Essay on Jamacia Kincaid's "A Small Place"

In the quote, “….they don’t like the way you speak (you have an accent); they collapse helpless from laughter, mimicking they way you imagine you must look as you carry out some everyday bodily function. They don’t like you. They don’t like me! That thought never actually occurs to you,” [Kincaid 17] what she is trying to say is that She felt first-hand the negative effects of British colonialism as the colonists attempted to turn Antigua "into England" and the natives "into English" without regard for the native culture or homeland [Kincaid 24]. The effects of colonialism serve as the major theme for A Small Place in which Kincaid expresses her anger both at the colonists and at the Antiguans for failing to fully achieve their independence. She feels that Antiguans failed to adopt the positive aspects of colonialism, for instance a good educational system which might help the population to better their lives. This inability to promote the importance of education and hope f...