A Small Place by Jamaica Kincaid

1. Why does she say that tourists are ugly?
2. Can tourists actually hurt a place as Kincaid suggests?
3. Are the English really to blame for everything in Antigua?

I was a little bit confused as to what Kincaid was trying to argue in her writing, if arguing anything at all. I thought it was an interesting read and I did enjoy reading it. I am going to address question number two, "can tourists actually hurt a place as Kincaid suggests?" I have been a tourist to many different places. In my last trip to Maui, I soon learned that not all the locals are very fond of the tourists, which is understanding. They crowd their beaches and streets, their home, which I can see that as being annoying. However, I think tourists are helpful in ways such as bringing money in for that particular place. Just as Kincaid says in her writing, we all at one point become tourists. She goes on to say that a reason the natives do not like the tourists is because it reminds them that they are too poor to be a tourist themselves in another place other than their home in Antigua. Throughout the excerpt, she goes on to say that the English are to blame for the way Antigua has changed over the years. I believe that tourists can have a big part on how a certain place is, however, I do not think that they can be blamed for changing an entire island. The reason people travel is to experience different parts of the world and their cultures, not to try and change the way the natives live.