Rui-Long Monico - Geneva // USA Conexion

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Antigua, one of the jewel of the Caribbean sea, natural paradise for wealthy jet-setters, a small place englobed by beautiful seas. Antigua, better known for its white sand beaches, tropical weather and banking policies rather than its literature. Out of bitterness, Jamaica Kincaid breaks the illusion set upon her country to denounce it's illnesses.

In this essay, Kincaid divides her work in four distinct parts to better understand how and why Antigua's standard of living are so low today. In the first part, we take a trip around the island looking through the eyes of the typical white tourist blindfolded to the horror of poverty. Then Kincaid criticizes the government for being so corrupt and to have sold the country so rich drug dealers and foreign investors. The native Antiguans take some shot too for not challenging their way of life. Finally, the last part is about the beauty of Antigua.

Kincaid's tone during the whole 81 pages of her essay is definitively angry. Personally, I like her style. The long sentences, the simple structure, the in-your-face attitude, gives the novel a very powerful and unique fashion. Unfortunately, I think Jamaica Kincaid lacks any real solutions to the problems she points out. Of course it's not her job to find solutions, but it would have been nice to read some of her suggestions. She is also flawed by the use of two many fallacies such as stereotyping and oversimplifying group of people and some hot issues. Oh well.

This novel was not written for artistic or entertainment purpose. Instead, A Small Place was seeking to shock people. It was aimed at the average American or European that visits this island without realizing that unemployment became the norm, that there is no decent hospital or library, that education is a fancy word and that the people that owns Antigua don't even live within it's boundaries. If that was her goal, it certainly did accomplish it. It was even banned in Antigua...