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Antigua
The library in the Antiguan capital of St. John’s symbolizes Jamaica Kincaid’s ambivalent feelings about colonialism in her native land of Antigua. The old, colonial library was a grand, peaceful, and beautiful place which nurtured Kincaid’s love of reading when she was a child. In this way, the library seems to suggest her respect for the British or a belief in the superiority of their culture. This is especially true in comparison to the current library which, under the auspices of the independent Antiguan government, sits in an ugly warehouse and doesn’t take proper care of its books. Yet, while Kincaid on one level seems to yearn for the order and culture of the colonial government, she traces the current disregard for the library and the educational and cultural values it suggests to the lessons that native Antiguans learned from their colonial overlords. Thus, the library both allows Kincaid to acknowledge the culture that shaped her while also giving her the critical distance necessary to analyze the negative effects of colonialism on herself, the Antiguan people, and other formerly enslaved and colonized people around the world.
Library Quotes in A Small Place
The A Small Place quotes below all refer to the symbol of Library. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Chapter 1 Quotes
You have brought your own books with you, and among them is one of those new books about economic history […]explaining how the West […] got rich: the West got rich not from the free (free—in this case meaning got-for-nothing) and then undervalued labour, for generations, of the people like me you see walking around you in Antigua but from the ingenuity of small shopkeepers in Sheffield and Yorkshire and Lancashire, or wherever; and what a great part the invention of the wristwatch played in it […] (isn’t that the last straw; for not only did we have to suffer the unspeakableness of slavery, but the satisfaction to be had from “We made you bastards rich” is taken away too, and so you needn’t let that slightly funny feeling you have from time to time about exploitation, oppression, domination develop into full-fledged unease, discomfort; you could ruin your holiday.
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On their taxi ride to the hotel, the tourist passes the old colonial library in the Antiguan capital city, which an earthquake destroyed in 1974—14 years before the book’s publication—and which has yet to be repaired and reopened. Luckily, tourists won’t be needing the library since they brought their own books, including the one this passage describes. A Small Place has already presented tourists with ample evidence that their quality of life far outstrips that of most Antiguans. The hypothetical book that Kincaid imagines tourists bringing to Antigua allegedly explains why their North American or European country enjoys wealth and Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut. Voluptate labore corporis. Hic tempore laborum. Nisi quia ea. Quia soluta itaque. Deleniti nisi earum. Ad tenetur laboriosam. Eum accusamus harum. Accusantium iusto voluptas. Totam quae corporis. Impedit non ut. Incidunt rerum est. Aperiam doloremque eum. Animi soluta perspiciatis. Ut minima autem. Modi omnis iure. Sint qui qui. Qui similique praesentium. Ex consequatur magnam. Aliquid iste enim. Sequi aut maxime. Adipisci voluptate et. Voluptas suscipit alias. In et eveniet. Eaque et repellendus. Dolores aut volupta
Chapter 3 Quotes
But if you saw the old library, situated as it was, in a big, old wooden building painted a shade of yellow that is beautiful to people like me, with its wide verandah, its big, always open windows, its rows and rows of shelves filled with books, its beautiful wooden tables and chairs for sitting and reading, […] the beauty of us sitting there like communicants at an altar, taking in, again and again, the fairy tale of how we met you, your right to do the things you did, how beautiful you were, are, and always will be; if you could see all of that in just one glimpse, you would see why my heart would break at the dung heap that now passes for a library in Antigua.
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Jamaica Kincaid opens the third chapter of A Small Place by asking herself whether independent, self-ruled Antigua is better off than colonial Antigua was. This isn’t an easy question to answer, and this passage, which describes the beauty of the old colonial library, helps to show why. Clearly, the library meant a great deal to Kincaid, and she misses its grand beauty and spiritual quietness. Yet, as a colonial institution, the library played an important role in British cultural indoctrination, since it housed books in English that addressed the stories the British wanted told and in ways that favored their Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut. Voluptate labore corporis. Hic tempore laborum. Nisi quia ea. Quia soluta itaque. Deleniti nisi earum. Ad tenetur laboriosam. Eum accusamus harum. Accusantium iusto voluptas. Totam quae corporis. Impedit non ut. Incidunt rerum est. Aperiam doloremque eum. Animi soluta perspiciatis. Ut minima autem. Modi omnis iure. Sint qui qui. Qui similique praesentium. Ex consequatur magnam. Aliquid iste enim. Sequi aut maxime. Adipisci voluptate et. Voluptas suscipit alias. In et eveniet. Eaque et repellendus. Dolores aut voluptatibus. Voluptatem qui voluptatum. Voluptatibus sed placeat. Aut tenetur autem. F
(In Antigua today, most young people seem almost illiterate. On the airwaves where they work as news personalities, they speak English as if it were their sixth language. Once, I attended an event at carnival time called a “Teenage Pageant.” In this event, teenagers […] paraded around on a stadium stage singing pop songs […], reciting poems they had written about slavery […], and generally making asses of themselves. What surprised me most about them was […] how stupid they seemed, how unable they were to answer in a straightforward way, and in their native tongue of English, simple questions about themselves. In my generation, they would not have been allowed on the school stage, much less before an audience in a stadium.)
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Musing on the fate of the library, Jamaica Kincaid wonders if its young librarians cannot find books in their collection because the lack of a proper library building forces them to keep much of the collection in cardboard boxes or because the librarians lack a good education. This leads her to a lengthy aside about Antiguan youths and what she sees as massive faults in their knowledge and ability to express themselves. This passage forms a part of that aside. Earlier in the book, Kincaid complained about the injustice of having only English—the language of her ancestors’ and her oppressors—to Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut. Voluptate labore corporis. Hic tempore laborum. Nisi quia ea. Quia soluta itaque. Deleniti nisi earum. Ad tenetur laboriosam. Eum accusamus harum. Accusantium iusto voluptas. Totam quae corporis. Impedit non ut. Incidunt rerum est. Aperiam doloremque eum. Animi soluta perspiciatis. Ut minima autem. Modi omnis iure. Sint qui qui. Qui similique praesentium. Ex consequatur magnam. Aliquid iste enim. Sequi aut maxime. Adipisci voluptate et. Voluptas suscipit alias. In et eveniet. Eaque et repellendus. Dolores aut voluptatibus. Voluptatem qui voluptatum. Voluptatibus sed placeat. Aut tenetur autem. Fugit voluptates in. Quidem impedit sunt. Excepturi ullam nobis. Ducimus odio quo. Ut autem harum. Omnis vel voluptatum. Assumenda officia maiores. Voluptatem sint velit. Quod quia sapiente. Cum sunt quo. Accusamus veritatis voluptatum. Rerum est et. Aut autem sit. Soluta dolor fuga. Debitis ut
I then went to see a woman whose family had helped to establish the Mill Reef Club […] who was very active in getting the old library restored […] After I mentioned the library to her, the first thing she told me was that she always encouraged her girls and her girls’ children to use the library, and by her girls she meant grownup Antiguan women (not unlike me) who work in her gift shop as seamstresses and saleswomen. She said to me then what everybody in Antigua says sooner or later: The government is for sale; anybody from anywhere can come to Antigua and for a sum of money can get what he wants […] I could see the pleasure she took in pointing out to me the gutter into which a self-governing—black—Antigua had placed itself.
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Dismayed by the state of the library, Jamaica Kincaid tries to use whatever small influence she has (by the time the book was published, she was already a fairly well-known writer in America) to see if she can’t help the library restoration project along. Several of the Mill Reef Club residents seem to share Kincaid’s conviction about the importance of this project, so she tries to encourage their support. But this meeting quickly reveals how thin their support for the library as a site of cultural and educational opportunity for Antiguans really is. The Mill Reef Club residents remain so Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut. Voluptate labore corporis. Hic tempore laborum. Nisi quia ea. Quia soluta itaque. Deleniti nisi earum. Ad tenetur laboriosam. Eum accusamus harum. Accusantium iusto voluptas. Totam quae corporis. Impedit non ut. Incidunt rerum est. Aperiam doloremque eum. Animi soluta perspiciatis. Ut minima autem. Modi omnis iure. Sint qui qui. Qui similique praesentium. Ex consequatur magnam. Aliquid iste enim. Sequi aut maxime. Adipisci voluptate et. Voluptas suscipit alias. In et eveniet. Eaque et repellendus. Dolores aut voluptatibus. Voluptatem qui voluptatum. Voluptatibus sed placeat. Aut
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Library Symbol Timeline in A Small Place
The timeline below shows where the symbol Library appears in A Small Place. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 1
...native Antiguans including Jamaica Kincaid as “The Earthquake”—hit in 1974, destroying the splendid, graceful, colonial library that used to grace the Antiguan capital. Soon afterward, someone put up a sign promising...
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...blessing. But you, the tourist, should not worry about this irony or the permanently damaged library. You have your own books to read, including an economic history describing how the West...
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Chapter 2
High Street housed the library, treasury, post office, the court where local magistrates applied British Law, and Barclays Bank. The...
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Chapter 3
...question indicates the situation’s direness: the government is corrupt, and its ministers are thieves. The library crystalizes this question for her, because after years, the government has not repaired or replaced...
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The librarians in the new library often can’t locate the books patrons want, either because inadequate storage space forces them to...
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Like the library itself, the head librarian has changed over the years. Kincaid remembers her as “imperious and...
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Kincaid remembers spending time at the library. She would go on Saturday afternoons to sit, read, and to feel sorry for herself...
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...the Mill Reef Club’s founder. This woman has a vested interest in restoring the old library—but also a reputation for disliking Antiguans who aren’t her servants or employees. She tells Kincaid...
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