Symbolism In Jamaica Kincaid's A Small Place

Jamaica Kincaid’s A Small Place guides its readers through the small island of Antigua, the author’s native home. The narrative acts like a tour, with Kincaid writing in the second person perspective, thus placing the reader in the shoes of a tourist visiting Antigua. However, readers will quickly catch on to the highly sardonic and condemnatory tone that Kincaid uses; for example, “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” (10). Kincaid persistently hints at the selfishness, ignorance, and thoughtlessness of her readers, who are also the tourists (or potential tourists) of Antigua. Consequently,

Kincaid guides her readers through their vacation, illustrating the sights and experiences a typical tourist would encounter while visiting Antigua. However, Kincaid’s words are laced with sarcasm. Kincaid draws upon experiences with real tourists and condemns them by passing this criticism on to her readers. Kincaid writes, “You see yourself taking a walk on that beach, you see yourself meeting new people (only they are new in a very limited way, for they are people just like you). You see yourself eating some delicious, locally grown food. You see yourself, you see yourself…” (13). Here, she is commenting on the vanity of a tourist. By repeating the phrase “you see yourself”, Kincaid is hinting that the tourist does exactly that. The tourist is egotistical, caring only about their own paradisiacal vacation. This is further emphasised when Kincaid mockingly states “you could ruin your holiday” (10). She implies that tourists often turn a blind eye to the corruption that plagues the island and its government, intentionally choosing to overlook the injustice and hardships faced by the Antiguan natives. The “slightly funny feeling” (10) that Kincaid refers to is the tourist’s guilty conscience, thus Kincaid is accusing the tourist of inhumanely placing their own trivial getaway from their relatively comfortable lives over the basic human needs and rights of the natives. By directly addressing her readers, insulting and accusing them of such inconsiderate and heartless behaviour, Kincaid is trying to inflict feelings of guilt, hoping that her readers would reflect on the way they act when they inhabit another’s