Review Of Jamaica Kincaid's Essay 'The Ugly Tourist'
“The Ugly Tourist” “The Ugly Tourist”, which originally appeared in Harper’s in 1988, became the opening chapter of “A Small Place”. The author is Jamaica Kincaid and she grew up in Antigua. Kincaid states in her essay “The Ugly Tourist” that “a tourist is an ugly human being”. These are strong words. You can sense the anger in her essay. She defines both what it is to be a tourist as well as to live in the gaze of tourists. The title introduces a key word used multiple times throughout her essay: ugly. The connotation of ugly speaks to ugliness of body, as well as spirit, and Kincaid intends both. “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
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Their behavior and their disregard for her country anger her. As a country, Antigua has wrestled to find its identity. Tourism and banking have become Antigua’s primary industries. Banham Richardson, a scholar of Caribbean geography, blames the Antiguan government, as other Caribbean governments for promoting tourism as national industries. Kincaid dislikes tourists because they use her country as a relief for their boredom. They do not contribute any benefits to the country. Kincaid condemns the manner in which Antigua is depicted to tourists. The natives do not exist in their promotion. The ‘Antigua’ that Kincaid knows and grew up in is not the one shown or described to tourists. In Antigua and Barbuda’s website it states “Welcome to Antigua and Barbuda”. It goes on to say “In 1784 the legendary Admiral Horatio Nelson sailed to Antigua and established Great Britain’s most important Caribbean base. Little did he know that over 200 years later, the same unique characteristics that attracted the Royal Navy would transform Antigua and Barbuda into one the Caribbean’s premier tourist destinations.” This is stated on the Antigua and Barbuda homepage. It is because of depictions like this, that Antigua is becoming a tourism capitol. Which is why Kincaid expresses her anger in “The Ugly
Their behavior and their disregard for her country anger her. As a country, Antigua has wrestled to find its identity. Tourism and banking have become Antigua’s primary industries. Banham Richardson, a scholar of Caribbean geography, blames the Antiguan government, as other Caribbean governments for promoting tourism as national industries. Kincaid dislikes tourists because they use her country as a relief for their boredom. They do not contribute any benefits to the country. Kincaid condemns the manner in which Antigua is depicted to tourists. The natives do not exist in their promotion. The ‘Antigua’ that Kincaid knows and grew up in is not the one shown or described to tourists. In Antigua and Barbuda’s website it states “Welcome to Antigua and Barbuda”. It goes on to say “In 1784 the legendary Admiral Horatio Nelson sailed to Antigua and established Great Britain’s most important Caribbean base. Little did he know that over 200 years later, the same unique characteristics that attracted the Royal Navy would transform Antigua and Barbuda into one the Caribbean’s premier tourist destinations.” This is stated on the Antigua and Barbuda homepage. It is because of depictions like this, that Antigua is becoming a tourism capitol. Which is why Kincaid expresses her anger in “The Ugly