Small Place By Jamaica Kincaid example essay topic

In the world of writing, the authors of a book usually have their own way of getting their point across. In the book "A Small Place" by Jamaica Kincaid, a numerous amount of thoughts may begin to cloud your head. The thought of whom Kincaid is addressing, what her objective was, and why she chose this style of writing might have been some of the things that may be unclear as you read on. From my point of view, I will express my thoughts to questions that remained somewhat unclear. In "A Small Place", Jamaica Kincaid's opening approach took on the style known as a Colonial Discourse, however it was reversed. Kincaid's initial goal seems to be exposing while assaulting the Europeans by using the power of language to bring them down, allowing the Natives to rise.

As I began reading the book, I thought the book was based totally on the harsh treatment the Natives received from the Europeans but I came to the realization that it was much deeper than what I thought. Jamaica Kincaid's true objective and goal was to illustrate the power of language and the connection between the past and the present. "What is language and how does Kincaid use it?" my professor asked. According to the Webster's Dictionary, language is a means of communicating.

Even though this definition is given to the word language, there is a lot to it than just that. In "A Small Place" language is exposed to show what its true intention is. Language gives things a sense of meaning, definition; it allows things to become a reality. Language was the key factor in how colonization spread throughout the West Indies. The Europeans used the "so-called master's language" to oppress the Natives. The language was used in such a way that it hid and erased the violence, therefore making it justifiable.

For example, the Mill Reef Club was an establishment created in Antigua as a vacation spot where tourist could come and relax. The club might have had a positive effect by supplying jobs for the Antiguans, however it did much more at that. The Tourists were allowed to limit the amount of Blacks that were able to enter by only accepting their servants into the Club. Since the word racism was not placed on this kind of segregation, it remained as if they supplied jobs for the Antiguans to better themselves. Language was not only used to hide racism but also to erase Antiguan history or their sense of self.

"How was this done?" you might ask yourself. The Europeans did this by filling the library with books from the European culture, naming the streets after English criminals, and buy even creating holidays in honor of the English Queen. In doing all of this, corruption began to take place. Through Barclay's Bank, slave trade was considered a way of making money. Though all this things are occurring, "did any of these things matter to the Natives?" Kincaid states that even though the Europeans brought the corruption with them, leaving it only made thing worse. The Antiguans only mimicked the behavior the Europeans posses.

The Natives became so deep into the system of the European culture that they were unable to see what was really occurring or even what to do next since they left. Their sense of identity erased by this "so-called language". Like Kincaid quotes, "isn't it odd that the only language I have in which to speak of this crime is the language of the criminal who committed the crime". (31) This quote illustrates the power that the dominant being has over the weaker individual. Since the Natives held no significant power, history only continued the way the Europeans left it. In "A Small Place", Kincaid is addressing two different groups of people.

These groups of people can be labeled as Tourist from Europe and Natives from the West Indies. Throughout the story, characteristics are ascribed to these sets of people. With a list of words I will paint a vivid picture on how Kincaid wanted you to view them. Natives Tourist Superior Cleansed Tyrants Blessed Illiterate Free Corrupt Ugly Stupid Nice Thief Attractive Servants Strangers Notorious Pigs Children Ill- Mannered Nobody Visitors Criminals Bad-Minded Cruel Capitalist Racist In Kincaid's story, there is sufficient usage of the word "you" (the tourist) and I (the Native) to show and connect the enterprise of tourism to history. In the next few paragraphs I will give you some examples of this and to the best of my ability explain these examples thoroughly.

Kincaid starts off her story with "if you go to Antigua as a Tourist" and in doing so she is placing me as a tourist. Since the tourist is the first group she talks about, I will show how the "you" connects with the history of tourism. When "tourists" come to these West Indian countries, they are taken to the parts of the island that caters totally to them. In places like the Mill Reef Club, the tourists are served by the Natives and till this day and what seems like it will never change is the Native serving and catering to these Tourists. These Natives are used to hide what their country really entails.

They do their best to keep these Tourists in the areas that were created for them. The Tourist hold so much power that the Natives are running away from the lives they really live. They rather sacrifice their true identity just to come and please the dominant group (the Tourist). During this time when tourism began, the use of the Atlantic Ocean was used as a means of transferring the slaves. They needed these black slaves so they could get pay cheap labor that's if they even got paid. The Middle Passage only contributed to the rising number of deaths to slaves.

Once the dominant (the slave master) felt they were finish with the weaker individual they would just throw them over board with no kind of remorse. According to Kincaid, the Antiguans spoke of this as if it was the life to live. "People speak of slavery as if it had been a pageant... their children were taken away from them", (54) was the words she used to show how the Natives hide the wrong doing of the dominant. They only keep erasing the past as if was something that never happened. Since tourists are considered to be money, hungry people, tourism was used as a source of income. They did this by there establishments like the Mill Reef Club, through the importing of slaves, exporting of the goods, and even through the banks.

The tourist were able to find cheap laborers to work for them so that their money intake was a lot more than what they had to give back for the labor. They used these little countries as another source of making money and through this corruption also came about. Through the banks, trading of human beings was even done for money but where were the Natives. The Natives throughout this whole time was blinded by the real truth. Since white supremacy reigned, they had no choice but to deny the truth.

Instead of despising the ways for the tourist, they just conformed to their ways. Instead of refusing it, they allowed and accepted corruption into their societies to continue. After colonization, things just became worse, and the depressing part is that it still occurs today as we speak. History only will repeat itself until some more people expose things such as these so that they can become a reality.