England, to Jamaica Kincaid, was a land that inspired awe, mystery, and had a sense of wonder surrounding it. The map of England, the products from England and the way she ate her food in the morning all contribute to her feelings surrounding England as a nation. Kincaid uses several rhetorical strategies while describing England to convey her attitude, which in the beginning is one of awe, yet changes to an Anti-English view as she grows up, when speaking of the colonial power of England.
When Kincaid's teacher puts a map up for the class to see, Kincaid views it as "a very special jewel." Her upbringing in a British Colony has made her always view England as a land that she will always love and want to be a part of, but she will never be because of her status and not being from England. The mystique around England is expanded even more when she is describing the map, which had "shadings of pink and green, unlike any shadings of pink and green (she) had ever seen before- "Only the special people got to wear it (England)." The way the teacher said the word England, with "authority and seriousness" shows how England is seen as a far superior place to the little colony island of Antigua. Kincaid uses comparison of England to Jerusalem to show the high regard in which it is held, "the place you will go to when you die, but only if you have been good." In this first paragraph of the passage, the attitude toward England which Kincaid conveys is one of a forbidden land, stemming from the mystique surrounding it and the authority which it derives.
Kincaid goes on to discuss the items which were manufactured in England. The words, "those three words" were a staple in their society. Every manufactured or refined thing they owned was made in England. Kincaid uses repetition when telling of the products which she encountered everyday that were made in England. "The can of cocoa was made in England The shoes I wore were made in England The shoes (my father) wore were made in England The car was made in England.
