Natives, at least the ones that come from a poor background, don't enjoy the wonders their land offers. That is their reality and they can't escape from it or experience something different and new. Do you remember the feeling you get when you are bored with your surroundings and nothing seems to excite you? That sense of wanting to escape emerges from within. It's basically a necessity, not a luxury, to separate yourself from everyday life to keep sane. That is why the natives' lives become tedious and exhausting, because they don't get to break free from their reality.
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It makes sense why they would become envious and resentful towards tourists, because of the fact that they don't have this privilege. Tourists get to enjoy new settings and stimulate their minds with other cultures while natives are experiencing the same thing they experience everyday.
What's interesting to the natives though, is how their very own setting becomes the tourists' vacation. "Their own banality and boredom" is turned "into a source of pleasure" for the tourist. The very place the tourists want to go is the one the natives want to leave. Kincaid clashes these two point of views and reveals the contradictory opinions one place can have. It is a new understanding of how different backgrounds can affect how you perceive a location, either as a place to escape or an uneventful one.
Such a Powerful quote from Kincaid which captures the essence of what is like to be oblivious to a culture when one is a tourist. I liked the way you used rhetoric questions in your dissertation. Great post!
ReplyDeleteSuch a Powerful quote from Kincaid which captures the essence of what is like to be oblivious to a culture when one is a tourist. I liked the way you used rhetoric questions in your dissertation. Great post!
ReplyDeletePerspective is everything. The same place can be a source of boredom or pleasure depending on the person. We take our surroundings for granted sometimes.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with you, doing the same thing over and over every day can affect us emotionally and this is the reason why we need excitment every now in a while. Sometimes we have to get out of our little bubble and experience all those exciting things around us.
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