?From the reader's perspective, it is clear that Jamaica Kincaid is not satisfied with where Antigua is now. Comparing pre-colonial Antigua with colonial and post-colonial Antigua, Kincaid creates an anti-tourist novel and questions whether the island was better off in pre-colonial times or how it is now. In the first section of the novel, Kincaid describes to the reader the beauty of the island without going into the harsh way the natives live their lives. She tells this part from the hypothetical point of view of a tourist, but ultimately ends the section by discussing how much she dislikes tourists. The second section describes ancient Antigua, while it was in the colonial possession of Great Britain. The third section finds Kincaid wondering if times were better in the old days or what they are like today. The fourth section closes the book by comparing the "mixed denominations" with which the island's inhabitants live: they are surrounded by the immense beauty of a tropical island in the Caribbean, only to find themselves struck by poverty and an inadequate lifestyle. conditions. Kincaid's views on culture and history reflect what many Caribbeans and Antiguans think: that the living conditions they face today are very different from what they were in the past. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Kincaid's point of view in A Small Place reflects a Caribbean perspective, which is one of disgust towards Europeans. Although they felt like they were doing the natives a favor by coming in and teaching them their culture, Kincaid believes that Europeans stripped many Caribbeans of their culture, including the Antiguans. He believes Antiguan culture has been taken away from them and that other Caribbean islanders feel the same way about their land. The culture they once had and understanding of their island's native rituals are long gone, having been replaced by the ideas of Europeans. In the first section, Kincaid begins from a tourist's point of view and shows readers how they would see the island. “As the plane comes down to the ground, you might say, what a beautiful island Antigua is.” [4] Kincaid shows from a tourist perspective that the island is extremely beautiful. However, hidden in the beauty of the island lies the true life of the natives who live there, and the poverty and poor living conditions they face. A native sees the island differently because he has to live there and deals with it every day, while a tourist comes and sees the island for the first time. The tourist sees the island as a paradise, a sort of escape from the normal problems of his homeland. “Every native of every place is a potential tourist, and every tourist is a native of somewhere. Every native of the world lives a life of overwhelming and crushing banality, boredom, despair and depression, and every action, good and bad, is an attempt to forget all of this. Every native would like to find a way out, every native would like to rest, every native would like to go for a ride. But some natives – most natives in the world – can't go anywhere. They are too poor. They are too poor to go anywhere. They are too poor to escape the reality of their lives; and they are too poor to live adequately in the place where they live, which is the very place where you, the tourist, want to go - so when the natives see you, the tourist, they envy you, they envy your ability to leave your place your banality and boredom, they envy your ability to transform their own banality and boredom into a source of pleasure for yourself. [18-19]The reader is able to better understand how the natives live and, from a cultural point of view, can see that the Caribbean lifestyle is disrespectful to their culture. They live inpoverty and their culture has been stripped from them, and they are now forced to live in a world where European influence has taken over. The second section sees Kincaid return to ancient Antigua, during the colonial possession. Briefly recall Antigua's unconditional obedience to England and its culture. From a cultural point of view, we now see how England stripped the Antiguans of their culture and morals, managing to "mold" them, in a sense, into the people they wanted them to be. This was often the case in many once colonized Caribbean countries. “Have you ever tried to understand why people like me can't get over the past, can't forgive and can't forget? There is Barclay's Bank. The Barclay brothers are dead. The human beings who traded, the human beings who were just commodities to them, are dead. . . . So you see the strange thing about people like me? Sometimes we withhold your punishment.” Kincaid accuses the British colonial system of trading human beings and turning them into another object instead of a real human being. Kincaid cannot “forgive and forget” because there is no way to forgive or forget the way slavery affected people. In the third section, Kincaid questions whether things were better in the old days or how they are now. He uses the library as an example: “If I could hear the sound of stillness [of the old library] . . . , the smell of the sea. . . , the heat of the sun. . . , the beauty of us sitting there as communicants before an altar. . . , the tale of how we met you, your right to do the things you did. . . you would see why my heart would break at the pile of manure that now passes for a library in Antigua. “The library was a majestic place where people loved to spend their time. However, it now sits temporarily above a dry goods warehouse while it awaits repairs. Members of the Mill Reef Club have funds to help restore the library, but will only give money if it is completely rebuilt. Kincaid believes this has more to do with trying to remember the colonial regime than trying to actually help. In the last section, Kincaid states that the island's beauty is a "mixed blessing" for the natives, who are surrounded by beauty but trapped in poverty. “It is as if, then, beauty – the beauty of the sea, of the land, of the air, of the trees, of the market, of the people, of the sounds they make – was a prison, and as if everything and everyone inside it were locked in and everything and everyone who was not inside was locked out. And what might living this way every day mean for ordinary people? What might living in such a high and intense environment mean for them every day?" Keep in mind: this is just an example. Get a custom paper from our expert writers now. Get a custom essay island were victims and considered them honorable, but the their descendants and the people living in Antigua today are simply simple human beings. Europeans believed that colonizing these countries would give them a sense of hope and open them up to new cultures. However, Kincaid believes that the culture of Antigua was theirs stripped with the arrival of the English. From a cultural and historical point of view, the culture and sense of history of the Antiguans were taken from them. The natives live in a beautiful country but face poverty every day an outsider's view, the country is beautiful. However, from someone who is originally from the island, it is a place without culture or beauty. Works Cited Alleyne, M. (1994). The construction and representation of race and ethnicity in the Caribbean and around the world.,, 21(1), 19-42.