A Small Place Review

A small place, a book by Jamaica Kincaid was written in 1988, describing her life as a Caribbean. It is often seen as a highly personal history of her home on the island of Antigua. Throughout the book Ms. Kincaid maintains a bitter and sarcastic tone. Over all anger is the books prevailing mood. The book being from her perspective only has eight characters, some of which are groups. The only family is her mother and the others we are introduced to have come to the island to visit. Kincaid being the main character tends to focus on her life as a child compared to one of an adult. Her life as a child spent bored out of her mind so she found it in books to clear her mind. In addition to herself and her mother, we are introduced to the prime minister of the island and the librarian where she spent most of her time.

In the next section of her book, Ms. Kincaid gives great comparison about what her island was like before; “bad English men” took over her country. Within this section she often talks about the differences between the natives of Antigua and the tourist, “me and you”. Installing the idea that Antiguans live with this distorted image of their lives. She emphasizes that Antigua is a “small place” trapped by the big world around them. It is within this part of the book that Ms. Kincaid gives us a visual image of the beauty of her island. At the same time you, as the reader, will notice that during her childhood her relationship with her mother grew apart while the family size increased. By the help of her ambitious ways, Kincaid moved from her home island to the big city of New York. This is where she got her start.

The middle part of A Small Place is more focused on the way Antigua is today as opposed to the English control over the small country. In this section, she begins to analyze why the country is what it is and how it became that way. A lot of the blame for this is placed on the Englishmen. For example, in 1974 there was a devastating earthquake that destroyed many parts of the island, including the town’s library. Since the disaster occurred in 1974, the same sign has sat in the window stating, “THIS BUILDING WAS DAMAGED IN THE EARTHQUAKE OF 1947. Repairs are pending.” She hosts a discussion based on the fact that the old library was so grand and beautiful, just like the island before the English took control. The Mill Reef Club, a club for the wealthy, has funds to reconstruct the decrepit library, but only if it is completely rebuilt, not restored. To Kincaid, this is turning their backs on the old Antigua and focusing on the new, touristic aspect of the beautiful island. In her mind, this was a rouse used by the members of this club to recreate the past of Antigua when it was controlled by the English.

Also in this section, Kincaid discusses the corruption in the Antiguan government and the need for a Minister of Culture. According to Kincaid, Antigua is a small island that has succumbed to be defined as a tourist destination. On page 49 of A Small Place, she talks about the lack of culture is what establishes a need for a Minister of Culture, “in countries that have no culture or are afraid they may have no culture, there is a Minister of Culture.” She is saying that by appointing a Minister of Culture, a culture does not appear and grow. It has to be given the room to do so and with groups of people like the Mill Reef Club who look down on the blossoming of the unique Antiguan culture, it is difficult for it to be able to grow.

The last section of A Small Place summates the book with Jamaica Kincaid’s elaborate description of the incredible physical beauties of the island. She describes the beauty as being so intense that it is “unreal”, like a “stage set for a play.” (pg 77) She, then, goes on to explain how this beauty is a mixed blessing to the Antiguans. An important quote that seems to sum up Ms. Kincaid’s thoughts regarding being an inhabitant of Antigua is found on page 79. It states: “It is as if, then, the beauty—the beauty of the sea, the land, the air, the trees, the market, the people, the sounds they make—were a prison, and as if everything and everybody inside it were locked in and everything and everybody that is not inside it were locked out. And what might it do to ordinary people to live in this way every day? What might it do to them to live in such heightened, intense surroundings every day?” This statement, actually, seems to be the sum of the entire book. Throughout the four sections, she has explained the idea that Antigua’s outer appearance and beauty is not a reflection of the everyday struggles that it takes to keep it that way. This quote reinforces this thought of Antigua’s mixed beauty. Since Antigua has no natural resources, it must depend on its natural beauty in order to bring in money. The inhabitants are only a part of the unchanging scenery of poverty, and those who are not inhabitants are “locked out” from really knowing what their lives are truly like.

A last point to note about A Small Place, would be the way Ms. Kincaid chooses to end the book. In the last paragraph, she describes the slaves that where brought to Antigua by force. She explains that they were victims and therefore, noble, but those who live in Antigua now (their descendants) are just simple human beings. It is important to note this because through this whole book, she is trying to get the reader to see Antigua as more than a tourist attraction. She wants the reader to realize that even though it may be a vacation for some, the life and poverty that the inhabitants go through is real life. It is not fun and games for them; it is their lives and they go through the same problems and challenges of human beings everywhere.

Posted by Mia Berman, Megan Peters, Charlene Winburn

Works Cited

Byerman, Keith E. "Anger in a Small Place: Jamaica Kincaid's Cultural Critique of
Antigua." College Literature 22 (1995): 91-102.

Kincaid, Jamaica. A Small Place. New York: Penguin, 1988. (Book Cover) (small.gif)

http://www.coverwbrowser.com/. 7 Mar. 2009.