Jamaica Kincaid's A Small Place
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Jamaica Kincaid’s A Small Place is a small book of big truths. Kincaid tells the story of the small island of Antigua in the British West Indies; the colonialism that brought them to the place they are in and the difficulties pulling themselves out now that freedom has been attained. Kincaid tells this story directed to a second person, “you.” She begins speaking to this person from the very beginning, “If you go to Antigua as a tourist, this is what you will see.” (3) She drives this “you” from the airport to the hotel, showing them the beautiful island they see before them but she also shows them the things they cannot see.
The most interesting aspect of this direct second person, you, is how clear Kincaid is in giving the reader a picture of who that “you” is. Kincaid has a specific “you” in mind. She paints a portrait of a upper middle class white person, probably from North American or European who comes to Antigua as a tourist. “A tourist is an ugly human being. You are not an ugly person all the time…from day to day, as you walk down a busy street in the large and modern and prosperous city which you work and live, dismayed, puzzled at how alone you feel in this crowd, how awful it is to go unnoticed, how awful it is to go unloved.” (14-15) Kincaid gets to the core of that symptom of white culture that differs so greatly from the culture she will show us in Antigua. White culture is predominately individualistic. This is why the “you” feels unloved, unnoticed, alone. It is also why “you” is ugly.
Even though Kincaid is direct to this “you” on the racist corruption of Antigua, she is gentle with her explanation of tough truths. She even goes as far as to say, “isn’t it odd that the only I have in which to speak of this crime is the language of the criminal who committed the crime?”( 31) The same can be said of her sweet tone, the same tone that the British used to conquer her country has now become her own.
Halfway through the book, Kincaid loses the “you” thread. The second to last reference is on page 43 and then she goes on to write of the political corruption and cultural confusion of the people of Antigua. It is not until the end of the book that she brings back in “you” and this time it is more pointed,
“The people in Antigua now, the people who really think of themselves as Antiguans (and the people who would immediately come to your mind when you think about what Antiguans might be like; I mean, supposing you were to think bout it), are the descendants of those noble and exalted people, the slaves. Of course, the whole thing is, once you cease to be a master, once you throw off your master’s yoke, you are no longer human rubbish, you are just a human being and all the things that adds up to. So too with the slaves, Once they are no longer slaves, once they are free, they are no longer noble and exalted; they are just human beings. “(81)
Kincaid has brought “you” on a polite journey and now will tell you what she really thinks.
The big takeway for me is how much she describes and paints a picture of the person she is writing to. It is easy for the reader to follow along when they are clear of who that “you” is.
Purchase Jamaica Kincaid’s A Small Place here.