Analysis Of Jamaica Kincaid's On Seeing England For The First Time

Many people have heard the phrase “If a tree falls in the forest with no one around to hear it, does it still make a sound?” This phrase reflects Martin Luther King Jr.’s quote “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” If a tree falls in the forest with no one around, it still makes a sound in the forest, just no one is there to hear or acknowledge it. However, the sound of the tree falling is heard by a few creatures living in the forest and that sound contributes to the overall noise of the forest and makes an impact on the surroundings. This is similar to injustices committed all over the world. Just like how the tree falls and obviously makes a noise that can be heard, injustices clearly pose a hazard towards justice. Injustices

The unfortunate power of injustice and crime can corrupt and taint the thoughts of others and possibly affect that person’s future thinking process. It can morph their mind to think like and support the causes of the persuader. In relation to Jamaica Kincaid’s “On Seeing England for the First Time”, the society that Kincaid lived in was British, so everything that Kincaid had to do was British-orientated. She was taught from the very beginning that Britain was the “best” country and that anything that country supported or did was right, justified, and the “right” way of life. However, Britain hid all the dark truth about the country from her and others and told them what to do to live life the “right way.” This was the injustice that influenced, morphed, and totally changed Kincaid’s mindset that led to her living a different life than she wanted. She did not actually live in Britain, though, just a colony that was controlled by Britain, so when she actually goes sees England for the first time, she describes the disappointment by saying that is was not what it was made out to be. She was told it was this grand, beautiful place, but all she saw was hatred. And not only did the society impact her with its injustice, she was also forced to think this way by her parents who were also told these lies.

This is shown in “Serving in Florida” by Barbara Ehrenreich when the author heard that the Czech dishwasher was accused of stealing from the diner they both worked at, and the author did not stand up for the dishwasher and try to defend him or prove his innocence. She just stood by and kept her mouth shut. Because of her silent injustice, (it being unjustified since she knew he was innocent) the dishwasher was fired and struggled financially and then had a problematic situation with money which impacted his life greatly like it would any other person. In this specific situation, the injustice that was committed by the author impacted another person’s life. However, injustices performed by a person could also impact that performer’s life as well, which can be related to the author and the guilt she has to live