1. “And then there was another place, called the Mill Reef Club. It was built by some people from North America who wanted to live in Antigua and spend their holidays in Antigua but who seemed not to like the Antiguans (black people) at all, for the Mill Reef Club declared itself completely private, and the only Antiguans (black people) allowed to go there were servants.” A Small Place by Jamaica Kincaid, p. 27.
2. Scene from Life and Debt: The Queen, wearing an elaborate dress, steps out of a car. Immediately, the film cuts to a shot of the McDonald’s Golden Arches looming in the air as the camera pans past. The narrator says, “This isn’t what we had in mind when we won our independence.”
The Mill Reef club, serves as a direct connection from Antigua to the reader, and epitomizes globalization. Globalization and tourism in Antigua lead to Americans building the Mill Reef Club. They wanted a vacation place where they could experience Antigua in their way: sunshine, beaches, the ocean and luxury, with a little bit of culture thrown in. But they wanted to experience Antigua without having to deal with the actual Antiguans. The Mill Reef Club is a signifier for globalization. It is a luxurious hotel where only tourists can stay. Kincaid explains the absurdity of this concept. It seems ridiculous that Antiguans would be forbidden to go somewhere on their island. Globalization in the Antiguans’ opinion can be described with the following analogy. The Americans were basically acting like bad guests: they invited themselves over and would not talk to their host. Basically, the Mill Reef Club is the epitome of globalization. Strangers built an exclusive and luxurious club on the natives’ land and they will not let the natives in, unless it is to serve them.
The scene from Life and Death with the McDonald’s also connects the reader from the unfamiliar land to the familiar American commercialism and globalization. The movie shows the queen, the previous ruler of Jamaica, and then it cuts to a screen of independent Jamaica that shows the McDonald’s golden arches. This juxtaposition of the queen, the previous ruler, and McDonald’s portrays McDonald’s (and thus America) as the ‘new ruler’ of Jamaica. McDonald’s is practically a symbol of America, so the screen shot of McDonald’s basically makes the viewer infer that America is now in control of Jamaica even though they are technically independent. Also, The golden arches seem to loom over the camera, giving a sense of the largeness and power of McDonald’s/America. When the narrator says, “This is not what we had in mind,” the viewer can tell that the natives resent America for their globalization. In Life and Debt, McDonald’s, used as a symbol for America, shows how commercialism is taking over Jamaica and functions as a signifier for globalization.
The connection that you picked out about the Mill Reef Club was really good, I never thought of it that way but when I read your post, and how it connects to readers I knew what I did when I read that part in the book. I immediately thought back to a club like that I know of around here, and the similarities of my views to the views Kincade had in the book.
ReplyDeleteMill Reef club was actually built by the British, and before it became a destination for tourists it was a "whites only" colonial establishment. It was common practice in British colonies for the "pukka sahibs" (the Hindu word for "absolutely first class" that was used to denote white British folks who lived in the colonies)to build a country-club type environment where they could socialize with other Europeans while being treated like royalty by the populations whom they colonized.
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