Jamaica Kincaid's A Small Place

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“Of course, the whole thing is, once you can cease to be a master, once you throw off your master's yoke, you are no longer human rubbish…” denotes how Jamaica Kincaid writes A Small Place (81). Expressing love for Antigua, while also showing disdain for what the small island has become in her novel. Using different characters to point out the conundrum that Antigua finds itself, makes A Small Place occasionally seem sarcastic in tone. How Jamaica Kincaid describes the beautiful colors of houses, unreal flowers, forceful rains, beautifully spelling out what makes Antigua almost mystical, showing her love for her country while eluding to the country's past. “What a beautiful island Antigua is - more beautiful than any of the other islands …show more content…
“For almost not a day goes by that I don’t hear about some dictator, some tyrant from somewhere in the world, who has robbed his country’s treasury, stolen the aid from foreign governments, and placed it in his own personal and secret Swiss bank account; not a day goes by that I don’t hear of some criminal kingpin, some investor, who has a secret Swiss bank account.” (60). Colonialist leaving corruption is one of the more strained ideas that Jamaica Kincaid breaks down. Pointing out how colonial powers, the likes of Christopher Columbus, change the history, economy, landscape, equally ruining what makes Antigua magical, as well as scarring the people for generations. Witnessing beauty become clouded with milky white pastry-like bodies, slavery, racism, concrete mansions, corruption and the abandonment of Antigua hurt Jamaica Kincaid. Using different perspectives helped paint the aftermath of colonialism at a grand scale, ensuring no rock was left unturned and no perpetrators were unidentified. The novel A Small Place teaches a lot about the importance of tense or touchy subjects brought to the attention of the
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