Antiguans' culture and way of life have been infiltrated with ideas of those who enslaved them, serving as a constant reminder, just as the physical structure of the world around them was constructed and influenced by the British, giving life to a past from which only the British had the privilege to move on. Kincaid enables us to see the reality and history imprinted in the places we visit, breaking through the barrier of Romanization to comprehend the truth of the areas that stay unchanged as we go on.

     If young Antiguans are now enthralled with American trash, they were formerly obsessed with British trash. Their literary and historical role models are British, which is detrimental to receiving a British education in Antigua. In other words, Antiguans have been indoctrinated to admire those who mistreated them in the past. Kincaid is concerned by Antiguans' genuine delight in royal visits to the island: the living embodiment of British imperialism is enthusiastically welcomed by the empire's former inmates. All that the Antiguans are now is what their past left them with, a way of life and being based on their colonizers, as Kincaid expresses, "For isn't it odd that the only language I have in which to speak of this crime is the criminal who committed the crime?.. The language of the criminal can explain and express the deed only from the criminal's point of view. It cannot contain the horror of the deed, the injustice of the deed, the agony, the humiliation inflicted on me” (Section 2, Pg. 23). Decades upon decades of rule, tradition, and culture had been erased, leaving nothing for the Antiguans but what the colonizers left behind. Due to this enslavement and colonization by the British system, as well as their exploitation by visitors, they have no social mobility. They have no control over what will occur in the future, say in what they are taught, or input in government issues. Kincaid laments that all she has to discuss the crime of colonization is the colonists' vocabulary, which is prejudiced in favor of the colonists. It is not only the language that plays a large barrier to their ability to be anything more, but for the Antiguans to move on from their past just as their colonizers did,  they would have to be freed from the system built by the British. Class distinctions are produced through colonization, resulting in flawed systems that are unlikely to change. By conquering Antigua, the British government claimed to be helping the Antiguans, but in reality, it was stealing more and more from the citizens. Government ministers ran brothels, stole public funds, and engaged in shady activities. People are not outraged by how they were made and shaped into inert objects of history. The system does not assist individuals with no voice or economic influence, and as a result, their voices continue to go unheard, circumstances do not change, and oppression continues unaltered. 

     Kincaid illustrates the darkness of the land's past and the inability to appreciate its beauty without ignorance, demonstrating the depth of the rationale underlying the divergent perspectives of native Islanders and tourists. This beauty attracts tourists to the island, and for them, the residents are part of the scenery. For instance, as Kincaid states, “It is as if, then, the beauty—the beauty of the sea, the land, the air, the trees, the market, the people, the sounds they make—were a prison, and as if everything and everybody inside it were locked in and everything and everybody that is not inside it were locked out”(Section 2, Pg. 26). When Kincaid uses language that suggests now, or every day, for the tourists and Antiguans, the reader can grasp how for the tourists, everything is momentarily, everything is new and exciting, bringing about a sort of ignorance as while these people enjoy a vacation on beautiful land, we as readers can see from an Antiguan's perspective, how arbitrary and foolish it almost feels to focus on a view when you are aware of what land you are on. However, when Kincaid makes the reader aware of this guilt, it is not intended to incite hatred; instead, the reader is allowed to comprehend, giving birth to a new way of viewing a new land, a perspective based on knowledge, knowledge that distinguishes between what it means to live in blissful ignorance and not too. On Antigua, there is no oil, timber, or extensive fertile plains that may be exploited hence, the topography cannot produce material wealth. Instead, the landscape's beauty is Antigua's most crucial natural resource, making it one of the most significant components of Antiguans' daily lives, but one that ultimately benefits tourists more than Antiguans themselves, for in Antigua, they have all become mere passive participants in their land, a land meant only to serve those who not aware of the truth behind it. 

     The very structure of Antigua serves as a constant reminder of what was. It will always be a life devoid of culture or anything tangible, an unacknowledged, harsh, unjust reality that, through Kincaid, we can finally see and understand.