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Symbolism In Jamaicaaica Kincaid's A Small Place By Jamaica Kincaid

757 Words4 Pages

In Jamaica Kincaid’s A Small Place, Antigua has been pushed into the terrible state that it is today by a quality that all people share. Kincaid blames the current Antigua on the negligence that tourists, colonialists, and Antiguans all display. Jamaica Kincaid blames the perspective of the tourists for the crumbling state of Antigua. She emphasizes her hate of the physical and spiritual ‘ugliness’ of the tourists. “Since you are a tourist the thought of what it would be like for someone who had to live day in, day out in a place that suffers constantly from droughts [...] must never cross your mind” (4). Kincaid’s words illustrate that tourists neglect the negative aspects of Antigua because they are not affected by it, as they are mere tourists and do not suffer the pain of living there. These tourists do not focus on the reality of Antigua because they are caught up in the ‘paradise’ part of it, which the regular citizens of Antigua do not get to enjoy. Not only does Jamaica Kincaid claim the spiritual and moral faults of tourists, but she states that “A tourist is an ugly human being” (14). The ‘ugliness’ of tourists symbolizes Kincaid’s anger towards the behavior of the people visiting Antigua. Kincaid states that the people of Antigua see the tourists as ugly because they try to rationalize the horrific state of Antigua. Jamaica Kincaid blames the spiritual and physical faults and negligence of tourists for the awful state of Antigua. Jamaica Kincaid

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