In her book, A Small Place, Jamaica Kincaid talks about her native Caribbean island, Antigua. She does this through the perspective of a tourist, this being the main theme present in the reading, aside from the political theme which is present as well. In this post I will discuss three quotes that caught my attention, regarding the tourist topic, as I did the reading.
"Oh, what a marvelous change these bad roads are from the splendid highways I am used to in North America" (Kincaid 5).
In this first quote, Kincaid is giving us an example of a thought that a tourist may have in relation to the change in scenery and roads between their homeland and Antigua, the place they're visiting for vacation. For me this quote is very relatable because in Puerto Rico most of the roads are in a bad state. Therefore, the times that I've been in other places one of the first things I notice is the difference in the quality of the roads. Usually they're smoother and it feels like you're walking on clouds. Nonetheless, coming from a tourist a comment like this one may be interpreted the wrong way by a local. It may seem to them kind of ignorant for someone to actually enjoy traveling on a bad road, when most likely they want it fixed and have been waiting for a long time for the government to take action.
"The thing you have always suspected about yourself the minute you become a tourist is true: A tourist in an ugly human being. You are not an ugly person all the time; you are not an ugly person ordinarily; you are not an ugly person day to day" (Kincaid 14).
Indeed, a tourist can be an ugly human being, especially from the point of view of the native. One may ask why or in what sense? Well many people see tourists as ignorant individuals mostly because when they vacation somewhere, they tend to think the place is perfect based on what little time they spend there and the handful of pre chosen places they visit; meanwhile being completely oblivious to the political, economical and social problems that local people endure every day. Nevertheless, this doesn't mean that they're like that in their every day life. Countless Puerto Ricans feel this way toward tourists. However, it's important to recognize that not all tourists are the same. There are those who are informed and know about those types of problems.
Certainly, there are locals who do not like tourists. In fact, they think that they are a hindrance and that they damage the view and landscape of the city. Every native can be a tourist and every tourist is a native. Kincaid establishes that every native would like a tour but that most cannot go anywhere. This is most likely due to economical reasons. Also, it may be a factor that fuels the locals dislike of tourists. They want to travel, get to know other places and relax just like the vacationers that come to their country, but sadly it is out of their reach. This is the case of many natives all over the world."That the native does not like the tourist is not hard to explain. For every native of every place is a potential tourist, and every tourist is a native of somewhere. Every native everywhere lives a life of overwhelming and crushing banality and boredom and desperation and depression, and every deed, good and bad, is an attempt to forget this. Every native would like to find a way out, every native would like a rest, every native would like a tour. But some natives -most natives in the world- cannot go anywhere" (Kincaid 18).
Your view on the topic of tourist is very wise and to the point, many people that visit Puerto Rico are not aware of the struggle that most of its citizens go through, hell, even other Puerto Ricans dont know the extent of it. And tourist are generally well like by people in Puerto Rico but sometimes you get the feeling of bitterness that comes from knowing that you literally have to serve other people for a living, watching them enjoy their vacations oblivious to the poverty and suffering near them.
ReplyDeleteFrom what I can gather the main point of this blog post centers around the tourist. Their preconceptions on they places they visit and how this affects the way they look at it and how the natives seeing the ignorance of the tourist and their ability to leave their home country experience anger and jealousy toward them for having something they cannot. Side topics include that the tourist and native are interchangeable. They can be one or the other depending on where they are, at home or visiting another country. Another side topic is that we become so accustomed with what we see everyday that when we visit someplace new we immediately notice how different it something is.
ReplyDeleteIt's always hard to relate to a place that you visit as a tourist, because of the time allocated to the vacation, but it's true that the tourist is ignorant in this regard. They don't understand the struggle and the difficulties of the local, but they paint their own picture of the island to be whatever their vacation is fantasized to be. Do you think this notion of the tourist is universal?
ReplyDeleteThe fact that you say that most of the roads are in a bad state in Puerto Rico makes me think of all the times I’ve had to change my tires of my car because of this reason. I hate it so much! And it’s awful because we have to wait until they get fixed and we don’t even know when that will occur. Also, it’s the sad true about the tourists that really don’t get to know our problems completely but it’s mainly because they come in such a short period they don’t really get to suffer the problems. This in some way can be pointed our as ignorant but I believe it’s in a not knowing way of the tourists. Lastly, I don’t understand why locals don’t appreciate tourist. The way I see it is that someone wants to visit my homeland and appreciate it. I don’t see it in any negative way.
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