In “A Small Place” by Jamaica Kincaid, Kincaid criticizes tourists for being heartless and ignorant to the problems that the people of Antigua had and the sacrifices that had to be made to make Antigua a tremendous tourist/vacation spot. While Kincaid makes a strong argument, her argument suggests that she doesn't realize what tourism is for the tourists. In other words, tourism is an escape for those who are going on vacation and the tourists are well within their rights to be “ignorant”, especially because no one is telling them what is wrong with Antigua.
The biggest aspect of Kincaid's argument that makes it flawed is her anger. That is not to say that there aren't times where anger is justified. At the same time, the harsh language that Kincaid uses to discuss tourists is only based on her perspective. In other words, when Kincaid calls the tourists “ugly” because of how they treat a vacation, it makes Kincaid seem like she is placing blame on the tourists for not being proactive in making sure that the workers in the tourism sector are not better appreciated. Another quote that indicates a lack of consideration for the tourists was “they (the natives) envy your (the tourists) ability to turn their own banality and boredom into a source of pleasure for yourself” (pg 18-19). The words “banality” and “boredom” indicate that Kincaid believes that the tourists’ lives are based on the rare time that they can go to another place to escape the monotony of their lives. Kincaid’s belief is flawed because it does not consider the fact that people are going on vacation in Antigua, because they heard that it is a tremendous place to go on vacation. More to the point, the language that Kincaid uses shows an unjustified anger at people w...
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...est anything about the lives of people that she has only observed.
Kincaid makes strong arguments against tourism and tourist, especially those that vacation in Antigua. The problem with her argument (despite the fact that she acknowledges that tourists are only a small part of the problem in comparison to things like the government’s attitude) is that it puts a responsibility on tourists that they are not inclined to consider. It is not the job of the tourists to save Antigua, in fact (as harsh as it may sound), it is not even a responsibility of a tourist to consider the internal issues within a land they choose to visit. With that in mind, creating an Antigua that is truly beautiful and a place where the natives are treated well is not only primarily a responsibility of the natives and government; it is only the responsibility of the natives and the government.
In the passage from the novel LUCY, author Jamaica Kincaid dramatizes the forces of self and environment, through her character whose identity is challenged with a move. The new home provided all she needed, but it was all so many changes, she “didn’t want to take in anything else” (15-16). Her old “familiar and predictable past”(40) stayed behind her, and she now had to find who she was in her new life. Kincaid uses detail, metaphor, and tone in the passage to show her character’s internal struggle.
Kincaid begins by pointing out to “you,” a tourist what is missing from Antigua in order to first make clear the reality that knowledge is not existent, valued, or accessible in Antigua. She illustrates “your” arrival, when she notes, “You are a tourist and you have not yet seen a school in Antigua, you have not yet seen the hospital in Antigua, you have not yet seen a public monument in Antigua.” But she abruptly interrupts this thought and continues in sarcastic and marked nonchalance, “what a beautiful island Antigua is—more beautiful than any of the other islands you have seen.” (3) Here, Kincaid demonstrates that knowledge is severely lacking or nonexistent in the land of Antigua by providing examples of physical manifestations of a well educated society that are not present. Knowledge is attained by learning information, data, and facts made available to children through education in schools. Knowledgeable people—educated children who grow up to be educated adults who have completed to several ambitious years of extra...
Rosalie Schwartz analyzes tourism during the Twentieth Century in Cuba. She focuses mainly on the 1920s, 1950s, and then ending with the 1990s. In the introduction, Schwartz briefly describes and makes the point that her research is based not on the history of tourism, but that tourism as history is the focal point. She looks at tourism from the aspects of behavior, attitudes, and cultures that influenced tourism in Cuba. Schwartz’s historical issue gives attention to the impact that Cuba’s tourism had on the social change that would leave an everlasting impact on the culture, behavior, and country as a whole.
In “A Small Place” by Jamaica Kincaid written in 1983, she intensely expresses her belief and annoyance about the tourist at the first sentence of the quotation: "That the native does not like the tourist is not hard to explain”. "The native" here implies herself and she explains that tourism is all about people finding a way to leave from their routine life and enjoying themselves, yet every tourist is a native of somewhere. People who live in their native place seem to be boring for them but for tourists that place are very attractive. In my experience as a native of my hometown and as a tourist, I disagree with Kincaid's argument. She is very subjective and biased since she does not reveal the tourists side of the story. She pulls people
In Jamaica Kincaid’s A Small Place she describes the island of Antigua to a tourist. In the passage that is discussed on this paper Kincaid is explaining to the tourist how they are seen by the locals on the island. She writes in the second person to directly address the tourist but there is a lot of nuance in her writing that reveal her true feelings to the reader. In the passage Kincaid use language as a tool to dehumanize the tourist. She paints them as more of a creature than a person.
Jamaica Kincaid’s success as a writer was not easily attained as she endured struggles of having to often sleep on the floor of her apartment because she could not afford to buy a bed. She described herself as being a struggling writer, who did not know how to write, but sheer determination and a fortunate encounter with the editor of The New Yorker, William Shawn who set the epitome for her writing success. Ms. Kincaid was a West-Indian American writer who was the first writer and the first individual from her island of Antigua to achieve this goal. Her genre of work includes novelists, essayist, and a gardener. Her writing style has been described as having dreamlike repetition, emotional truth and autobiographical underpinnings (Tahree, 2013). Oftentimes her work have been criticized for its anger and simplicity and praised for its keen observation of character, wit and lyrical quality. But according to Ms. Kincaid her writing, which are mostly autobiographical, was an act of saving her life by being able to express herself in words. She used her life experiences and placed them on paper as a way to make sense of her past. Her experience of growing up in a strict single-parent West-Indian home was the motivation for many of her writings. The knowledge we garnered at an early age influenced the choice we make throughout our life and this is no more evident than in the writings of Jamaica Kincaid.
The poem "Girl" by author Jamaica Kincaid shows love and family togetherness by creating microcosmic images of the way mothers raise their children in order to survive. Upon closer examination, the reader sees that the text is a string of images in Westerner Caribbean family practices.
...xtent will this essay bring about a change in Antigua? The Antiguan scene can only be modified by the government choosing to run the country in a more manner that will benefit everyone associated with Antigua, especially its natives. The native’s behaviours are related to their jealousy of tourists, and of the tourist’s ability to escape their own hometown to take a vacation. While a tourist can relate to the idea that the exhaustion felt after a vacation comes from dealing with the invisible animosity in the air between the natives and themselves, having this knowledge is almost as good as not having it, because there is nothing that the tourist, or the reader, can really DO about it! If Kincaid’s purpose is solely to make tourists aware of their actions, she has succeeded. If Kincaid’s purpose is to help Antigua, she may not have succeeded to the same magnitude.
A lot of tourists would not think that they are offending the native residents when they travel. In the article, “The Ugly Tourist” excerpt from Jamaica Kincaid’s book, Small Place, she argues that when one is in a state of being a tourist, one does not know the depth of the place and only sees what one wants to see. Kincaid gives a strong idea of what she is arguing when she described a tourist as “an ugly human being.” She presents the emotional conflicts between tourist and the natives by evaluating their different lifestyles.
“And it was the middle of the night when there was no wind and there had been no rain for a long time…” (Kincaid 4.61) Mr. Potter’s life begins in stark contrast to the opening of the book. When demonstrating Mr. Potter’s routine life, Jamaica Kincaid portrays “the sun…in its usual place, up above and in the middle of the sky…” (Kincaid 1.3) but she chose a very different setting for Mr. Potter’s birth. Instead of being born into a sun so bright it made “even the shadows pale” (Kincaid 1.3), Mr. Potter was born into darkness. This darkness, in fact, marked the beginning of his life and continued until his mother walked into the sea. “The water was thick and blank (it was a form of darkness)” (Kincaid 4.71). Although the book incorporates many repetitions of the line about the sun being in its usual place, up above and in the middle of the sky, this chapter emerges in darkness.
The beautiful, radiant and vibrant island that goes by the name of Jamaica is located on the Windward region of the Caribbean. It is one of the best place to be on earth. Our motto “Out of Many One People”, symbolizes the vast cultures and races that make up this beautiful island. Jamaica the land I love, lives on in each individual and leaves a positive impact even with just one visit or no visit at all. In this essay I will elaborate on the various cultures that build up the island, the different attractions the country has to offer and an overview of the unique lifestyle of Jamaicans.
According to the ‘World Tourism Organization’ (UNWTO), the tourism industry is one of the fastest growing sectors in the world, as it is estimated that by the year 2020, 7.8 billion people (roughly a quarter of the world’s population) will embark on a foreign trip (Bennett & Gebhardt 15). The Caribbean is said to be the most economically dependent on this industry, as the ‘Caribbean Tourism Organisation’ states that the industry forms the “economic backbone of most countries in the Region”(“Caribbean Tourism Industry” 1), implications for what tourism’s affect on the region have arisen and have prompted further research into matter. Since the 1970’s research regarding tourism in the Caribbean has attempted to determine the social, cultural, environmental, and economic impacts of tourism. Much of the research has found that there are in fact many negative adverse affects, and Jackson’s article asserts that, “Governments often commit money and other resources to support the growth and development of tourism and often turn a blind eye to its negative impacts” (574). The reason why tourism looks attractive (and thus turn a blind eye) to these Caribbean countries is because of “its potential to foster GDP growth, to create employment, to increase foreign exchange earnings, and attract capital investment” (Daye, Chambers, and Roberts 2). This paper will overview such impacts by first discussing a case study conducted in Jamaican resort town, Ocho Rios, with Sheere Brooks discussing the observed social, cultural and economical consequences of Jamaica’s reliance on the tourism industry and will finally look at tourism in relation to capitalism, with Robert Fletcher suggesting in his article that the tourism industry (and more specifically...
Literature as defined by Merriam-Webster Dictionary is “the body of written works produced in a particular language, country, or age”. Literature comes in different variations, languages, and from different countries. Canadian literature is literature made exclusively by an author of Canadian descent that understands what life is as a Canadian. The Canadian play I chose to read was Toronto Mississippi by Joan Macleod. The play has different themes that can be used as to teaching tools in Canadian English classes. The theme of being handicapped is the theme that the play revolves around. The talented playwright Joan Macleod has yet again made another successful play and should be used as teaching tool to teach students in Canadian English classes.
Tourism is an important and intricate element to society. It affects economical, social, cultural and environmental elements. Tourism can be argued to have a negative impact on the environment and decrease our already depleting resources, but tourism can also be argued to be a major contributor to strengthening economies, spread cultural traditions and improve people’s lives. Tourism
It is a well-noted fact that tourists from the developed world, or rich western nations, are in favour of visiting unspoilt natural environments and places steeped in tradition. However, Lea (1988) regards such attractions as being a sign of underdevelopment and rarely tolerated by the host nations just because they meet with foreign approval of visitors. Instead, it is the priority of the respective governments to raise living standards to acceptable levels, which means modernisation and the implementation of various infrastructures. Nevertheless, if administered effectively mass tourism could provide a form of sustainable development by meeting the needs of the present without compromising those of the future.