“The English hate each other and they hate England, and the reason they are so miserable now is that they have no place else to go and nobody else to feel better than.” (Kincaid 24)
When I first came upon this quote I related is to us as college students and this feeling of imposter syndrome. Transitioning to college where everyone is as smart as you can be very discouraging and frustrating because in high school you were one of the smart ones. There is this feeling that your responses are not good enough as everyone else’s because you may think that they have a fancier and more intellectual response. You may also think why even bother because someone has already commented on it and you input would not be as valued anymore.
The English have already explored and taken over the place they planned, so there is not much for them to do because everyone has also already doing it and it won’t be as unique. Since everyone is at the same level as them they feel frustrated that in whatever they do others are also as capable of doing it.
I agree with your way of thinking on this quote Sharielly. I would also like to add that you can feel Kincaid’s frustration in this quote. We know that the English colonized Antigua at one point and though Antigua is free now, they are not actually “free,” and Kincaid feels that she has all the right to blame the English for that and feels that Karma has now taken its course on them.