A Close Reading of Race of A Small Place

*The summary of the first section*


In the beginning of In a Small Place, Jamaica Kincaid is describing her country to the reader by telling us how tourist see the country as beautiful, but the people who live there see their county for what it really is, trash, a bad corrupt place to live. Kincaid displays several raciest views and ideas in the opening part of the book. We first see this when she states, “since you are a tourist, a North American or European – to be frank, white- and not Antiguan black returning to Antigua from Europe or North America with cardboard boxes of much needed cheep clothes for relatives, you move through customs swiftly” (4). As you can see in this passage, Kincaid specifically picks out white people to talk about as tourist. I find this funny because is it not true that there are blacks in North America? Is it not true that there are blacks in Europe? A few pages later Kincaid writes, “So you needn’t let that slightly funny feeling you have from time to time about exploration, oppression, domination develop into full fledged unease, discomfort; you could ruin your holiday. They are not responsible for what you have; you owe them nothing; in fact you did them a big favor and you can provide one hundred examples. If it were not for you they would not have a government house, Prime Minister’s office, and Parliament building and embassy of powerful country” (10). This quote really shocked me as a reader. I feel that Kincaid is using sarcasm to make the tourist feel remorse for something they never did. Yes the black people of Antigua were once slaves for the British that owned the island, and they should be ashamed of themselves, but why demand remorse from the tourist that visit the country today? Were they themselves ever slave owners on the island? If yes, then absolutely they should be remorseful, but otherwise they have no need to feel guilty like they were one-slave owners of these
People.


*The Native Black Vs The White Foreigners*

The Mill Reef Club is a club built by an American. Antiguans are not allowed to enter this club except the workers. Clearly you can see the separation of black and white. The indigenous people are all black and the Americans and Europeans stick out. There is no doubt who is black and white. It’s extremely ironic that the people who actually live in Antigua are not invited to be in this club. The people of power in this white dominated country are never native.
The Barclays Bank is another example. We see a company ran by all white people while blacks are not even allowed to work in the branches. People of Antigua remember specifically when the first black person worked at the bank. This is a very backwards type of racism.
The government is primarily white, often Europeans and some Americans. They are generally believed to be crooks and they often take money from the country and use it for their own personal benefit. The black citizens of Antigua see the Europeans as rude and without manners, not necessarily racists. There is defiantly a “halo-effect” when it comes to the Antiguans. Nearly all the problems that the Antiguans face are blamed upon the white leaders.
The white government officials have pushed their culture onto the people of Antigua. When the Queen of England came to visit the country the roads and buildings, which she would visit, were all fixed. The stamps that were printed often had her picture on them. There are multiple examples of British culture and how it was forced upon the natives.
According to the narrator of this text we see how the white people have negatively affected Antigua as a country. There are many examples of the corrupt leaders and their actions or lack there of to revive Antigua into what it can be and what it once was.


*The language of Race of A Small Place*

Jamaica Kincaid takes on many epic struggles in this work. Kincaid does something that is hard for many writers to do. Through her words she takes us somewhere we have never been before, using her simply and to the point language. It is no wonder Kincaid taught creative writing at Bennington College and Harvard University. She has been criticized for her stern and up-front language. Kincaid’s writing style relating to race has been called out as too abrupt and that she puts the blame on a particular race. The novel is very subjective and expresses the opinions of Kincaid. This is important to note because the opinions are believed to be fact and are intended to appear as fact; however, the point of view of the novel indicates that the nature of the information should cause the truth of some of the statements made to be questioned.
A common theme throughout the novel, particularly the second and third sections, is the need for development in Antigua. Kincaid starts with criticism of the hospital and school and then expands into many other things such as the effect slavery had on the Antiguans. She mentions that Antigua has no sewage disposal system, and therefore, wastes are released into the ocean surrounding Antigua. The main commercial enterprise of Antigua appears to be tourism, which makes the natives miserable because they envy tourists' ability to escape their lives, even if it is only temporary. The first few pages of the novel we are made to believe the novel will be about beautiful Antigua, and the experiences of the tourists who have the luxury of visiting such a place. A Small Place is an opinionated essay cleverly disguised as a novel. There are no acting characters, nor is there a plot. Kincaid’s gives her opinions of the many events and difficulties that have happened to the natives of the island. A Small Place is a subjective description of the government corruption and the lack of concern that the people of one nation has for the people of another. A Small Place also investigates the effects of slavery when the emancipated slaves are never taught how to be ordinary people. The question still remains; are the thoughts expressed by Kincaid fact, or is she simply that great of a writer that we believe everything we read?

By:Daniel, Taylor, Andrea, and Marie