Thursday, August 23, 2007

A Small Place Question #2

In Kincaid's "A Small Place," a strong emphasis is put on the difference between what a tourist sees and what a local at a tourist attraction see. One example Kincaid gives is how each person sees the ocean on the island. The tourist looks out of his window and sees a beautiful blue sea. Perhaps the most beautiful sight he has ever seen. What he does not know is that whenever he flushes his toilet, his waste is dumped into the see. Only a local would know that, however, and because of that fact a local will not see the sea as beautiful, but instead polluted. The difference being the knowledge that comes with living in the area. Another instance where perceptions clash is in how the tourist is perceived. To the tourist, the tourist is not ugly. The tourist is beautiful, as he is in his normal everyday life. The locals, however, do not see the tourist as he is in everyday life. They see him as he is on vacation. They are not used to his customs, his mannerisms. He is strange. They laugh at him and make jokes, meanwhile all the tourists sees are a bunch of natives smiling at him. It's best that the tourist not know the truth, however. That would ruin his vacation.

Lucas Smith

2 comments:

Mike C. said...

I agree with Lucas on how its best for tourists to not know what the natives actually think. It would make you feel uncomfortable and unwanted if you felt unwanted and that no one wants you there, and you'd probably wanna go home

Gabby Henskens said...

I like how Lucas wrote about the differences between the tourists and the natives, and how they see things. Whenever you go somewhere on vacation, you never stop to think about what the people that live there have to go through.