The Features Of New Journalism In A Small Place By Jamaica Kincaid And Intrusions By Melissa Febos

In the essay “Intrusions,” the author Melissa Febos writes about a terrifying stalking incident she endured while living in New York and working as a dominatrix. She recalls how a strange man used to stand outside her window at night, groaning and saying inappropriate things to her, which made her feel unsafe in her own home. Also, the essay “A small Place” begins with the author Jamaica Kincaid narrating the reader’s experiences and thoughts as a hypothetical tourist in Antigua. The reader witnesses the tremendous natural beauty of Antigua while being shielded from the harsher realities of the lives of those living in the place. Kincaid weaves into her narrative the sort of information that only a native of Antigua would know, such as the reason why the majority of the vehicles on the island are poorly running, expensive Japanese cars. In order to extend and expand on our definitions of New Journalism, Febos uses syntax while Kincaid uses long run-on sentences that represent the never-ending problems of Antigua, a repetition of some specific words in order to get her point across. Both authors also use the conversations between characters, but Febos uses the first-person point of view to give a personal narrative while Kincaid utilizes the second-person point of view, which puts the reader into the story.

Febos writes her story using short syntax while Kincaid writes hers using long sentences with the aim of not only listing the problems of women and men peeping on them in the society and Antigua, respectively but rather allowing the reader to see from their perspective what they had been through. Febos uses short sentences to voice out how men and the society at large view women who dance as their job and make the men who watch them the victims of society. Febos writes, “It is also a narrative that exonerates men. If we want it, where is the crime? Better yet, make us seductresses, inverting the men’s role even more extremely: They are our victims! One of the most shared qualities of all predators in their self-conception of victimhood” (Febos, 147). The author finds herself in a society that characterizes men as victims of sexual harassment as women are the ones who decided to seduce men, which is not the case. Because of this kind of system, women are always blamed if any man inappropriately peep on them while the men are found not guilty the women are seen as wanting men to do that to them. Febos use a tone of anger and hatred towards the society when she uses an exclamation mark at the end of the word ‘victim’ in the quote. The tone is not only from having a past from a man peeping through her window in addition to that of other women she interviewed who had been through a similar situation, but rather how women are generally treated should in case they report such incidents.

Kincaid writes about the never-ending problems of the people of Antigua from the time they were colonized, the earthquake, and their current situation while pausing on colons, semicolons, and commas. Kincaid writes, “Antigua used to have a splendid library, but in The Earthquake, in 1974 the building was damaged…the West got rich not from the free(free—in this case meaning got-for-nothing) and then undervalued labor for generations, of the people like me you see walking around you in Antigua..”(Kincaid 8-10). Kincaid explains how the people of Antigua have been through so many problems, including their ‘splendid library’, which was damaged by an earthquake, and now has a sign in front of it saying, “This Building was damaged in the earthquake of 1974. Repairs are pending”. The sign has been hanging there for so many years without the government trying to put up money into changing the state of the building even after they gained independence from the British. Also, the author writes about how the people of Antigua are still undergoing slavery under their corrupt government officials whom the work endlessly, which is making them rich, but the people themselves are still living in poverty. The word ‘free’, which is supposed to mean liberation, isn’t in the case of the people of Antigua as they are still being treated by their government officials the same way they were treated by the British which is, using them to work for their selfish benefits.

Kincaid uses Repetition of specific words to emphasize the point she’s making in the form of sarcasm. The people of Antigua tend to develop hatred for tourists who visits their islands because they see them as a threat to them due to their history of slavery and colonization by the British. Kincaid writes, “A tourist is an ugly human being. You are not an ugly person all the time; you are not an ugly person day today. From day today, you are a nice person. From day to day, all the people who are supposed to love you on the whole do”(Kincaid, 14-15). The word ‘ugly’ is used by the people of Antigua repeatedly to describe their hate for those who visit their island because of the special treatment they receive from the government like tourists not being checked when the reach the customs of the airport and the construction of some roads for the Queen when she visits intending to leave a good impression for more tourists to often visit the island as they generate more income for the government. She also repeatedly describes the reader as a nice person in a sarcastic voice to make him/her feel good even though they are ignorant about what the real Antigua is. Kincaid further makes the reader questions him or herself about not knowing so much like the history of some places they visit and even jumping into conclusions about the things they see in specific areas. Kincaid writes, “Still, you feel a little uneasy. Still, you feel a little foolish. Still, you feel a little out of place.” (Kincaid, 17). The use of the words a little uneasy and foolish from the point of view of the reader in regards to how he she feels expands on our definition of New Journalism as it makes the reader thinks if he or she is living the life of a tourist at a place like Antigua and other places the reader might visit. This strategy extends on the idea of New Journalism, which is mostly about readers knowing about the point of view of characters and not evoking any sense of reflection on the actions of these characters, as seen in the quote.

Febos and Kincaid use conversations between two characters. Febos’ girlfriend questions her about still holding on to memories of the past, but she tries to deny it when she writes, “I never think about it anymore,” I explained. “It was terrifying when it happened, but I don’t think it stuck with me much after that.” “Really? How about the way you keep your curtains closed with a double side tape?” “Oh, I said. “I guess I do” (Febos, 163). The quote shows the effect the stalker in her past who was always making her feel uncomfortable in her home had on her, and she couldn’t get over that feeling. Febos thinks that no one was going to notice how extra cautious she is when it comes to the safety of her home, but her girlfriend did see it and confronted her about it since she told her about the story of her peeper. As tourists tend to be ignorant about the history of Antigua and only base their judgment on what they currently see when they first arrive, Kincaid writes about how a driver in Antigua wants to benefit from tourists who come to visit the island but this time the driver didn’t succeed as the reader(the tourist) asked for the sheet with the amount on it. Kincaid writes, “he quotes the price… In U.S. currency.” You may say, “Hmmmm, do you have a formal sheet that lists official prices and destinations?” Your driver obeys the law and shows you the sheet, and he apologizes for the incredible mistake he has made” (Kincaid, 5). Even though Antiguans might drive flashy cars, most of them are not as rich as the government only give out loans when you want to purchase a vehicle. This makes them want to do everything in order to get money to survive, and the only way is to engage in corruption, especially those who are taxi drivers tend to charge anyone who is a tourist a higher fare than the normal.

Febos writes her essay in the first-person point of view while Kincaid writes in the second person point of view. The use of the word “I” in “The Intrusions” shows a personal story of the author, which evokes the feeling of emotions and empathy from the reader towards women who have also been sexually assaulted. Febos writes, “As precociously developed eleven years old, and I never told anyone about the older neighborhood boy who spat on me every day at the bus stop. At fourteen, I never told anyone about the sixty-year-old manager of the tackle shop that employed me and his endless stream of dirty jokes” (Febos, 146). Due to the victim-blaming of women who go through sexual assault, many women live in that fear of speaking about what they have been through because when they report, society tends to blame them for what happened to them. Kincaid uses the word “you” to represent the tourist in her story to put the reader into the account so that they can think about what to do and what not to do when they visit a place. Kincaid writes, “You may be the sort of tourist who would wonder why a Prime Minister would want an airport named after him—why not a school, why not a hospital, why not some great public monument?” (Kincaid, 3). As a tourist, you often find yourself wondering and comparing things that you see in the environment of the place you visit. This is what the author tries to achieve when she makes the reader the main subject of her story when she starts by using the words “you may be the type of tourist,” and these words prepares the reader that he/she is going to be the one in the story and this makes them feel whatever the tourist will go through in the story. The strategies used by both authors expand on New Journalism by making the author present in the story instead of being a fly on the wall narrating a story about an encounter.

To conclude, both Jamaica Kincaid and Wendy Walters of ‘A Small Place’ and ‘Intrusions’ respectively help to extend and expand on our definItions of New Journalism, which is mainly about storytelling, distanced authors fictional characterization. The two passages are more than just the listed definitions since they add on to them except for distance authors as they are both personal and not historical movements, evoke emotions, and put the reader in the story while they question some actions in their life. Febos uses short sentence structure while Kincaid uses long run-on sentences that represent the never-ending problems of Antigua, a repetition of some specific words in order to get her point across. Both authors also use the conversations between characters, but Febos uses the first-person point of view to give a personal narrative while Kincaid utilizes the second-person point of view, which puts the reader into the story.

Autobiographical Aspects In The Novel Lucy By Jamaica Kincaid

Jamaica Kincaid’s novel Lucy is an autobiography which tells of the Kincaid as a teenage girl looking for a new life or a better life experience. Lucy, the name given to the author in the novel as well as the main character, is highly outspoken and very opinionated. Hoping to be ‘free’ and become the woman she longed to be, Lucy moved from her home in the Caribbean to a foreign place in the United States. To put it another way, Lucy wanted to find her true self. There was no reference in the novel where Lucy migrated from, but clues and suggestions were given that she was probably from the Caribbean and she was black. Though there were other black people in the United States, Lucy had experienced a sense of exclusion as a Caribbean born person in the United States.

Lucy is seen not only as a stranger or refugee but is identified as a black woman because of how she looked. Because Lucy was seen in this way, Lucy did not recognize that she was part of the black race once. She also gave signs, however, that encouraged readers to believe she was a woman of color. For example, while they were on the train heading to Mariah’s old home, Lucy noted physical differences between herself and the other persons on the train. ‘The other people who were sitting down for dinner all looked like the relatives of Mariah; the people waiting for them all looked like mine. On closer observation, they were not all my relatives, they only looked like me” (Kincaid 32). At this point, Lucy is observing her surroundings and she realizes that black people are serving the white people who looks like Mariah. However, although Lucy sees people who are the same color as herself, their involvements are different from hers. They may be the same color as her, but it does not mean they are from the Caribbean or they had to migrate to get where they were. They can simply be African Americans. However, Lucy is just a black woman who migrated from the Caribbean to escape her past and discover a better way of life.

Lucy struggled to find herself mentally. In other words, Lucy fought with her identity. The part in the novel that speaks about Lucy’s encounter with the maid also gave the idea that Lucy was faced with exclusion. For example, when Lucy arrived, the maid undoubtedly specified that “everything about me was pious it made her feel at once sick to the stomach and sick with pity just to look at me” (Kincaid 11). This shows that the maid was not fond of Lucy’s arrival although both ladies shared a common historical background. It is somewhat challenging for someone like Lucy to not experience exclusion in the United States especially being a black girl from Antigua. Lucy’s persona has been stained in a way beyond her control. People in the United States have described Lucy as being someone that she is not. Another scene in Lucy’s novel was Lucy’s encounter with Mariah’s best friend Dinah. Dinah seemed to be much like Mariah, a white upper-class woman. When Lucy first met Dinah, she did not like her very much, “I had met Dinah the night after I arrived here on our holiday, and I did not like her” (Kincaid 56). The first thing Dinah said to Lucy was

“So you are from the islands?” (Kincaid 56). This kind of introduction made Lucy feel disparaged, but she decided not to be the outspoken girl she is and held her response to herself. Dinah saw Lucy as the girl and not woman who took care of the children in Mariah’s family. However, Lucy is aware of being a young woman irrespective of her race but, being called a girl because she is black shows a lack of admiration Dinah showed Lucy.

During the time, which is the 1900’s, being the one to take care of children in a white family the woman is considered some sort of slavery but today it is called “nanny”. However, at this age Lucy may have been an immigrant from Antigua, but she may have slight knowledge of slavery. Nevertheless, the ethnicities of black women in American are executed on her when it comes to employment because of the race. She stayed in the maid’s room, where she is recognized as an indigenous worker and a white woman, Dinah, views her as a girl and not a woman. It all goes back to the fact that although Lucy may have known that in America there are people of the same color as she is, she realizes that not all of them are looked upon in the same way or handled in such a way. Lucy is not seen as a stranger or a visitor, she is seen as a black woman who migrated to America.

The Experience Of White Tourist On Antigua Island In A Small Place By Jamaica Kincaid

When reading Jamaica Kincaid’s A Small Place, the reader is placed within the shoes of a tourist visiting the island of Antigua. This tourist, in the eyes of Kincaid, is trying to escape their life for a moment from that of the Western world. In her mind, this tourist is a white, Western person who is unknowingly, or knowingly, condescending and patronizing. The tourist is someone who sees themselves as above the people who live in Antigua, making a clear and blunt division between the tourist and the Antiguan natives. I do not think she is specifically talking to me, however, I believe her writing is targeting and talking to white, affluent Western tourists who visit smaller countries for their own vacations. This lessens the blunt of the attack onto me but even while being the tourist, I felt uncomfortable and attacked by Kincaid. These islands are more than just vacation spots for the wealthy who only spend a mere few days on them; they host whole communities of people who have to experience every aspect of the island. The tourist only focuses on the highlights of their trip, glossing over the troubling issues within Antigua. These white tourists who think they are superior to the black Antiguans are only focusing on certain aspects of their trip, like the beautiful, clear skies but will ignore the rundown schools in the same area because that is not their problem. They will ignore the damaged libraries and hospitals, and will only be concerned about themselves, not for the people of Antigua who have lost these things. The purpose of the tourist’s trip is to enjoy themselves and escape their lives back in their home places.

I believe that Kincaid is demonstrating how tourism is the legacy and remains from colonialism. The tourist is a selfish person with selfish ancestors who imposed and suppressed the people of Antigua to follow their ideas and ways of life. One of the key lines within A Small Place that stood out to me was “Not very long after The Earthquake Antigua got its independence from Britain … Antiguans are so proud of this that each year, to mark the day, they go to church and thank God, a British God, for this” (Kincaid 9). The earthquake that caused the damages to colonial buildings on Antigua, like the library, years ago was also around the same time that the Antiguans got independence from Britain. But just because the British no longer own Antigua as a colony doesn’t mean their influence went away. British occupation and colonization have left a mark on Antigua, and have infused itself into the island. The “British God” is referring to Christianity and missionaries within the island trying to convert Antiguans. It is ironic to think that the God that the British worshipped would be the same God affording the Antiguans their freedom when the British took that away from Antiguans, as well as their own native religion and culture. This god that the missionaries sold to the natives was not the reason for Antiguans getting the island’s independence. The colonizers pushed, replaced, and stole many aspects of Antigua, and got rich by doing so. The tourist doesn’t acknowledge that the British got rich from these acquisitions, but that is incorrect; the British exploited Antigua, and many lands like it, for its own gain. They stole resources from the natives but it is much easier for the tourist to live in the illusion that the British, most likely the tourist’s own ancestors, weren’t exploitative, oppressive, or dominating people. It would ruin the tourist’s holiday if they did think about that. The tourists convince themselves that British colonization helped Antiguans, by giving them buildings, a government, and freedom. It is interesting to see this perspective because Westerners weren’t supposed to hold Antigua’s freedom or control them in the first place. It never belonged to the West and should have never even been “given.” Now, present-day places like Antigua will always have the depressing history of colonization looming over their existence. The quote from Kincaid, “it would amaze even you to know the number of black slaves this ocean has swallowed up,” encapsulates the situation between tourists and the native Antiguans (14). The tourist is an ugly human being who is only contributing to the problem and legacy of colonialism. They choose to ignore this past of how the British robbed Antigua of its people and its land. Colonization tied with slavery can easily be dismissed by the tourist but the Antiguans will not forget the injustices that they have faced because the repercussions of these events last for years afterward.

Kincaid’s anger and criticisms towards the tourist are clear and justified. Antigua is a place of entertainment and inspiration for the tourists, and to the colonizer, a financial asset. But the tourist fails to ever consider that they are never truly welcomed there. There are no hardships attached to being a tourist; they have the freedom to escape the “crushing banality and boredom and desperation and depression” of life (Kincaid 18). It is obvious that everyone would like to go on vacations and experience moments of bliss for a while, but not everyone can afford this. Most natives in the world are too poor, leaving wealthy people to the majority of the tourist population, which in turn suggests that most tourists are wealthy, white Westerners from developed nations. Kincaid revealed to me how Antigua was just a microcosm of the larger global inequality, with many of the central issues stemming from colonialism. Colonization has caused the loss of many cultures and destroys any connections between natives to their native history and past. The colonizers don’t seem to care that the people under their control were wronged. Kincaid’s pointed anger and intensity of emotion illuminates how destructive the actions of the colonizers were to her and her Antigua. I appreciate how Kincaid points out how the English and their conquests tried to turn everything around them into extensions of England, turning lands and people “English.” It has made me reevaluate my own surroundings and forced me to realize how much the English have influenced, not just the United States, but the world. Western culture has almost infiltrated every nation on this globe. From buildings, to the structures of government, to the language in which I speak everyday, it can all be tied back to the time of colonization. Even if the colonizers are dead, the legacies that they’ve left behind still influence everyday life. I can relate to Kincaid’s frustration, especially with the line, “Do you ever try to understand why people like me cannot get over the past, cannot forgive and cannot forget?” (26). There should be some retribution for the actions of colonizers. The ancestors of those colonizers, in other words the tourists, still reap the benefits to this day, having certain advantages and powers. Another line that is imprinted in my head after reading Kincaid’s work is how “odd that the only language I have in which to speak of this crime is the language of the criminal who committed the crime… The language of the criminal can explain and express the deed only from the criminal’s point of view” (Kincaid 31-32). Kincaid clarifies how in every aspect, the criminals, or the English colonizers, are able to remove themselves from any blame for their deeds and don’t get to experience any punishment for their deadly, long-lasting actions. The criminal will never get to experience the loss, pain, and devastation that they inflicted onto the people they have oppressed. The criminal can’t understand the horror, injustice, and agony of their deed because in the criminal’s own language, they were able to justify to themselves that what they have done is not “wrong” or “bad.” Therefore, it would be impossible to explain to the criminal why Kincaid, and many more Antiguans, as well as other colonized people, how extremely detrimental their impact was onto them.

The seething rage Kincaid exhibits is justified in my eyes. I can understand and sympathize with Kincaid and how an apology, any sum of money, or even the death of the criminal couldn’t erase the rage of not only Kincaid but others who were oppressed. Additionally, the remarks Kincaid made about how all the people that have been colonized by the English have learned “how to imprison and murder each other, how to govern badly, and how to take the wealth of our country and place it in Swiss bank accounts” (Kincaid 34). I never identified the irony in the criticisms made by Western colonizers on less developed and colonized nations. It is hypocritical to criticize these people and label them as barbaric and “inferior” when the habits that they portray are those of which they learned from the colonizer themselves. The colonizers took things, claiming that they could make better use of it, while murdering, imprisoning, and robbing innocent people. The colonizers have stolen something so sacred and intangible that neither Kincaid, other Antiguans, nor other colonized groups can have back. Tourism is just another form of exploitation in disguise, being much more subtle. Tourism has replaced the sugar industry within Antigua, and many other colonized nations, and have disrupted the way of life for many people. There is no attack on the individual tourist but on tourism and what it represents. Tourists are enforcing the after effects of colonization and corruption of the island and are only small pawns in a larger, complex problem. The tourism industry has become a replacement for the plantations, and plays a significant role in maintaining corruption as well as an imbalanced wealth distribution. Antigua will now continue to live in a vicious cycle of continuing to appeal to the tourist since tourism generates profit, and will exist indirectly in the palms of the same people that are related to the colonizers who took Antigua in the first place.

Antiguan Struggle In Jamaica Kincaid’s Essay A Small Place

Racism, oppression, abuse of power, exploitation, the privileged, a never-ending cycle of poverty and forgiving but not forgetting. Every single one of those atrocities occurs all over the world, and Antigua is a mere example of it. But the way Jamaica Kincaid brings it out in a worthy jeremiad is breathtaking. Jeremiads are long, mournful complaints or lamentations. A Small Place, written by Jamaica Kincaid is an overwhelmingly truthful but angering jeremiad discussing the problems in Antigua. Published in 1988, A Small Place is a part fictional and part autobiographical novel about the Antiguan government, tourists, and Antigua’s English colonial impacts. In the first half of the novel, the narrator describes typical tourists, and the ignorance they have as well as the hate of the natives. In the second half, the narrator discusses Post-Colonialist Antigua as Kincaid remembers from her troubling childhood experiences and the impacts of colonial practices today. Kincaid was born in Antigua, a small Caribbean island. She was known as Elaine Potter Richardson, where she then moved to the U.S when she then changed her name. She began to portray her experiences and thoughts of Antigua’s exploitations. Jamaica Kincaid is a brilliant author with many works. Kincaid is able to grasp the reader’s attention by vividly raising questions in our minds. This compelling jeremiad, A Small Place, reveals the author’s anguish when examined through New Criticism, Psychoanalytic and Post-Colonialism lenses. Each lens reveals Jamaica Kincaid’s resentment showing why she cannot forgive or forget the brutal history of Antigua by Europeans. Jamaica Kincaid’s writing, A Small Place, displays her anguish of the betrayal she felt in Antigua through a New Criticism lens. Kincaid shows the appreciation of Antigua and its history, though anger is filled in the whole book, it varies on to different reasons. She goes from hating tourists and their oblivious ways, to anger about slavery and Europeans, all in a beautiful way with her tone, language, and style in her jeremiad.

Racism, oppression, abuse of power, exploitation, the privileged, a never-ending cycle of poverty and forgiving but not forgetting. Every single one of those atrocities occurs all over the world, and Antigua is a mere example of it. But the way Jamaica Kincaid brings it out in a worthy jeremiad is breathtaking. Jeremiads are long, mournful complaints or lamentations. A Small Place, written by Jamaica Kincaid is an overwhelmingly truthful but angering jeremiad discussing the problems in Antigua. Published in 1988, A Small Place is a part fictional and part autobiographical novel about the Antiguan government, tourists, and Antigua’s English colonial impacts. In the first half of the novel, the narrator describes typical tourists, and the ignorance they have as well as the hate of the natives. In the second half, the narrator discusses Post-Colonialist Antigua as Kincaid remembers from her troubling childhood experiences and the impacts of colonial practices today. Kincaid was born in Antigua, a small Caribbean island. She was known as Elaine Potter Richardson, where she then moved to the U.S when she then changed her name. She began to portray her experiences and thoughts of Antigua’s exploitations. Jamaica Kincaid is a brilliant author with many works. Kincaid is able to grasp the reader’s attention by vividly raising questions in our minds. This compelling jeremiad, A Small Place, reveals the author’s anguish when examined through New Criticism, Psychoanalytic and Post-Colonialism lenses. Each lens reveals Jamaica Kincaid’s resentment showing why she cannot forgive or forget the brutal history of Antigua by Europeans.

Jamaica Kincaid’s writing, A Small Place, displays her anguish of the betrayal she felt in Antigua through a New Criticism lens. Kincaid shows the appreciation of Antigua and its history, though anger is filled in the whole book, it varies on to different reasons. She goes from hating tourists and their oblivious ways, to anger about slavery and Europeans, all in a beautiful way with her tone, language, and style in her jeremiad.

“I am filled with rage,” the criminal says, “But why?”And when I blow things up and make life generally unlivable for the criminal (is my life not unlivable too?) the criminal is shocked, surprised. But nothing can erase my rage- not an apology, not a sum of money, not the death of the criminal- for this wrong can never be made right, and only the impossible can make me still: can a way be found to make what happened not have happened?” (Kincaid 32).

Kincaid has a passion of never being able to forget the past, holding onto her feelings of betrayal. She catches the reader’s attention with her hostility and anguish in not being able to change the past. Her anger not seeming to not “let up,” for the truth in how the past should never be forgotten, but how she will never be able to forgive. Equally important is how the style of Kincaid’s writing having different viewpoints, allowing the reader to understand the different ways to interpret her novel. Something you would not expect to be beautiful. Critics say Kincaid’s style is “intimidating”, how she writes makes the reader feel attacked. But the understanding of her writing is to know that she is speaking in a way that isn’t meant to be personalized. She writes in poetic forms of the second point of view grabbing the attention of readers, showing it through ways of repetition and simplicity.

“It is a worldview defined by the constancy of transformation. Reflecting this sense of shifting, multiple, transparent realities, Kincaid’s style becomes a strategy for resisting the binary thinking and opacity of Western thought. Thus, love and hatred, sympathy and rage, loyalty and subversion coexist in her sentences, producing a powerful, complicated, layered verbal texture.” (Hirsch and Schweitzer 478).

This beautiful quote expresses how the style of Kincaid’s writing transforms into many different emotions as she talks about different things like memories of her childhood or Antigua’s corruption twists her writing into many different tones. Jamaica Kincaid constantly blurts out what she wants to say, needs to say with a stunning essence. Her writing has many different interpretations but the biggest one that stood out to me was her inability to forgive or forget, expressing her alluring roller coaster of emotions throughout her novel.

“She felt obligated to “remember not just the past—because there is no past […] she expressed black islanders’ loathing for the British Empire, which stamped its domination on Antiguans through a constant English-based routine—Anglican church bells marking the hours, English teatime and eating habits, and even bulbs and plants from the British countryside. Her reason for concentrating on the corrupt history of the Western Hemisphere was survival—”getting something out of my head that if I don’t will drive me absolutely insane.” (Snodgrass 1).

Jamaica Kincaid’s writing shows the need, a want to bring out her frustration in a way that thoroughly explains what she believes. For why she can never forget the past others don’t think twice about. But her jeremiad brings into context various things as to why her anger should not be dismissed so quickly. Subsequently, Kincaid feels betrayal and anguish for she can never forget or forgive what happened in the past, through her polemic techniques of writing.

Through the Psychoanalytical lens, the loss of identity in Kincaid’s life contributes to the beautiful polemic style illustrated in A Small Place. The never rebuilt library in Antigua, the anger in which having no native language but the colonizers, and the stolen culture of Antiguans contributes to the long list of why Jamaica Kincaid is angry. Constant ways of looking at Jamaica Kincaid’s past contributes to how you may perceive how she writes. She seems to have points in her writing that are not easily seen but can be soon realized if the text is analyzed from different points of view. Yet the beauty of it is astonishing for Kincaid exposes how various agonies came about her past, contributing to her works.

“For isn’t it odd that the only language I have in which to speak of this crime is the criminal who committed the crime? And what can that really mean? For the language of the criminal can contain only the goodness of the criminal’s deed. The language of the criminal can explain and express the deed only from the criminal’s point of view. It cannot contain the horror of the deed, the injustice of the deed, the agony, the humiliation inflicted on me” (Kincaid 31-32).

Jamaica Kincaid points out how dismaying the reality of how the Europeans colonized and ripped out the history, the culture of Antigua for example. The natives had no true memory or knowledge of their own language, thus the loss of identity. Another equally important part in Jamaica Kincaid’s jeremiad was her childhood library in Antigua. The library was a big part of Kincaid’s life, for throughout the whole book, A Small Place, she brought up how angry she was that it was never rebuilt due to the corruption of the leaders who didn’t even care about it.

“But if you saw the old library, situated as it was, in a big, old wooden building painted a shade of yellow that is beautiful to people like me,[…], the fairy tale of how we met you, your right to do the things you did, how beautiful you were, are, and always will be; if you could see all that in just one glimpse, you would see why my heart would break at the dung heap that now passes for a library in Antigua.” (Kincaid. 42 & 43).

The library that was never rebuilt in Antigua had Jamaica Kincaid in pain for it was a huge part of her childhood. Yet again, Europeans brought about another injustice, by never rebuilding it, they took that memory, adding it to the neverending pile of things they have destroyed. Besides that, Europeans seem to have a history of stealing other cultures, desecrating other histories. Continually, Europeans seem to only care about themselves and think themselves superior.

“A Small Place represents a turning point in Kincaid’s work, a direct confrontation with the history of colonization and her own claustrophobic entrapment in its legacy: “I met the world through England and if the world wanted to meet me it would have to do so through England,” she declares. […] Kincaid explains how difficult it is to twist that language so as to make it reflect the perspectives both of the criminal and of the victim. At the end of the book, she realizes that it is even more difficult to express the transformation of the victims themselves.” (Hirsch and Schweitzer 482).

This whole quote is beautiful but heartbreaking for Jamaica Kincaid and so many other Antiguans that were taught nothing about their homeland, but about Europe, and Europe and again, Europe. As a result, Antiguans like Jamaica Kincaid feel a wave of anger they can never forget, for they have a destroyed culture they know nothing of, feeling dejected for their loss of identity.

Looking through the Post-Colonialism lens, A Small Place, shows the corruption and racism in Antigua. Throughout the whole book, Jamaica Kincaid expresses her outrage towards colonialism, where she then acknowledges the corruption left in its wake. The reader can acknowledge her anguish through the jeremiad consisting mostly of exasperation, but heavy in mourning.

“Have you ever wondered to yourself why it is that all people like me seem to have learned from you is how to imprison and murder each other, how to govern badly, and how to take the wealth of our country and place it in Swiss bank accounts? Have you ever wondered why it is that all we seem to have learned from you is how to corrupt our societies and how to be tyrants?” (Kincaid 35).

Antiguans were taught nothing but corruption, not the ability to uphold society, to govern. The Europeans took control oppressing and enslaved the natives. So once they “freed’’ and allowed the Antiguans to govern themselves, it was not a surprise the Antiguans turned to corruption between themselves. Kincaid expresses her hate of Europeans in a very open way, showing that her past experiences have biased her opinions and rightly so. Furthermore, Kincaid brings out ways Europeans abused their power and began to think highly of themselves and their skin color. They started to treat those with different skin color, especially black people, in such an appalling way.

“Wealth and power are in the hands of a very few, all of whom, in Kincaid’s view, are corrupt and indifferent to the welfare of the people. The people’s resignation of voice is evidenced by the fact that the very politicians who keep the people poor in order to make themselves and their friends rich are regularly re-elected to office. Kincaid explains this passivity in terms of the cultural master narrative sought themselves higher than everybody else, especially those with a darker skin tone.[…]All that is wrong is the product of colonialism: government corruption is a natural product of British domination. […]Without it, there is the painful reality of human freedom and responsibility” (Byerman 91-103).

Jamaica Kincaid constantly addresses ministers, people of government in A Small Place, who took advantage of their positions and found ways to gain even more power and wealth unlawfully. Kincaid voices more reasons as to why she is so angry, why the never-ending cycle of corruption does not seem to stop. Moreover, people who had done despicable things had somehow still prospered and gained power, like the Barclay brothers. The unfairness to having white skin, to being treated like God when you are white but prejudice when you are of a darker complexion utters such rage within Jamaica Kincaid and so many others.

“[…] Barclays Bank, were slave traders. […] But people just a little older than I am can recite the name of and the day the first black person was hired as a cashier at this very same Barclays Bank in Antigua. Do you ever wonder why some people blow things up? I can imagine that if my life had taken a certain turn, there would be the Barclays Bank, and there would I be, both of us in ashes. Do you ever try to understand why people like me cannot get over the past, cannot forgive and cannot forgive? There is the Barclays Bank. The Barclay brothers are dead. The human beings they traded, the human beings who to them were only commodities, are dead. It should not have been that they came to the same end, and heaven is not enough of a reward for one or hell enough of a punishment for the other. People who think about these things believe that every bad deed, even every bad thought, carries with it its own retribution. So do you see the queer thing about people like me? Sometimes we hold your retribution.” (Kincaid 26)

Jamaica Kincaid, with her lyrical words, emphasizes the injustices of slaves. How the memory of slaves would not be forgotten, and not so easily forgiven. For Kincaid reveals the disappointment of how people who do horrendous things could still gain so much. Consequently, the corruption in Antigua contributes to A Small Place, but Kincaid’s fury does not stop here for her inability to forgive is vast and stupendous, but she has her reasons.

All in all, Jamaica Kincaid essay, A Small Place, was a compelling novel with a poetic style that brought about the harsh truth of how so Antiguans have a loss of being able to govern themselves without corruption, so many having no history, culture to look back upon for it was all tore up. Kincaid uses anger to inform readers about Antiguan daily life, where here furious essay focuses on racism and emotions. Many critics have applauded her for it, but others have attacked her nature of writing, being too disparaging. Jamaica Kincaid writes about history people often ignore, focusing on corruption, tourism, and loss of identity all within Antigua. The African-Caribbean writer may be hated against by many, but no one can deny her writing style is a not less of beauty. Countless emotions brought about in Kincaid’s jeremiad, the inability to forgive or forget will remain the unspoken truth in A Small Place.

Jamaica Kincaid’s A Small Place and Jessa Crispin’s The Unsettled: Comparative Essay

Although the tourism industry in developing countries seems to be a viable source for economic development, they are adversely affecting the livelihood of the locals residing there by glorifying and worsening their impoverished conditions further which Jamaica Kincaid’s ‘A Small Place’ and Jessa Crispin’s ‘The Unsettled’ emphasize on by introducing other concepts such as gentrification and corruption.

While both passages highlight how complex the tourism industry is, Kincaid describes her distaste specifically towards the tourists. She described how the places and services entertained to the tourists like Mill Reef Club and Barclays Bank originate from the suffering of the natives there yet the tourists disregard the feelings of the locals for their own leisure time. Kincaid gave an example of how the major Barclays Bank which is now an international business benefited highly from tourism as it was actually established by Barclay Brothers who were slave-traders that continued their history of discrimination for years to justify her view. “But people just a little older than I am can recite the name of and the day the first black person was hired as a cashier at this very same Barclays Bank in Antigua”(Kincaid,13). Kincaid endorses and justifies the reasoning for the negative portrayal of the tourists by describing how the tourists are uncompassionate people who lack knowledge and empathy for the natives in Antigua as they are blinded by the beauty of the sights to actually learn where it comes from. Kincaid describes how discriminatory tourism is for locals as the tourists are able to fly out for the sole purpose of vacation or escapism while the local Antiguans cannot afford a plane ticket despite the wealth coming from tourism.

The same idea that tourism in a way gives rise to urbanization and gentrification which facilitates only to a certain group of people mostly those who are responsible for these developments is endorsed in Crispin’s essay. This is justified by a claim that Crispin made regarding the development of new services like Roam which gives tourists a temporary house that has a weekly rent of 500 dollars per week indicates that this luxury is exclusive only to those people who are privileged enough to afford it. In this way, the claims made are truthful due to the evidences given however there are positive aspects to these establishments not mentioned in the essay like the overall increase in international businesses in the place allowing it to have a prominent name in the map. Crispin mentioned in her essay that “Businesses with English-speaking workers that cater to the rich class, like boutiques and coffee shops and juice bars, will flourish while businesses that cater to long-term residents, like hardware stores and shoe repair shops, will be priced out and disappear as property values rise”(Crispin, ”The Unsettled”).Tourism described in Crispin’s essay gives rise to free market economy hence new private businesses being established like co-living space Roam mentioned above are carried out without acknowledging the “economically displaced” people mostly the locals similar to Kincaid’s argument regarding lack of provision of economic development for both the countries.

Both the passages highlight how degrading the tourism industry has become in both the countries as it describes the repercussions of tourism on the environment and increased threat of loss of inbuilt traditions and culture of the countries. “The effects mass tourism has on a location have long been discussed, from the cruise-ships full of tourists who descend on Venice every day, leading to environmental degradation and a dwindling population of actual Venetians, or the small Mexican coastal villages that have been transformed into bloated resort towns in just a few years”( Crispin, ”The Unsettled”). Crispin depicts the impact urbanization and gentrification made on the infrastructure can lead to huge amount of stress on local land available and lead to unethical tourism as pollution and erosion are end product of development due to tourism like hotels and buildings. Kincaid endorses this view by giving an example of how the tourists are enjoying their stay in complete ignorance of the repercussions caused ”And so you needn’t let that slightly funny feeling you have from time to time about exploitation, oppression, domination develop into full-fledged unease, discomfort; you could ruin your holiday”(Kincaid,10).

Tourism is not limited to rapid development and urbanization of the place for tourist facilities but also extends to the introduction of new culture and trends. By relating tourism to colonialism, Kincaid depicts how British colonization on Antigua influenced the natives to an extent that she had no choice but even express her anger towards British in the language taught by the colonialists themselves. Likewise, Crispin mentioned in her essay that “It’s not just Western money that is part of the colonial gentrification process, then, it is also the Western way of life” ( Crispin, “The Unsettled”). An example of this is described in Crispin’s essay when she mentioned how the original dialect of Bali which is Balinese is vanishing and foreign language like English and Indonesian which is now widely used in the businesses and daily transactions. The loss of traditions and old values that represent the country are now being replaced.

However, when I consider tradition loss as a negative factor of tourism I have mixed feelings. Culture and tradition loss expands to more than just something that can be carried out within a few years by visits of tourists as it takes years to transform the local culture to a new refined one. Considering all this to recent times, I believe tourism in a way promotes local culture as traditional craft items and old traditions are celebrated by tourists and promoted to portray the true essence of the country.

Both passages emphasize on the negative impact of tourism described above but they both converge to a common conclusion that the wealth and profit coming from tourism facilitates the western countries or those responsible for these establishments while the locals suffer. Comparing these issues to the current situation in the world, I believe these issues are still prevalent like the tourism business strongly negates the employers and existing corporate groups. An example of this could be in Pakistan where the rigorous services for tourism or any type of employment is highly underpaid as opposed to the groups who establish these businesses. There is also a downfall for existing traditional businesses when these new ventures are launched leading to these businesses closing down due to the dominance of urbanization. The modifications and rapid urbanization is not just robbing people off their houses and causing environmental degradation but also depriving the place from its true essence hence there is overall loss locally due to economic gain for the already sufficient groups.

Bibliography

  1. Crispin, Jessa. “The Unsettled.” The Outline, The Outline, 13 July 2017, https://theoutline.com/post/1910/the-unsettled?zd=2&zi=t5exeh7q.
  2. Kincaid, Jamaica. A Small Place. Daunt Books, 2018.

Jamaica Kincaid: Breaking The Confinements Within One-Self

Constraints can limit oneself from reaching their highest potential, taking away someone’s identity and confining them to be seen in a specific manner. In the novel, Lucy written by Jamaica Kincaid the main character Lucy defies the restrictions of intersectional multiple oppressions and uses her writing as a sense of regaining herself. Lucy resists the constraints of gender, race, colonialism, and as an immigrant woman and through writings of her own and other artistic pursuits she gains a sense of identity of who she is.

Colonialism involves a wealthy and powerful nation controlling over another country through settlements or exploiting their resources. The readers dare exposed to the legacy of colonialism when Lucy becomes a symbol of the neocolonial condition of the economic and social challenges (Barrio-Vilar 102). In the novel, Lucy understands how daffodils suggest different perceptions of the world. “It wasn’t her fault. It wasn’t my fault. But nothing could change the fact that where she saw beautiful flowers, I saw sorrow and bitterness” (Kincaid 30). The daffodils were a reminder of the colonial education that forced her to memorize a poem about a flower she had not seen. She rather wants to kill them since they suggest colonial injustice and force Lucy to see the world through Mariah’s colonial perspective. Thus, the novel can be interpreted as an allegory where colonial rule causes challenges and tensions of the former British colonies in the Caribbean (Barrio-Vilar 103). In the novel, Lucy thought a change in the scene would get rid of what she hated the most in life. “I used to think just a change in venue would banish forever from my life the things I despised. But that was not to be so. As each day unfolded before me, I could see the sameness in everything” (Kincaid 90). In trying to escape her homeland she experienced many forms of heartache that which parallel the ones of her island existence. When they referred her homeland to “the islands” they portray it as a tourist attraction, denying the reality of the islands colonized people. Mariah’s friends show a colonial mentality through their own experiences on to the West Indies instead of seeing the lands native characteristics. Colonialism traps Lucy to a certain lifestyle, yet she is still able to defy those confinements.

The gender of a person depicts how one should act and portray themselves in society, based on their physical appearance and mentality. Lucy reclaims control over her life through the developing relationship with Mariah (Barrio-Vilar 109). In the novel, Lucy does not care about the typical expectations of women.

[Mariah] had washed her hair that morning and from where I stood, I could smell the residue of the perfume from the shampoo in her hair. Then underneath that, I could smell Mariah herself. The smell of Mariah was pleasant [. . .] By then I already knew that I wanted to have a powerful odour and would not care if it gave offence (Kincaid 27).

Lucy refuses to live up to the conventional expectations of how a woman should present herself in society, she would rather mask her smell and not care what others think. Lucy’s unwillingness to continue the duties of a proto-mother to Mariah’s children enables her to disrupt the historical legacy of which she is a part of (Barrio-Vilar 111). In the novel, Lucy cannot continue to read the book on the view of women.

[bookmark: OLE_LINK1][bookmark: OLE_LINK2][Mariah] gave [the book] to me. I read the first sentence. ‘Woman? Very simple, say the fanciers of simple formulas, she is a womb, an ovary; she is female—this word is sufficient to define her.’ I had to stop. Mariah had completely misinterpreted my situation. My life could not really be explained by this thick book [. . .] (Kincaid 132).

Lucy feels this book should not define how her life should turn out and that women are only seen as someone who produces a child, an object that creates an offspring for their husband. The book is defining a woman as a womb not even as a person; she’s a female that just creates life and is not even considered life as her own. The gender roles of a female for Lucy challenges her to defy them and be a self-controlling woman on her own.

The racial background of a person defines someone’s status in society; whites are seen as superior and wealthy and blacks as poor and obedient to the white people. Since Lucy’s physical presence is black it shows the economic and racial hierarchies (Barrio-Vilar 111). In the novel, even when Lucy was a young child, she resented imperialism, refusing to sing. “Rule, Britannia! Britannia rule the waves; Britons never, never shall be slaves,’ Lucy knew she was not British in any aspect and realized that ‘not too long ago would have been a slave’ (Kincaid 135). Due to Lucy’s race, she knew she would have been a slave, bond to the obedience of someone else not that long ago. She would not have had the choice to do what she had wanted with her life and be stuck under the control of her master. Even at a young age, she stuck up for herself not singing those words, since she knew at a time, she could have been a slave. Lucy demands control of her own experiences, resisting her employers’ power to determine her connections (Barrio-Vilar 112). In the novel, Lucy felt a connection to the artist rather than his paintings of how her race made her experience life in a trapped confined space. ‘Immediately I identified with the yearnings of this man; I understood finding the place you are born in an unbearable prison and wanting something completely different from what you are familiar with’ (Kincaid 95). As Lucy examined the cultural artefacts she is determined to find her meaning in them rather Mariah wanted her to relate to the exotic subject matter of her race, where Lucy connects to the prison-like area of where she was born instead of the subject matter that relates to her race. The identity of someone can be based on the race which can limit a person’s decisions and choices in society.

Immigrant women face struggles of acceptance and approval in other countries, but some defy the treatment they face. Lucy yearns for a borderless world where her cultural differences do not restrict her choices (Barrio-Vilar 103). In the novel, Lucy tries to relate to music through her own culture.

The melodies of [the maid’s] song were so shallow, and the words, to me, were meaningless. From her face, I could see she had only one feeling about me: how sick to her stomach I made her. And so, I said that I knew songs, too, and I burst into a calypso about a girl who ran away to Port-of-Spain, Trinidad, and had a good time, with no regrets (Kincaid 12).

In the uncomfortable moment with the Maid, Lucy draws on the music of her own culture to blend into the new environment. The maid does not like Lucy because she is an immigrant, Lucy wants to feel accepted and tries to bond about music to make her feel less alienated from the atmosphere she is in. The experiences Lucy had in the United States proves not to be as liberating as she hoped for as an immigrant (Barrio-Vilar 104). In the novel, Lucy gets to observe the lake for the first time and results in disappointment for it is not what she had expected. “From my room I could see the lake. I had read of this lake in geography books, had read of its origins and its history, and now to see it up close was odd, for it looked so ordinary, grey, dirty, unfriendly, not a body of water to make up a song about” (Kincaid 35). As a foreigner, the experience of life in the United States might be full of setbacks and the idea of living there can have a false impression. Lucy is suggesting that as an immigrant one might be treated differently than the other, for they are looked down upon in the society. She describes the water as unfriendly and dark, the way people have treated her with no respect or welcoming feeling. Immigrant women can defy the confinements that they face while being in other countries using voice and power to defend themselves.

Writing or other artistic outlets can be a guide to help one regain their sense of self and identity. Lucy’s self-determination sets off for a new life journey to reinvent herself through her creative work (Barrio-Vilar 103). In the novel, Lucy finds satisfaction in the taking of photographs recognizing that the photo is more intriguing than the real object. “Why is a picture of something real eventually more exciting than the thing itself?” (Kincaid 121) The new camera that Lucy takes photographs which depicts Lucy’s sense of self is evolving. The beauty she finds in her photos validates her vision and the journey of her photos illustrates the obstacles she encounters in self-fulfilment. Lucy’s choices and stages in her journey roadmap the available options for her evolution to finding self-identity (Barrio-Vilar 103). In the novel, Lucy was able to reinvent herself and build on that with her instincts. “I understood that I was inventing myself, and that I was doing this more in the way of a painter than in the way of a scientist. I could not count on precision or calculation; I could only count on intuition” (Kincaid 134). Lucy now realizes the self-worth that lays within her. She must have the trust and faith within herself to achieve her highest potential. Lucy understands she is changing and finding out who she is through the art of writing similar to a painter rather than through science or math. Lucy finds her identity in the expression of writing and other artistic pursuits that develops the person she has become to be. To find one’s original self or identity, self-expression through writing and artistic channels connects one to a sense of who they are.

Jamaica Kincaid illustrates Lucy in the novel defying her constraints in colonialism, through her gender, race and as an immigrant woman. Kincaid uses her writing techniques to create an identity and sense of self for Lucy. All the restrictions in life she faces based on all these factors, Lucy overcomes.

Works Cited

  1. Kincaid, Jamaica. Lucy. FSG, 1990.
  2. Barrio-Vilar, Laura. ‘Everything Remains the Same and Yet Nothing is the Same’: Neocolonialism in the Caribbean Diaspora through the Language of Family and Servitude. Journal of International Women’s Studies, vol. 17 no. 3, 2016, pp. 102-116.

A Small Place by Jamaica Kincaid: Critical Analysis

In the work “A Small Place” by Jamaica Kincaid, the author expresses her strong opinions concerning Antigua in a second person narrative. She expresses about how she resents the Antiguans because of their ignorance towards tourism, their corrupted education system, and the colonization in Antigua. She explains how they’re unaware that the tourist business could be a form of slavery and tourists exploit the Antiguan citizens that are in poverty for his or her pleasure. Kincaid additionally dislikes how Antiguans are being tutored from the very people that are controlling them and their corrupt education system. additionally, what Kincaid despises most is concerning the cultural subservience to the British, and eventually, the English who enslaved and colonized Antigua.

A Small Place is split into four structured, parts. the primary section begins with Kincaid’s narration of the reader’s experiences and thoughts as a hypothetical traveler in Antigua. The second half deals with Kincaid’s recollections of the “old” Antigua, the colonial possession of Great Britain. Kincaid remembers the casual racism of the times, and therefore the subservience of Antigua to England and, especially, to English culture. After that, deals with Antigua’s present and begins with Kincaid asking herself the troubling question of whether or not, considering the state of the island nowadays, things weren’t, in fact, better within the previous days. Lastly, She describes Antigua’s beauty as so extreme as to seem “unreal,” nearly like an illustration or a stage-set. Kincaid says that the wonder of their surroundings could be a mixed blessing to the Antiguans, who are trapped in an unchanging setting within which their poverty is a component of the scenery.

A reason why Kincaid resents the Antiguans is due to their ignorance towards tourism, they are unaware that the tourist industry is a form of slavery and travelers exploit the Antiguan citizens that are in poverty for their pleasure. The author points out that the places that appeal to the travelers are often places that are a source of difficulty for the Antiguans that live there. For instance, Kincaid mentions that when the weather is hot and the sky in Antigua is clear it usually indicates that they don’t have necessities such as fresh water and materials due to the drought. Kincaid notes that “the sunny, clear sky of Antigua, which indicates a lack of rainfall, makes fresh water a scarce and precious commodity. For travelers, however, the beauty is all that matters—the drought is someone else’s problem.”(4)

Another example is when people are being driven in a taxi and discover the changes between there roads and cars they find it exciting since they are on their holiday when in reality travelers do not realize that Antiguans have to drive under dangerous conditions every day due to the bad roads and the cars that they drive filled gasoline. Kincaid says the tourists are oblivious to the conditions that Antiguans are under and stating that the cars “look brand- new, but they have an awful sound—its because they used leaded gasoline in these cars whose engines were built to use non-leaded gasoline.” (6) The brand new cars that the Antiguans are using were not built for the conditions that they are in.

Moreover, Kincaid dislikes how Antiguans are being educated from individuals that colonized Antiguans and their corrupt education system. Kincaid observes the standard of education on Antigua, similarly because the minds of its inhabitants, and remains deeply ambivalent regarding both. The young Kincaid’s greatest pleasure is in reading, however, everything she reads is tainted by bitterness since she is learning the dominant culture from the position of dominated individuals. She herself is the product of colonial education, and he or she believes that Antiguan teenagers these days aren’t as knowledgeable as they were in her day. Kincaid was raised on the classics of English literature, and he or she thinks today’s young Antiguans are poorly spoken, ignorant, and dedicated to American pop culture. Kincaid notes that “In Antigua these days, most teenagers appear almost illiterate. They speak English as if it were their sixth language.” (43) Education has clearly suffered on Antigua within the years since independence, and Kincaid remorsefully notes the poor speech habits of the younger Antiguans. in addition, one more reason why their education is dangerous is that the government is making an attempt to keep black children out of school. Kincaid explains that “this school began to just accept girls who were born outside marriage; in Antigua, it had never been dawned on anyone that this was a way of keeping black children out of this school” (29)

Lastly, Kincaid despises most about the cultural subservience to the British, and eventually, the English who slave and taken control of Antigua. Kincaid insists that corruption pervades each side of public life on the island, that everybody knows about it, which nobody appears to grasp what to do about it. In an article, it discusses how tourism has ruined Antigua and is merely used for the government’s profit arguing that “the tourism business produces Antigua’s beauty as a commodity for consumption”. (Beriault 661) Government ministers run brothels, steal public funds, and broker shady deals, however, there’s a conspicuous lack of outrage on the part of the general public. In other words, Antiguans are educated to admire the very individual that once enslaved them. Kincaid is afraid by the genuine excitement the Antiguans have concerning royal visits to the island: the living embodiment of British imperialism is joyfully greeted by the previous victims of that imperialism. For, instance the author mentioned that “when the queen came, all the roads that she would travel on were paved afresh in order that the queen might have left with a good impression” (12) Kincaid is indicating that Antiguans are unaware that they worshipping the people who took away their human rights.

Finally, the author expresses her strong opinions regarding Antigua in a second person narrative. What Kincaid despises most is regarding the cultural subservience to the nation, and at last, the English who enthralled and controlling Antigua. Kincaid additionally dislikes how Antiguans are being educated from the very individuals that inhabited them and their corrupt education system. She expresses regarding how she resents the Antiguans because of their ignorance towards tourism, their education system, and also the colonization in Antigua. additionally, she explains how they’re unaware that the tourist business could be a type of slavery and travelers exploit the Antiguan citizens that are in poverty for his or her pleasure.

Influence of Caribbean Colonialism on the Structure of Mother-Daughter Relationships in Jamaica Kincaid’s Novel ‘Lucy’

Jamaica Kincaid extensively exploits the relationship between a mother and her daughter through her literature pieces. ‘Lucy’ is a succinct depiction of this theme and exploits her troubled relationship with her mother. According to Barrio-Vilar (2016), Kincaid’s novel’s ‘Lucy’ is an allegory that seeks to expose the need for Caribbean countries to question and reject the influence of Western culture, politics, and economics to become more independent and have the autonomy to decide their future. The novel is centered on a protagonist Lucy Josephine Potter, who embarks on a journey to the US as an immigrant worker from the British-ruled Caribbean. She works as an au-pair for a family where she quickly becomes friends with her female employer Mariah. The novel follows Lucy’s trials and tribulations as she views Mariah as her mother which brings both angry and tender emotions. Lucy’s battles in the US are mainly based on the effect of her strict upbringing which she blames her mother. Her interactions with other people are influenced by her cultural upbringing and this affects her chances of creating an emotional relationship. This essay will exploit the legacy of colonialism in the Caribbean and how it has influenced the structure of the mother-daughter relationship through Jamaica Kincaid’s novel ‘Lucy’.

Kincaid compares Lucy’s mother, Annie, to colonialist by discussing her need to mold her daughter in her image. One of the effects of colonialism that has been viewed as both a positive and negative influence is gentrification where native cultures were replaced by the colonialist ones. According to Nanni (2017), British colonialism across the world was based on the spread of Christianity and western culture. Former colonies share similarities that trace their root origins to the English culture. For instance, all countries that were colonized by Britain speak English and are majority Christians. Similarly, these countries share an education structure that is comparable to Britain and a society that is based on colonial constitutional rights with origins in the British legal and executive system. This character of colonialists is similar to Lucy’s mother who brings up her daughter in her image. Kincaid states that “I had come to feel that my mother’s love for me was designed solely to make me into an echo of her; and I didn’t know why, but I felt that I would rather be dead than become just an echo of someone” (p. 16). There are numerous instances when Lucy sees herself as an extension of her mother in terms of character and perceptions. She shares values and beliefs that resemble that of her mother which she blames on her upbringing.

According to Barrio-Vilar (2016) “Kincaid uses the imagery of motherhood to criticize the detrimental effects of colonialism and neocolonialism on the colonial subject”. Lucy moves to the US in a bid to escape what she perceives as emotional and physical oppression from her biological mother Annie. This move is a representation of the freedom from Annie and the colonial values that she represents. She later becomes oppressed by her surrogate mother in the US and this is perceived as the conflict between her British colonial upbringing and American neocolonialism. This forces her to forge and develop her own identity based on her Caribbean roots. This is contrasted to many Caribbean colonies who suffered systematic prejudice that affected their economic, political, and psychological identity under the rule of the British colony. These countries were compelled to create a new identity after their cultural identity had been replaced by the European one during colonialization. This move was accomplished to achieve a certain gradation of independence which has been questioned when a majority of people living in these colonies embody and personify the British culture.

Lucy’s mother’s influence on her is similar to that of former colonies to their colonialists as she exhibits attitudes that bare semblance to former colonies. Lucy idealizes and obeys Annie through the adoption of her beliefs and values. She conforms to the strict rules imposed on her by Annie to avoid being punished. Lucy is constantly subjected to expectations that mimic the British education and colonial values instead of the Arawak/African values that should be embodied by people living in the Caribbean. Annie expects her daughter to conform to patriarchal rules that are based on gender disparity and the propagation of toxic male masculinity. In this manner, Lucy is expected to fulfill her role as a good daughter, and comparable, an obedient colonial subject. The gender disparity is further exploited when Lucy’s brothers are born and Annie becomes more involved with their upbringing than she is with Lucy. This image of Annie is similar to British colonizers who used different modes of oppression including physical violence to ensure that their subjects were obedient. Similar to Annie, the colonizers subjected the native Caribbean people to expectations that were characteristic of British society like education and religious standards. In this way, Annie personifies colonial Britain and plays a role in sowing the seed for resentment and feelings of oppression in her daughter.

In conclusion, Kincaid exploits the positive and negative effects of colonialism and neocolonialism through an allegory that juxtaposes her mother with British colonizers. Lucy is juxtaposed with Caribbean people who were subject to British culture that was dictated through physical, economic, political, and psychological oppression. Annie unconsciously enforces cultural values that embody a colonial system that was once despised by her people. This enforcement results in sentiments of resentment that pushed the daughter away from the mother in search of freedom. Kincaid’s use of literary devices to convey this unique and controversial juxtaposition results in a captivating and insightful novel that exploits colonialism, neocolonialism, and cultural impact simultaneously.