Summary

The excerpt from Jamaica Kincaid’s book A Small Place opens by addressing the readers in the second person, asking them to imagine they are tourists in Antigua. The tourist arrives in Antigua from North America or Europe. The tourist thinks Antigua is beautiful and enjoys the sunny weather, but does not think what it is like to live there as a local. The tourist is taken to the hotel in a taxi and notices lots of expensive Japanese-made cars. This is because the government owns the car dealerships and encourages banks to loan people money for cars rather than houses. 

The tourist notices that the schools and hospitals are run down and poorly equipped but does not think about it too much. Several buildings such as the library were damaged in an eart...