Jamaica Kincaid
In Jamaica Kincaid’s novel, A Small Place, her ideas are centered around the negative effects of British rule on her country. Kincaid’s country, Antigua, is a small island that was a colony of Great Britain. The negative aspects of British rule can be seen in many of the faces and places of Antigua. One of the most apparent injustices done to the Antiguan society came by way of the impression left by Great Britain. The country of Antigua was under British rule for some twenty years. In this time period, the British corrupted Antigua by transforming it from the laid back, exotic island, into a miniature version of Great Britain. This type of imperialism completely eliminated any sense of individuality that Antigua might have possessed. Instead of nurturing the Antiguan’s beliefs and embracing their cultures, the British forced their traditions and customs upon them (Kincaid 30). In doing so, the Antiguans became much like the British in their way of thinking. They were no longer the cari . . .
With their new found freedom they no longer worked on someone else’s schedule. It makes them feel as though nothing can be accomplished without the help of their oppressors. It serves as a daily reminder to the people of Antigua that they are inferior. It was not long after this that Antigua gained its much-awaited independence. Time had become something entirely different to them now. This inverted way of thinking only compounded the problems that the Antiguan society would face once they were self-governed. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1988. It was after this monumental moment in Antiguan history when the so-called corruption began to take place (Kincaid 70). Kincaid explains this when she discusses the state of the library with this statement: “ Repairs are pending, and here it is many years later, but perhaps in a world that is twelve miles long and nine miles wide twelve years and twelve minutes and twelve days are all the same. The Library itself was destroyed in an earthquake that occurred in 1974. However, the British looked at this corruption in a different way. People may say that the corruption in Antigua did not start until the British left. But now the only thing that still stands as a symbol of the burdens laid at the feet of the Antiguans is a an old demolished library.
Common topics in this essay:
British Antigua, Antigua British, Antiguans British, Jamaica Kincaids, british rule, Straus Giroux, country antigua, antiguan society, |
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