The book, written in four sections, "combines social and cultural critique with autobiography and a history of imperialism to offer a powerful portrait of (post)colonial Antigua.
In 1834, slavery was finally abolished, but black peoples' economic conditions failed to improve due to “land shortages and the universal refusal of credit”.
[2] In her work, Jamaica Kincaid presents her own perspective on her home country, Antigua, while it was under colonial rule and self-governance.
[3] Kincaid is very unapologetic in her critique of these times, and challenges readers to face the reality and uncomfortable truths of power and oppression.
Kincaid emphasizes how the tourism industry perpetuates systems of inequality in Antigua and forces Antiguans to act as servants to white tourists.
Kincaid suggests that tourists are oblivious to reality and use vacations as a way to escape the boredom of their own lives, which is something natives cannot do because they are too poor.
She discusses the drug industry, Swiss banking, French governmental aid, Japanese car dealerships, and Syrian and Lebanese investors.
Furthermore, the tourist industry is linked to a global economic system that ultimately does not translate into benefits for the very Antiguans who enable it.
The tourist may experience the beauty on the surface of Antigua while being wholly ignorant of the actual political and social conditions that the Antiguan tourism industry epitomizes and reinforces.
In effect, the industry recolonizes Antigua by placing locals at a disenfranchised and subservient position in a global economic system that ultimately does not serve them.
While the English can distance themselves from the ramifications of slavery and colonization since Antigua is not their native homeland, they do not experience the same effects as the Antiguan citizens, who face pain and cruel reminders of the legacy of colonialism.
[8] Kincaid’s frustration with the Antiguan government was made clear throughout the novel, specifically when she referenced a library as a symbol of her perpetual resentment towards colonization and decolonization.
Therefore Kincaid alludes to the reality that in the eyes of the corrupt government there should not exist any sort of tools, such as these library books, which could undermine their rule.
[9] In addition to this, Kincaid makes references towards illegal activities that the Antiguan Government was involved in such as drug smuggling, prostitution, and offshore bank accounts in Switzerland.
Being an enraged essay focusing on racism and the effects of colonialism, some people account for the most consistent and striking aspect of her work to be what critic Susan Sontag calls her "emotional truthfulness".
[13] Jane King, in A Small Place Writes Back, declared that "Kincaid does not like the Caribbean very much, finds it dull and boring and would rather live in Vermont.
Moira Ferguson, a feminist academic, argued that as "an African-Caribbean writer Kincaid speaks to and from the position of the other.
Furthermore, the library symbolizes the government’s lack of intervention in improving the situation for Antiguan citizens, and instead, their focus on developing areas into commercial property for the enjoyment of tourists.
This club is a segregated place for white visitors who come to Antigua and embodies the past racist divisions of the British Empire.