Reaction on the first two sections of A Small Place

        Living for my whole 20 years in Puerto Rico makes me think similar to the author of the novel, Jamaica Kincaid. The similarities are that we both come from a small island in the Caribbean Sea, both countries where empowered at first by a European country and both rulers enslaved the citizens of the island, both where colonies at the time of enslavement, and neither, Puerto Rico and Antigua, has proper identity because of the reasons mentioned above.

        I do, in some way, feel envy towards the tourist that comes to Puerto Rico and only sees the good side of it without knowing how hard has been to be where we are now as a country. First being ruled by the Spanish, then going to the power of the United States, I do feel the same as Kincaid because my country also knows how difficult a transition has been from the days of slavery to the present where it does not exist. As Antigua, Puerto Rico also has its wealthy side and a very poor side, although much of the population is middle class. Reading Jamaica Kincaid’s words made me feel as if we Puerto Ricans are not alone in this problem of tourist satisfaction in an island where there are many problems that they do not even know they exist.