Summary of "A Small Place" - Jamaica Kincaid | Major English Class 11

Summary | Major English
A Small Place
Jamaica Kincaid

Class : 11

In her essay “A Small Place” Jamaica Kincaid reveals the vast gap between the everyday life of Antiguans and the people who visit the island. In fact, by attacking the tourists, she is also attacking the corrupt government of Antigua. 

Antigua, a beautiful and sunny island, is often visited by tourists. A tourist who would visit it would first land on the airport that is named after the Prime Minister. The tourist would easily pass through the customs without being checked while the Antiguans coming after working in other countries with cardboard full of cheap clothes and foods for relatives would be checked completely. 

Outside the airport, brand new Japanese car will be available. But the drivers would try to cheat the tourists. The driver who may even not have his license will drive the car carelessly. The brand new car will make an awful sound because it is filled with leaded petrol. The driver who drives a brand new and highly expensive Japanese car will actually have a very poor house. Government gives loans for cars but not for houses because the two main cars’ dealership is owned by the Ministers of the Government. Schools in Antigua are poorly managed. They look like latrines. Antiguans do not trust the doctors in the hospital of Antigua. Even the Minister of Health and other Ministers go to New York for their check-up. The only library in Antigua had collapsed in the 1974 earthquake, and still its repair is pending. The American Embassy is taller than the government offices. The house of a merchant whose family came from the Middle East is splendid. When they had come to Antigua 20 years ago they used to sell goods door to door from suitcases carried on their backs. Now they are richer than the government. The house of a smuggler is also very tall and splendid. When the Queen of England came to visit Antigua in 1985, the roads were paved anew to give her false impression that riding in a car in Antigua is a pleasant experience. This indicates the double standard of the government. Another lady Evita is also very rich and powerful because she is the girl friend of one of the government official. The food for tourists comes from Miami which were actually grown in some parts of Antigua and were sent to Miami for processing. 

The author then says that tourists are ugly person and local Antiguans hate them. The tourists do not expect rain because it will spoil their holiday in Antigua while the local people want rain. The tourists do not understand the corruption and colonial past ofAntigua because they are absorbed in their self-centered pleasures and self-worth. The tourists are unaware that their discarded filths spoil the water of Antigua. Local people do not like the lifestyle of the tourists, their gestures, and their high fashion. The tourists are actually unnoticed by the people. The people feel envy towards them and their riches.

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