A major theme in Jamaica Kincaid’s A Small Place and Yevgeny Zamyatin’s We is collectivity, the state of being collected into one. Both texts are notable examples of such and show the different types of collectiveness as the point of view shifts from tourist to native, rationalist to anti-rationalist. In A Small Place, Antigua’s identity as a nation varies when observed from two different perspectives. Tourists view Antigua as a utopic resort that serves as an escape from the dullness of a routinely life. However, because a tourist’s beautifying gaze distorts the reality the Antiguans have to face, their view greatly differs from an Antiguan’s view. Due to Britain’s colonization of Antigua for over 350 years, the residual effects of their domination evidently leave the Antiguans economically powerless, though many fail to realize they are spiritually powerless as well. Under Kincaid’s scrutiny, which has insight into both a tourist’s and a native’s perspective, she demystifies the fog that prevents tourists from viewing Antigua as anything more than a resort. Similarly, One State’s demand for uniform belief in rationality acts as a cognitive prison in which individuality and imagination are not allowed. The protagonist, initially the model citizen as he is the chief builder of the Integral whose purpose is to spread rationality like a religion, is able to escape from that prison occasionally. His vacillation between freedom and the confines of the One State are illustrated through his personal journal entries as two contrasting perspectives become clear: the belief in rationality and the opposition of the coercive rationalism. In both Jamaica Kincaid’s A Small Place and Yevgeny Zamyatin’s We, the authors use collectivity as a tool...
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...ntity. By using second person narration and tones of sarcasm, Kincaid introduces the tourists’ the and natives’ views of Antigua to show the reader that Antigua is not what it looks to be.
In conclusion, Jamaica Kincaid’s A Small Place and Yevgeny Zamyatin’s We are notable examples of collectivity and represent the author’s efforts to fix the problems their nations face. The nature of collectivity in both novels is depicted both psychologically and physically and proves to be dangerous when taken to extreme measures. Through using rhetorical thrusts and embedding messages in their texts, the authors’ endeavors to correct their nations by using the theme of collectivity become clear: these texts warn against sacrificing human nature for the sake of planned utopias not only for the people in the time period in which the texts were written for, but also for present.
History can significantly influence the ways in which a place, along with its community, evolves. Now considered postcolonial, not only are Hawaii and Antigua heavily defined by their colonial pasts, but they are also systematically forced into enduring the consequences of their unfavorable histories. Through their unconventionally enlightening essays, Jamaica Kincaid and Juliana Spahr offer compelling insights into how the same idea that exists as a tourist’s perception of paradise also exists as an unprofitable reality for the natives who are trapped in their pasts yet ironically labeled as independent. The lasting impacts of colonialism on the history of Antigua and Hawaii can be noted through their lasting subservience to their colonizing
In different ways, the novel’s narrated the construction of diasporic sensibility subjects effects a evaluation of the postcolonial nation-state without subscribing to a unified, one-world vision of global belonging.
In the chapter One Island, Two Peoples, Two Histories: The Dominican Republic and Haiti the present day differences of Haiti and The Dominican Republic are explained through the political, social, and ecological history of both locations. The Dominican Republic, although it is still considered a developing country, is in a objectively worse state than Haiti. Haiti’s environmental policies failed so horrendously in the past that the area is in a visible state of disarray. With only 1% of the country still forested, not only is the visual draw of the country lessened, but the prospect of wood trading that the forests once offered is almost obsolete. This greatly effects the outside world’s image of Haiti which, given the financial gain tourism
Many people value the tangible over the complex. However, viewing the world solely through this definite lens is an oversimplification. Yevgeny Zamyatin’s We explores this flaw in a society founded solely upon its government’s definition of the “ultimate happiness.” To reach utopia, it eliminates inefficiency, crime, and despondency, by promoting state-led happiness. Despite these admirable goals, the One State’s methods sacrifice freedom, individualism, and, ironically, happiness itself, ultimately failing its mission. Zamyatin explores the emotionless routine within the One State to assert that happiness cannot exist when controlled and rationalized.
It is funny and yet tragic to see that no matter where an individual’s geographical location is or for the most part when in history the duration of their lifetime occurred, that they still can share with other tormented individuals the same pain, as a result of the same malignancies plaguing humanity for what seems to have been from the beginning. Emily Dickinson’s poetry, Gustave Flaubert’s Madame Bovary, and Lu Xun’s “Diary of a Madman” all exhibit disgust for their societies, what is particularly interesting however, is that the subject of their complaints are almost identical in nature. This demonstrates how literature really does reflect the attitudes and tribulations the society and or culture endures from which it was written. The grievances that they feel to be of such importance as to base their literary works on are that of traditionalism and, the carnivorous nature of society. Different societies will inevitably produce different restrictive and consuming faces to these problems.
In “A Small Place” by Jamaica Kincaid, Kincaid criticizes tourists for being heartless and ignorant to the problems that the people of Antigua had and the sacrifices that had to be made to make Antigua a tremendous tourist/vacation spot. While Kincaid makes a strong argument, her argument suggests that she doesn't realize what tourism is for the tourists. In other words, tourism is an escape for those who are going on vacation and the tourists are well within their rights to be “ignorant”, especially because no one is telling them what is wrong with Antigua.
Comparing The Red Room by H.G. Wells and The Darkness Out There by Penelope Lively
Thomas More’s “Utopia”, Bartolomé de Las Casas’s “Destruction of the Indies”, and Michel de Montaigne’s “Of Cannibals” have the commonality of discussing mysterious territories which have certain conditions in several aspects of life which their present audience is unaware. The three authors describe foreign places with vastly different values and social standards, but they all describe the treatments or relations of the indigenous people by Europeans and outsiders, as well as the natives’ reaction to these treatments. More, Las Casas, and Montaigne reveal their personal views through descriptions of the different groups of indigenous people, and all suggest that their “advanced” societies are not necessarily better than those with different
Set in St. Lucia, Walcott’s Omeros reveals an island possessing a rich past. St. Lucia, a former colony, has a history of ‘pagan’ religion and tradition, a different language, and an economic background based namely on fishing. Locals must try to reconcile their heritage prior to colonization, the influences of colonization, and how to create a new culture from the ashes of the others (Hogan 17).
Jamaica 1930 was not the picture of peaceful jungles and calm sunsets that we see in travel agents’ brochures. Jamaica 1930 was a time of economic, social, and natural disaster. As L...
Within every story or poem, there is always an interpretation made by the reader, whether right or wrong. In doing so, one must thoughtfully analyze all aspects of the story in order to make the most accurate assessment based on the literary elements the author has used. Compared and contrasted within the two short stories, “Girl” by Jamaica Kincaid, and John Updike’s “A&P,” the literary elements character and theme are made evident. These two elements are prominent in each of the differing stories yet similarities are found through each by studying the elements. The girls’ innocence and naivety as characters act as passages to show something superior, oppression in society shown towards women that is not equally shown towards men.
Through the use of emotional arguments and social appeal the author, Kincaid, gets the feeling across that she was a victim of England. To get you to feel like the victim she uses lots of metaphors. In the first paragraph she uses the one, “England was a special jewel all right and only special people got to wear it”(p.61). It is right here that the author sets the tone of the essay. She gives you the idea that she was not special enough to put on this gem of England. In doing this she makes a social appeal to anyone looking for a view of colonization. In using descriptive language she make you feel sorry for her in the how she had to “Draw a map of England”(p.63), at the end of every test.
...xtent will this essay bring about a change in Antigua? The Antiguan scene can only be modified by the government choosing to run the country in a more manner that will benefit everyone associated with Antigua, especially its natives. The native’s behaviours are related to their jealousy of tourists, and of the tourist’s ability to escape their own hometown to take a vacation. While a tourist can relate to the idea that the exhaustion felt after a vacation comes from dealing with the invisible animosity in the air between the natives and themselves, having this knowledge is almost as good as not having it, because there is nothing that the tourist, or the reader, can really DO about it! If Kincaid’s purpose is solely to make tourists aware of their actions, she has succeeded. If Kincaid’s purpose is to help Antigua, she may not have succeeded to the same magnitude.
In the introduction to “The Pure Products Go Crazy,” James Clifford offers a poem by William Carlos Williams about a housekeeper of his named Elsie. This girl is of mixed blood, with a divided common ancestry, and no real collective roots to trace. Williams begins to make the observation that this is the direction that the world is moving in, as Clifford puts it—“an inevitable momentum.” Clifford believes in that, “in an interconnected world, one is always to varying degrees, ‘inauthentic.’” In making this statement, Clifford is perhaps only partially accurate. In the western hemisphere, where Williams was located, perhaps it can be said directly that the influence of modern society has attributed to the lack of general ancestry, as one culture after another has blended with the next. Perhaps it can be said as well that, as Clifford puts it, “there seem no distant places left on the planet where the presence of ‘modern’ products, media, and power cannot be felt” (Clifford, 14). The intention of this paper is to contend first that there is essentially such a thing as “pure” culture, and contrary to Clifford’s belief, that there are “pure” unblended cultures that remain (while not altogether untouched by foreign influence), natural within themselves. It will be argued as well that the influence of modern society does not necessarily lead to a loss of cultural soundness itself, but rather that a presence of certain cultural practices within the respective cultures has attributed to the lasting “purity” of certain cultures. In this case, we will be discussing the cultures that exist in Haiti and Bali.
Postcolonial authors use their literature and poetry to solidify, through criticism and celebration, an emerging national identity, which they have taken on the responsibility of representing. Surely, the reevaluation of national identity is an eventual and essential result of a country gaining independence from a colonial power, or a country emerging from a fledgling settler colony. However, to claim to be representative of that entire identity is a huge undertaking for an author trying to convey a postcolonial message. Each nation, province, island, state, neighborhood and individual is its own unique amalgamation of history, culture, language and tradition. Only by understanding and embracing the idea of cultural hybridity when attempting to explore the concept of national identity can any one individual, or nation, truly hope to understand or communicate the lasting effects of the colonial process.