A small place
Danielle Bryant
Mark Neumann
Communications 101
4 November 2001 “In a small place people cultivate small events,” states author Jamaica Kincaid in her novel A Small Place. The book illustrates a landscape in which she lives thus detailing who she is as explained by Jose Ortega y Gasset. Born and raised in the twelve-mile long, nine-mile wide country of Antigua Kincaid has struggled with her small place her entire life as she narrates the paradise that many visit and the prison in which many live. This reality is one that cannot be escaped due to centuries of production and maintenance within the country and Kincaid’s personal world. It is apparent throughout the novel that Kincaid has a sense that the place in which she lives is one of major conflict and corruption from a young age but has no clues as to what that is as those who live in Antigua do not leave Antigua, hence, it is a prison. The only clue that is provided as to what life is like elsewhere is through tourists who come to vacation in Antigua, hence, it is a paradise. This dual reality of paradise and prison is one that is constant throughout the novel as it is continuously produced and maintained, not only, on a cultural but also a personal level. To begin, the dual reality of paradise and prison is one that is constant throughout the novel as it is continuously produced on a cultural and personal level. The reality of paradise is produced when the novel begins as Kincaid takes the reader on a first person tour of the city, going through winding roads, explaining the colors of the sky and sea; however, Kincaid also foils each beautiful aspect with a background. The buildings that seems unique to the country are ones that Antiguans despise: the hospital is one no native wants to attend as it hold the three men who themselves fly to New York for medical attention; the library that may seem quaint as the natives are potentially are too laid back to repair the damages from the earthquake. This
Mark Neumann
Communications 101
4 November 2001 “In a small place people cultivate small events,” states author Jamaica Kincaid in her novel A Small Place. The book illustrates a landscape in which she lives thus detailing who she is as explained by Jose Ortega y Gasset. Born and raised in the twelve-mile long, nine-mile wide country of Antigua Kincaid has struggled with her small place her entire life as she narrates the paradise that many visit and the prison in which many live. This reality is one that cannot be escaped due to centuries of production and maintenance within the country and Kincaid’s personal world. It is apparent throughout the novel that Kincaid has a sense that the place in which she lives is one of major conflict and corruption from a young age but has no clues as to what that is as those who live in Antigua do not leave Antigua, hence, it is a prison. The only clue that is provided as to what life is like elsewhere is through tourists who come to vacation in Antigua, hence, it is a paradise. This dual reality of paradise and prison is one that is constant throughout the novel as it is continuously produced and maintained, not only, on a cultural but also a personal level. To begin, the dual reality of paradise and prison is one that is constant throughout the novel as it is continuously produced on a cultural and personal level. The reality of paradise is produced when the novel begins as Kincaid takes the reader on a first person tour of the city, going through winding roads, explaining the colors of the sky and sea; however, Kincaid also foils each beautiful aspect with a background. The buildings that seems unique to the country are ones that Antiguans despise: the hospital is one no native wants to attend as it hold the three men who themselves fly to New York for medical attention; the library that may seem quaint as the natives are potentially are too laid back to repair the damages from the earthquake. This