Seeing England for the First Time

The following sample essay on “Seeing England for the First Time” the author, Jamaica Kincaid, is talking about how she reacted to this and what happened to her. In this summary the reader can easily sense the attitude of the conquered, but resistant Kincaid.

Can you imagine that your culture is being thrown aside and a new one was all that was taught to you? How would you react to it? The entire essay has a tone of mocking awe toward the British empire, but through Kincaids usage of descriptive and emotionally charged words, a brief litany of things “Made in England,” as well as a personal account on how it has affected her family in her narrative, she reveals the bitter resentment she carries with her.

In the story 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.

On the essay On Seeing England for the First Time Kincaid begins by describing England in ways the British “favour” to flatter themselves. It is a “special jewel”, “beautiful” and “delicate.” As she is a child, England is presented to her as a mysterious far off land that has an almost magical appeal. It was a “source of myth” and the source “from which they (Antiguans) got their sense of reality.

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” It “could not really look like anything familiar,” because it was not really are tangible thing, at least not for her. Kincaid uses this descriptive language initially because the scene of when she first saw England is from her perspective as a child, and children often have vivid imaginations. England for her was like something different from she was expected.

It was like for us the immigrant when we came to the United States, most of us thought that we will lives in a fantactic life, but it was something different from what we expected. Kincaid thought of England as a quiet place like heaven a place where people, where people were nice, and can be relaxed. In the story A Small Place Kincaid clearly attacks the tourists for not understanding the value of Antigua and its heritage; they are ugly human beings (115) because of their ignorance. The vacant gazers are ugly because when they have reached the zenith of banality in their own lives, they use the poverty of the natives of a tourist destination like Antigua to feel better about themselves; the natives lack of wealth, opportunities and education all make that pasty-skinned tourist feel superior.

The ugliness stems from the tourists use of the natives backwardness to propel themselves forward. Kincaid describes the reactions of the native people as tourists walk by; being a native Antiguan herself, her description of their behaviour is probably accurate. The justification she provides for their behaviour is sound. Most areas like Antigua depend on the funds that tourism brings in. While whatever luxury can be provided is given to the tourists, it is the native people who see the daily trials and sufferings. Understandably, even though their income comes from the tourists they so despise, the native population is trapped in the never-ending cycle of poverty.