Jamaica Kincaid, "A Small Place"

"A Small Place," by Jamaica Kincaid.

Here are some possible questions to ask yourself as you read the book. Some of them might serve to stimulate discussion with your group. (Note: "Antigua" is pronounced "An-TI-ga"]

What are the major and recurring themes of this book? (colonization, slavery, tourism, identity, corruption)

Kincaid is very harsh on the British (pp. 23, 24, 35). Why?

She seems angry. Why? Are her emotions justified?

What is a tourist? She has an opinion on p. 14. Do you agree? What does a tourist see as opposed to what the native sees?

How does Kincaid's knowledge of the history of Antigua inform/color her views?

Is she anti-American? Anti-British? Anti-Antiguan (she is harsh on corruption and incompetence). Where does Antiguan corruption and incompetence stem from?

What role did slavery play in the formation of modern Antigua (pp. 10, 14, 27, 34, 37, 43, 51, 54, 55, 80)?

Who is the audience for this book (p. 3)?

Is tourism more important than education, medicine, public works? (p. 3).

Does the initial/superficial beauty of Antigua blind visitors to more stark realities? What do we see? What are we trained to see? What do we want to see?

You are a tourist: "the thought of what it might be like for someone who had to live day in, day out [...] must never cross your mind" (p. 4).

Do tourists get different treatment at customs (p. 4)? Does race play a role in that?

Taxi driver cheats and speeds. What does this say about local standards and respect for the law?

Corruption: good cars, bad houses. Why? "The two main car dealerships in Antigua are owned in part or outfight by ministers of government" (p. 7).

"Repairs are pending": sign on the library since 1974. Why is she so upset that it has never been fixed? What does it signify (p. 42)?

Books explain how the West got rich (ingenuity, not slavery). History is written by the West (p. 10).

Who dominates? Corrupt ministers, foreign capitalists, drug smugglers.

What happened when the Queen visited (p. 12)?

Do tourists see any of this? No. What do we see? Sun, beaches, water, quaint natives (pp. 12-13)

Whom do tourists meet? People like themselves (p. 13): "you see yourself"

Privilege vs. poverty (pp. 15-16).

Is the West superior? More organized? More entrepreneurial (p. 17)?

How do natives regard tourists (pp. 18-19)? Is this accurate? Fair?

How does commerce/colonization change a place? (p. 23)

Horatio Nelson. What do British history books call him? What does she call him ("an English maritime criminal" p. 24). How can our views be so different? (p. 6)

Divergent customs: "There were laws against abusive language. Can you imagine such a law among people for whom making a spectacle of yourself through speech is everything?" (p. 25). Do you have any examples of this from your experience? Will we experience similar situations or circumstances?

Why does Kincaid call the English Princess "putty-faced" (p. 25)? And "this Princess person" (p. 27)

Two important questions: (p. 26)

What does she have to say about the Mill Reef Club? (p. 27)

Who are the Western role models she experienced? Bankers, Mill Reef Club members (you're black), doctor (you're dirty), teacher (you're monkeys)

How do people behave when they are away from home? (p. 29)

"The England that, no matter what we did we could never be of" (p. 30). What does she mean?

She has a very negative view of England (p. 31). Why? She speaks of (elegant) English, but seems to resent it (p. 31). Why?

Rage. (32). Should she just get over it, and move on? (p. 34). Can she? She provides a partial answer on p. 54: can you find it?

When "this Princess person" comes to visit Antigua, what happens? (p. 33) [Potemkin Village]

"You distorted or erased my history and glorified your own" (p. 36). Is this just an Antigua-England issue?

What did the English think about the locals? (p. 36)

Why does she say that people like her are "shy about being capitalists" (pp. 36-37)?

Can cultures connect on an even footing? Or, are dominance, superiority and oppression inevitable?

"The people at the Mill Reef Club love the old Antigua. I love the old Antigua. Without question, we don't have the same old Antigua in mind" (p. 44). Meaning?

The residue of colonization and slavery: "She is notorious for liking Antiguans only if they are servants" (p. 47). "my girls" = women.

What is culture? (p. 49)

She writes, "these poor sap countries like Antigua" (p. 52). Is she being serious? Comic? Ironic?

What are the consequences of slavery? (p. 55)

Identity: who is she? Does she know? (p. 57)

What does she have to say about the Swiss and Swiss banks? (p. 65)

She raises issues and questions about a place that a tourist cannot see or know. What goes on below the surface of that sun-dappled water?

"Antigua is too beautiful" (p. 77). Meaning? Is it real? What do tourists see (p. 78)? Why does she call it a "prison" (p. 79)?

Antigua = 9 miles x 12 miles

"...settled by human rubbish from Europe" (p. 80)