A Small Place by Jamaica Kincaid presents the hypothetical story of a tourist visiting Antigua, the author's hometown. Kincaid puts the reader in the tourist's shoes and tells him what he would see during his travels on the island. It paints a picturesque scene of tourists' views of Antigua, but stains the picture with details of problems that most tourists overlook: the bad roads, the origin of so-called native food, the inefficiency of plumbing systems in resorts and the dysfunction of the health system. Kincaid was an established writer for the New Yorker when she wrote this book, and it can be safely assumed that most of her readers, at some point in their lives, had been tourists. I have been a tourist many times in the past and yet I had never stopped to consider what goes on beneath the surface of the countries I visit until I read this essay. Kincaid aims to provoke his readers; her writing style supports her goal and sets both her and her essay apart. To the reader, it seems that Kincaid is attacking the beautiful island, identifying the very things that we, as tourists, wish to ignore. No tourist wants to think about the feces of the many tourists in the hotel swimming with them in the oceans, nor does they want to think about having accidents and having to face the hospital. It seems so natural for a tourist to overlook them, and that's exactly what Kincaid has a problem with. One of the most important themes running through Kincaid's essay is the political and economic scene of Antigua. The fact that the airport is named after the president, rather than a school or hospital, shows exactly how vital the airport's role is in the lives of Antiguans. W... middle of paper... to what extent will this essay bring about change in Antigua? The Antigua scene can only be changed by the government's choice to manage the country in a way that is more beneficial to all those associated with Antigua, especially its natives. The behaviors of the natives are linked to jealousy towards tourists and their ability to escape from their hometown to take a holiday. While a tourist may identify with the idea that the tiredness felt after a vacation comes from dealing with the invisible animosity in the air between them and the natives, having this knowledge is almost as good as not having it, because there is no It's nothing the tourist, or the reader, can actually DO! If Kincaid's aim is solely to make tourists aware of their actions, she has succeeded. If Kincaid's aim is to help Antigua, he may not have been as successful.