Analysis Of A Small Place By Jamaica Kincaid

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Many people who take trips to other countries use it to escape the boredom of their own life and to have fun in another country. Taking vacations can provide excitement when heading to different locales, give a person the tastes and sights of a new place, and overall provide a sense of pleasure to a tourist. However, there is an aspect of this that many tourists do not get to see. In her essay A Small Place, author Jamaica Kincaid makes this aspect very clear. Kincaid, along with many other natives of foreign islands, believes that tourists are “ugly human being[s]” who seemingly feed off the boredom and desperation of the natives of a certain place, creating a source of pleasure for themselves (Kincaid 262). Tourism and corruption in certain …show more content…

The second-person form that Kincaid uses throughout her essay is incredibly effective, and it allows the reader to be more involved in the story itself. In most cases, an author would just refer to the tourists as just that: tourists. However, through her use of the words “you” and “your,” Kincaid is able to make the work more personal to the reader. After recognizing the second-person point of view that is being used, the reader will most likely consider how they fit into the generalization Kincaid makes about tourists. If the reader feels uncomfortable by Kincaid’s accusations and attacking tone throughout the work, this is most likely part of her plan. Through calling the reader “a piece of rubbish … [unaware] that the people who inhabit this place … cannot stand you”, Kincaid emphasizes that the reader is part of this tourist stereotype that she describes throughout her message (Kincaid …show more content…

While it may seem as though the title is referring to Antigua as a small place (which is small, being only 9 miles by 12 miles), Kincaid is referring to more than just the island (Kincaid 262). The inhabitants of Antigua live on a distant and poor island that is visited by many wealthier people regularly. These people of higher class take advantage of the poverty and banality in the lives of Antiguans, reducing their place on their own island to be very restricted. This “Small Place” that the inhabitants have for themselves has shrunken over time, as more corruption and development tears apart a beautiful and captivating island location. Kincaid makes this known through her constant examples of government benefitting programs in Antigua, such as car loans that directly benefit ministers of the