The Ugly Tourist By Jamaica Kincaid - 876 Words

In â€Å"The Ugly Tourist† by Jamaica Kincaid, tourism is thought as a disgusting and an extremely harmful industry. In her perspective, it allows first world citizens to escape and marvel at the simplest and most ordinary things. Although there is some truth in what Jamaica Kincaid describes to the reader, I believe there is a prejudiced view towards the tourist themselves. Kincaid’s essay about the ugliness and affects of being a tourist contrasts everything I’ve experienced being a tourist in Italy and Greece. I do not relate well to any of Kincaid’s ideas of tourists as well as tourism being an ugly industry. In â€Å"The Ugly Tourist† Jamaica Kincaid states, how an â€Å"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†¦Ã¢â‚¬ (Kincaid 200). All of Kincaid’s opinions are severely biased. I have n ever met or heard of anybody talk so rudely about this huge industry and the people that make it up. While traveling in Italy, every local I talked to endorsed the fact of a tourist. They truly love this industry! Tourism brings new cultures, ideas and it helps bring in billions of dollars a year worldwide. Italy alone â€Å"took in $43 million in tourism receipts in 2009, according to Euro Monitor International, a business research organization† (traveltips.usatoday.com). Many countries biggest jump, economically is during the tourist season. I don tShow MoreRelatedExposing the Ugliness of Tourism in Jamaica Kincaids Book, A Small Place763 Words   |  3 PagesJamaica Kincaid addresses the reader as a tourist in her book A Small Place. Throughout the book her sarcasm and resentment towards the postcolonial state of the country cannot be missed. She exposes the â€Å"ugliness† of tourism, she writes, â€Å"The thing you have always suspected about yourself the minute you become a tourist is true: A tourist is an ugly human being† (14). Kincaid points to the fact that the tourists (European and American) and the tourism industry are morally ugly. The first sectionRead MoreThe Myth Of The Latin Woman889 Words   |  4 Pagesperceived by the world around them. This concept is supported in the essays The Myth Of a Latin Woman: I Just Met a Girl Named Maria by Judith Ortiz Cofer and The Ugly Tourist by Jamaica Kincaid. Both of these authors faced persecution because of their outward appearance. Cofer accounts being misjudged because of her Puerto Rican race. Kincaid shares with her readers the concept of human misinterpretation because of the stereotype of tourism. Of the essays, The Myth of the Latin Woman: I Just Met a GirlRead MoreA Small Place by Jamaica Kincaid1389 Words   |  6 PagesA Small Place by Jamaica Kincaid presents the hypothetical story of a tourist visiting Antigua, the author’s hometown. Kincaid places the reader in the shoes of the tourist, and tells the tourist what he/she would see through his/her travels on the island. She paints a picturesque scene of the tourist’s view of Antigua, but stains the image with details of issues that most tourists overlook: the bad roads, the origin of the so-called native food, the inefficiency of the plumbing systems in resortsRead MoreA Small Place by Jamaica Kincaid1447 Words   |  6 Pages In â€Å"A Small Place† by Jamaica Kincaid, Kincaid criticizes tourists for being heartless and ignorant to the problems that the people of Antigua had and the sacrifices that had to be made to make Antigua a tremendous tourist/vacation spot. While Kincaid makes a strong argument, her argument suggests that she doesnt realize what tourism is for the tourists. In other words, tourism is an escape for those who are going on vacation and the tourists are well within their rights to be â€Å"ignorant†, especiallyRead MoreAnalysis Of The Reader A Small Place 1281 Words   |  6 PagesNonfiction 11 November 2015 The Reader as â€Å"You† Jamaica Kincaid immerses the reader into her essay â€Å"A Small Place† through the use of second-person point of view, continually referring to the reader as â€Å"you.† She characterizes the reader as a tourist from a privileged Western nation and narrates the experiences and thoughts of the reader while visiting Antigua for the first time. By portraying the reader as the tourist through second-person narrative, Kincaid criticizes the ignorance of Eurocentric assumptionsRead MorePersuasive Analysis Of Jamaica Kincaid s A Small Place1451 Words   |  6 PagesPersuasive Methods in A Small Place Jamaica Kincaid’s influential work of nonfiction â€Å"A Small Place† (1988) tells how a once beautiful island in the Caribbean has been transformed into a disgusting holiday resort that is there to only accommodate American and European tourists. Kincaid seeks to inform the readers about the situation and the history of Antigua, and also to remind them of the role they played in the downfall of the small island. Although her tone is full of anger, she does not forgetRead MoreA Small Place By Jamaica Kincaid1266 Words   |  6 PagesA Small Place by Jamaica Kincaid analyzes the ugliness of tourism through the effects of colonialism. The book is a punch in the gut for every tourist, westerner, and individuals who are the product of colonialism. Most western education does not teach the full context of colonialism. The extension of students’ knowledge is the Berlin conference of 1884, which divided African territory between Europeans and US leaders without the in clusion of Africans. The education in the West does not delve intoRead MoreAnalysis Of Caribbean Literature And Ideas1478 Words   |  6 Pagescirculation of people in and out of the Caribbean, seems to be very important, in order to understand many of the issues that Caribbean people face. Whether it is â€Å"the boys† of The Lonely Londoners having to migrate to London to find work, tourist from the U.S. coming to Jamaica for vacation, or Martine escaping a traumatic experience that coerced her to migrate, the commonality among all of these narratives is the act of traveling. Prior to this course, I had a very narrow view of what traveling meant. AsRead MoreA Tourist Only Sees That Which The Tourist Chooses To See.2042 Words   |  9 PagesA tourist only sees that which the tourist chooses to see. The place the traveler is visiting, such as Antigua in A Small Place, is simply a commodity; something that is purchased to enjoy for a short time. Yet, there are others there who see the same things, the same beauty, in a drastically different light than those who are there visiting by choice. These natives know that the outsiders see them as part of the package of Antigua, simply â€Å"locals†, when in truth they are prisoners of the islandRead MoreTravel and Culture1497 Words   |  6 Pagesnation’s economy. In most developing countries of the world, tourism is a dominant means of â€Å"attracting the coveted foreign exchange† (â€Å"Tourism Development†). Tourism creates jobs for the civilians of the â€Å"host† country, (approximately 1 employee/ 1000 tourist) (â€Å"Tourism Development†), brings in foreign investments and helps generate revenue by way of infrastructure that benefits the host country (â€Å"Tourism†). Considering tourism accounts for an overall 30% of the Gross Domestic Product in the top ten destinations