Introduction to the Author
Jamaica Kincaid (born 1949) is one of the most significant contemporary Caribbean writers. She was born as Elaine Cynthia Potter Richardson in the Caribbean island of Antigua, which was once a British colony. Much of her writing is deeply autobiographical and deals with themes such as:
colonialism and imperialism,
cultural identity,
exile and displacement,
race and power,
memory and childhood,
anger against colonial domination.
Kincaid spent her early years in Antigua under British colonial rule and later moved to the United States. Her experiences as a colonial subject profoundly influenced her literary imagination.
Some of her famous works include:
Annie John
Lucy
A Small Place
The Autobiography of My Mother
Introduction to the Essay
On Seeing England for the First Time is a personal and autobiographical essay in which Jamaica Kincaid reflects upon her first understanding of England and her later visit to that country.
At first glance, the essay appears to be a simple account of seeing England.
In reality, it is:
a criticism of colonial education,
a protest against imperial domination,
an exploration of cultural identity,
an expression of anger and disappointment.
The essay shows how colonialism does not merely conquer territories; it also conquers the minds of people.
The essay reveals the painful experience of growing up in a colony where everything seems to belong to England and where native people are taught to admire a country they have never seen.
Historical Background
Antigua was once a British colony.
The educational system in Antigua was completely dominated by British culture.
Children learned:
British history,
British geography,
British literature,
British customs.
They were encouraged to admire England as:
a great civilization,
a sacred homeland,
a place of beauty and perfection.
As a result, many Antiguans grew up knowing more about England than about their own country.
Detailed Summary of the Essay
Seeing England on the Map
The essay begins with a childhood memory.
One day the teacher shows the students a map of England.
The teacher instructs them to study it carefully because every examination would require them to:
"Draw a map of England."
The young Kincaid does not realize the deeper meaning of this instruction.
As an adult, however, she understands that this command was a powerful instrument of colonial domination.
She writes:
"I had long ago been conquered."
She realizes that colonial education had already conquered her mind and identity.
England Everywhere
After seeing the map, she encounters England repeatedly.
She sees England:
in history books, in school lessons,
in poems, in songs, in stories.
She learns:
the names of English kings,
their victories,
their defeats,
their families,
their achievements.
England becomes the centre of her education.
Meanwhile, her own country remains absent from her studies.
This makes her feel: insignificant, invisible, erased.
The Beautiful England of Imagination
The author learns about England through romantic descriptions.
She hears about:
beautiful mornings, pleasant evenings, blue skies, gentle mountains, green fields, soft rain,
picturesque landscapes.
England appears magical and enchanting.
However, these descriptions have no connection with her own experience in Antigua.
Where she lives:
mornings arrive suddenly with heat,
there are no cool evenings,
life is harsh and practical.
Thus, the England she learns about is entirely imaginary.
The Reality of Her Own Life
The essay now contrasts England's beauty with the reality of Antigua.
Her daily life consists of:
fetching water, sweeping the yard,
bathing, preparing for school,
walking to school.
She describes her dresses as:
cheap, ordinary, worn out.
There are:
no theatres, no romantic evenings,
no leisurely strolls.
The contrast between England and Antigua becomes increasingly painful.
Colonial Education and Loyalty to England
At school, the children gather in an auditorium.
They sing hymns.
Pictures of the British Queen and her husband hang on the walls.
The children are expected to honour them.
The author is also a member of the Brownies.
The girls raise the British flag and pledge loyalty:
"I promise to do my duty to God and the queen."
Yet she has never actually seen England or its people.
Everything she knows comes from:
books, pictures, stories,
representatives of the British Empire.
England exists more as an idea than a reality.
Finally Seeing England
As an adult, she finally visits England.
By now she is:
married,
a mother,
financially secure.
For the first time she sees the real England.
But the reality disappoints her completely.
She finds:
England ugly,
the weather unpleasant,
the food unappealing,
the people unattractive.
The idealized England of her childhood collapses.
Feelings of Anger and Hatred
The author admits that when she saw England, she wanted:
"to take it into my hands and tear it into little pieces."
This statement expresses years of anger and resentment.
She realizes that colonial education had attempted to erase her own identity and replace it with admiration for England.
The White Cliffs of Dover
One of the most powerful moments in the essay occurs when she finally sees the famous White Cliffs of Dover.
As a child she had:
sung songs about them,
recited poems about them,
heard people praise them.
Many people in Antigua longed to see these cliffs despite never having seen them.
When she finally sees them, she is disappointed.
They are simply cliffs.
They do not possess the magical beauty she had imagined.
At that moment all her idealized images of England collapse forever.
The cliffs become the place where:
all her old ideas about England "jump and die."
Significance of the Ending
The essay ends with a symbolic destruction of colonial illusions.
The real England destroys:
the mythical
England,
the idealized England,
the England created by colonial education.
The author finally frees herself from the false image imposed upon her during childhood.