Corruption In Jamaica Kincaid's A Small Place

876 Words4 Pages
In, A Small Place, Jamaica Kincaid lets out her vituperative rage. Using her knowledge and observations as a resident of Antigua, she paints a picture of corruption that the average tourist would not see. Kincaid has vast knowledge about Antigua and it’s relation to America and Britain. Antigua was given freedom by America but is it actually free? Kincaid says no. She blames the continuous degradation of the education system as well as the corrupt people who “lead” Antigua for having to continually rely on America to survive. She is able to explore the reasons for this state of educational decay. Kincaid reveals the negative and positive effects of the British colonization and subsequent abandonment of Antigua. She then examines American tourism…show more content…
A tourist may wonder why the prime minister would prefer an airport be named after him rather than a school or hospital. Kincaid sarcastically replies, “You are a tourist and you have not yet seen a school in Antigua…” (1) I personally love the way this book opens. As a white tourist of Antigua I would stay in a safe area that was made to look nice for other tourists like myself. I would say something along the lines of “wow these beaches are beautiful, Antiguans are lucky to live here year round.” I would of course be mistaken and Kincaid wants me, as well as everyone else who thinks like I do, to know how wrong we…show more content…
The library was damaged in the earthquake of 1974 and when this book was written in 1988, had still been untouched although it wears a sign that reads “REPAIRS ARE PENDING.” After digging a little deeper I learned that the new library was finally finished in September of this year. One can see why Kincaid was so upset. Kincaid blames the poor education in Antigua for the people’s inability to prosper on their own. The destroyed library being left untouched while other, less important, things were being erect is a main reason for the poor education. Kincaid is so passionate about the library that by page 47 I found myself wanting to go to Antigua myself and start constructing a new library. A mainly wealthy, white housing area called the Mill Reef Club had a group willing to help pay for the fixing of the library but the government refused because a library is not important to a government official looking to pad his own
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    In Jamaica Kincaid's novel A Small Place, the narrator employs second and first person points of view to analyze the relationship between the tourists and the natives in the modern-day Antiguan society deeply scarred by the British colonialism of the past. The island of Antigua revolves around tourism, the island's main source of economy; the Hotel Training School and the new and expensive Japanese cars that Antiguans drive exemplify the extremity to which tourism has pervaded the lives of the Antiguans

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