different groups: colony, protectorate, sphere of influence. TRANSITION SENTENCE
To begin, Walcott uses imagery to describe the prominent violence in the history between colonized Kenya and the British colonists. He quickly describes that Kenya’s Kikuyus are not the only ones to blame in this scenario when he says, “Corpses are scattered through a paradise. / Only the worm, colonel of carrion, cries: / “Waste no compassion on these separate dead!” (4-6). In these stanzas, it is easy to see that Walcott is unbiased in his opinion on colonialism. Even though he states that Africa is a paradise that is scattered with corpses (4), he also believes that the colonists are not the only ones to blame. This relates back to Fanon’s concept of complicity in which two nations with a violent, apocalyptic past come together to
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.
The book gives a record of an important journey of the Godwin family in which they recalled the trail of the Aborigines. It dissipates the thought that the colonial masters surveyed the land starting from scratch. Those trails, actually, framed the reason for the first foundation for the road construction in Antigua and Barbuda. It also tells about the efforts of Governor Haynes Smith to enhance the health and education services, the courts and the continuous shutting down of estate prisons as the twentieth century progressed. It talks about the steady replacement of the teachers, English midwives and different laborers in the Civil services and the state of mind of the blacks that displaced
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.
In a quaint little village tucked away on a beautiful Caribbean island, lays the seaside town of Runaway bay. A town filled with deep rooted culture on an island filled with welcoming natives. The pleasant vibes of reggae music and Rastafarian culture flow from the hills to the sandy shores. This island rich with tropical fruits and spices is located in the heart of the Greater Antilles. History tells that the enslaved island once known to its natives as “Xaymeca”, has come a long way in becoming the independent nation known today as Jamaica. In the Sea of many islands known as the West Indies, Jamaica stands peaceful, welcoming tourist and expanding rapidly. From an early age my passion for the island and its culture
In “A Small Place” by Jamaica Kincaid, Kincaid explicitly describes the effects and consequences that imperialism had on Antigua, while implicitly condemning imperialism for the effects and consequences indigenous people endured through allegory. Examining the results of imperialism in a cultural aspect provides a deeper connection for the audience to fathom the struggle people of Antigua experienced. Kincaid illustrates herself as the main protagonist who directly speaks to the audience as if they are the ignorant tourist. Through the utilization of the second person perspective, she immerses the reader emotionally, which through the experience proves to be more captivating.
Metropolitan areas exhibit an amazing diversity of features, economic structures, amounts of infrastructure, historic roots, patterns of development, and degrees of conventional planning. Yet, lots of the problems that they deal with are strikingly acquainted. For example, as metropolitan areas grow, they grow to be increasingly diverse.
Derek Walcott, born on January 23, 1930 in St. Lucia, became a well renowned African-American author, winning the Nobel Peace Prize in 1972 for his substantial work in poetry. Many of his poems deal with the idea of race and British imperialism in the 19th century and the poem “Ruins of a Great House” is no different. Walcott reflects on the effects of slavery and British colonization in the Caribbean, continually referring to England as the “empire”. “Ruins of a Great House” is written from Walcott’s perspective in the 19th century Caribbean and tackles the destruction of the Caribbean culture using vivid imagery, allusion, word choice, and metaphors. Derek Walcott eloquently conveys the frustration of the native peoples, in the Caribbean, when he portrays the deterioration and disarray of post British rule throughout this work.
Impact of British Colonization Exposed in A Small Place, A Passage to India, and Robinson Crusoe