A Small Place

Kincaid expands on the symbol of the library, particularly her fond memories of the institution from her childhood. Kincaid explicitly states that the library is an example of “things gone bad” (42), not because the colonialist institution was better, but because Antiguans are struggling to exist within the ruins of colonialism. Although the old colonial building brings back fond memories, Kincaid’s memories focus on her interaction with the island through the space of the library. The building is painted “a shade of yellow that is beautiful to people like me,” (42) and the quiet of the space allows her to experience “the smell of the sea (which was a stone’s throw away), [and] the heat of the sun” (42) in a different way. Some of Kincaid’s pleasure also came from tricking the elderly white librarian and trying to successfully take library books home with her for good. Kincaid grieves the state of education in Antigua, which the damaged library represents. The Antiguans were forced to have a native language of English, but they don’t have an education system to teach them this language anymore, and Kincaid notes that her people thus sound like their first language “[was] their sixth language” (43). Kincaid discovers that repairs on the library are on hold because the area may be developed into tourist shops. This proves to Kincaid that the government and those in charge of donations at the Mill Reef Club care more about catering to tourists and earning money than about the education and well-being of Antiguan citizens.

Kincaid develops the Mill Reef Club’s symbolism as a colonialist structure in this short section. The club’s patrons miss the “old Antigua” (44), which Kincaid identifies as different than her version of “old Antigua”. For the Mill Reef Club, the old Antigua they long for was when the English were in charge, when they were comfortable in their position of superiority. The woman from the club whom Kincaid speaks to takes pleasure in “pointing out to [her] the gutter into which a self-governing—black—Antigua had placed itself” (47), implying that the English colonizers ran the country better, completely ignoring the role of racism and oppression. Because the Mill Reef Club has substantial money, it has some say in government affairs and can dole out its money to projects they deem important. Kincaid is upset that she must approach the people of this club to ask about the library repairs, and she’s frustrated that she can’t rebut their complaints about Antiguan self-governance because she needs their charitable money.