How Jamaica Kincaid Uses Satire, Sarcasm, Irony, and Similes in A Small Place Book - Essay Example

In the book A Small Place Kincaid uses satire, sarcasm, irony and similes to bring out a clear picture of the livesof people in Antigua. Kincaid in her book ironically states that, the people of Antigua blame the tourists for coming to their country. The people blame the tourists for colonizing them instead of welcoming them as they bring a source of income for the poor state (Kancaid 14). Kincaid ironically refers to a tourist as an ugly person. She notes, An ugly thing, that is what you are when you become a tourist, an ugly empty thing, a stupid thing, a piece of rubbish pausing here and there to gaze at this and taste that, and it will never occur to you that the people who inhabit the place in which you have just paused cannot stand you, that behind their closed doors they laugh at your strangeness.

[Kancaid 17] Kincaid see them as people who are quite insensitive. Kincaid also ironically criticizes the English empire by stating that the English came to rescue Antigua. On the other hand, it is clear that she does not appreciate the invasion by the ‘White men’ (Kincaid 30). Kincaid sarcastically refers to tourists as ugly and fat. She refers to them as ugly due to the way they use poor people for their pleasure. She sees their bodies as fat exposed at the beach. According to her, the scarcity of rainfall is a necessity for the people of Antigua while this acts as an attraction to the tourists.

She sees it as that, a tourist would enjoy a clear sky without rainfall not caring what effects it would have on the natives of Antigua. On the other hand, she seems to think that tourists romanticize on the poor state of living of the poor, seeing their poor homes and tattered clothing as picturesque. According to Kincaid, tourists see their pit toilets as pleasing to the eye (Kincaid 17). Kincaid criticizes the colonial education while she herself is a product of the same. She satirically claims that the young people of Antigua are not as educated as she was in her days.

She clearly states that, they are poorly spoken, ignorant and have devoted themselves to the American lifestyle. She criticizes their school system claiming that, the same British government that once colonized them has taken over their culture and brainwashed the people of Antigua. Kincaid feels bad that the people of Antigua now admire the people who ones colonized them. Kincaid openly criticizes the reader claiming that, the reader also has taken part in the moral ugliness of the tourism. She clearly enjoys having the reader feel very alienated.

She states “Is the Antigua I see before me, self-ruled, a worse place than what it was when dominated by the bad-minded English?” (Kincaid 41) When Kincaid recalls “the beauty of us sitting there like communicates at an alter (42), she compares their state using simile. Kincaid see the beauty of Antigua as ‘unreal’. She sees everything as too perfect to be true. Due to slavery and imperial rule, the Antiguans have become used acting passively rather than actively in the making of history.

Colonialism has directly affected the daily lives of the Antiguans. For example, most Antiguans enjoy reading but everything they read is full of so much bitterness. This is because they learn a dominated culture from a dominated people. In an example, the Antiguans greet royal visitors with genuine excitement; this same visitors are the ones responsible for imperialism. The same victims of the imperialism greet them with excitement (Kincaid 21). Kincaid uses a variety of literary styles in her work including satire, irony, simile and sarcasm to express herself.

She uses these styles effectively and manages to produce a vivid picture of what the world is to her. Her people, in her view are worse than they were during the colonial times. Works Cited Kincaid Jamaica. A small place. Farrar, Straus, Giroux. 2000. Print.