A Small Place

Nonfiction | Essay / Speech | Adult | Published in 1988

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Summary

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Pages 3-19

Pages 23-37

Pages 41-52

Pages 52-81

Key Figures

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Symbols & Motifs

The Library

The library is a symbol of colonialist ruins that continue to occupy space in Antigua—and of the difficulty of freed nations to flourish within the remnants of colonial institutions that were never intended to serve them. Kincaid notes that this empire was destructive both when it was built and when the English simply packed up and left, leaving Antigua to deal with their mess. Representing this, the library, a “splendid old building from colonial times” (9), stands in ruins without any real prospect of being fixed. The library was full of books glorifying England and English culture, which was left behind in the wake of independence. The library, though a colonial institution, was also a place of free education for Antiguans, which is the one aspect Kincaid admires about it. With its resources relegated to a “temporary” location in a dry-goods store, Kincaid sees it falling into disuse and sees her people becoming more and more illiterate. Since Antiguans were forced to have English as their first language, Kincaid finds that they should at least have the ability to learn this language. Kincaid has fond memories of this building, not because of her love for English cultural products but because she was an avid reader and enjoyed stealing from the mean librarian, which was a way to take something back from her oppressors.

In the modern day, the library represents the government’s lack of care for the well-being of the Antiguan people. Instead of fixing the library, officials mounted a sign commemorating the day it was damaged and a promise of its repair: “‘THIS BUILDING WAS DAMAGED IN THE EARTHQUAKE OF 1974. REPAIRS ARE PENDING’” (9). Rather than fixing the institution, the government plans to develop the area into commercial property for tourist shops. This is especially upsetting to Kincaid because she sees the government favoring the selling of meaningless trinkets to tourists (who don’t really care about Antigua) over the education of its citizens. The symbol of the library thus connects to all themes in the text.

Antigua’s Natural Beauty

Kincaid infuses the text with descriptions of Antigua’s natural beauty, and these descriptions become a motif to help explain how the realities of life in Antigua are often hidden behind its paradise-like landscape. The landscape has this effect both on visitors and natives. Tourists interact with the landscape only in a superficial way because they’re only on the island for a short time and “want to get [their] money’s worth” (6) out of the relaxing vacation. They see the island as a reprieve from the dull sameness of England or North America and don’t want that idealized image ruined by the truth of the natives’ living conditions on the island. As an example, Kincaid explains that tourists see the “pale, silvery, clear” (13) ocean as something to lay next to or take a walk beside. What they don’t see is the sewage that Antiguans must dump in the ocean or “the number of black slaves this ocean has swallowed up” (14) during the forced voyages to develop Antigua and the British Empire.

For Antiguans, the beauty and constancy of Antigua’s landscape warps their perception of their own freedom. The beautiful landscape is as beautiful as it has ever been, so Kincaid finds that Antiguans can’t see how corrupt powers continue to control their lives, even though they’ve been free from slavery and colonialism for years. To Kincaid, Antiguans have become apathetic because they can’t sense these monumental changes or imagine a different future. The beauty of the island cloaks their independence and allows corrupt powers to continue to work in secret—and even sometimes in the open. The Antiguan landscape thus becomes like a “prison,” holding Antiguans in an unchanging state of exploitation.

The Mill Reef Club

The Mill Reef Club, like the library, is a symbol of colonialism but represents the ways foreign colonialist structures continue to influence life in Antigua. As a segregated “private” club for white visitors and white people who want to live in Antigua, the Mill Reef Club perpetuates the racist divisions of the British Empire that put white people in a supposed place of superiority. This foundational ideology is especially evident in the club’s policy that “the only Antiguans (black people) allowed to go there were servants” (27). The Mill Reef Club perpetuates this supposed superiority by acting as a benefactor for native Antiguans, giving “scholarships to one or two bright people each year” (27) and giving occasional charitable donations to projects as they see fit. As the government is corrupted by money-hoarding ministers, Kincaid finds that she and other Antiguans have become dependent on the Mill Reef Club for money—like for the library repairs. This dependence, she sees, is just a refashioned kind of colonial control in Antigua.