A Small Place by Jamaica Kincaid Analysis Essay

In the passage from 1988 a memoir of  “A Small Place” Kincaid implies differences between Antigua and other countries as well as the impact the Eurpeans have on Antigua .By listing different traits “no real” countries have, Kincaid reveals how  different Antigua is from an archetype of what a real country looks like. Kincaid's audience is mostly the Europeans as well as  people of Antigua; in this chapter Kincaid’s tone is hypercritical. Jamaica Kincaid differentiates Antigua to other countries in order to develop her argument of how Europeans in the past have warped the way antiguans and antigua are seen in the present day.

In the small place Jamaica Kincaid uses the rhetorical device of imagery to reveal her thoughts on the effects that the Europeans made on the Antiguas history and culture. Kincaid does that by describing in great detail major events that greatly affected antiguas history, which helps to paint an accurate picture in of the events in the Readers' heads.Kincaid implies that the Europeans ideally distorted Antiguas history.She believes that england changed everything that made Antigua special.In Kincaid's words she states “They have nothing to compare incredible constant with,no big historical moment to compare the way they are now to the way they used to be.”. In other words Kincaid is explaining how since antigua was run by the Europeans for so long they don’t have anything of theirs they didn’t have any resolution or wars to show how much they’ve grown as a country. In her writing she features a grave understanding of Antiguas history which helps her argument.   Kincaid remarks “The unreal way in which it is beautiful now that they are free people is the unreal way in which it was beautiful when they were slaves”. Kincaid exposes that there are no real differences between Antigua in the past and Antigua in the present as she compares it to other countries and archetypes of an ideal of what a country should look like.Although Antigua has a real historic past kincaid argues that there history & culture that was distorted by the europeans that wanted to make Antigua a second england.

In the Small place the author Jamaica Kincaid uses the rhetorical device of repetition to expose the dissimilarities between Antigua and an archetype of an ideal country. Even though Kincaid explains how she feels about Antigua and how beautiful it is she exposes all the problems that Antigua has had in the past and present that the Europeans supposedly caused.She repeats the same phrase “no real” this helps her bring the differences between an archetype which in fact develops her argument.For example Kinciad states “ Antigua is beautiful antigua is too beautiful sometimes the beauty of it seems unreal sometimes the beauty of it seems as if it were state sets for a play for no real sunset could look like that no real seawater could strike that many shades of blue at once no real sky could be that shade of blue another shade of blue completely different from the shades of the sea…” In other words Kincaid is saying that Antigua is beautiful but she contradicts her statement by comparing it to her ideal perfect country. If she really thought Antigua was beautiful the way it is then she wouldn’t be comparing it to and critiquing it as much. But on the other hand she does argue how and seek with people makes it a great country she does this by stating “ it is as if than the beauty the beauty of the sea the land the air the trees the market the people the sound they make where a prison and as if everything and everybody inside it we’re locked in everything and everybody that is not inside it  we’re locked out” this quotation doesn’t have a clear repeated but she does repeat different characteristics of her country as she argues that one country is better than another. Showing that everyone who is in this country makes it beautiful and the people outside do not.