Perceptions of Time

As I read Jamaica Kincaid’s A Small Place and several other readings, I found myself drawn to the theme of Time in relation to everyday life in their writing compared to our culture’s perception of time. Kincaid writes about the division of time in relation to life on a small island. When she describes the amount of time that has passed since the library was destroyed, she says, “what a strange, unusual perception of time they have” (9). This is how she perceives the thoughts of foreigners in regards to the lack of productivity by the people of Antigua. She observes that on a small island: “twelve years and twelve minutes and twelve days are all the same thing” (9). What does this say about the Antiguans everyday life? Are they happier, more content because they do not live by a schedule or does this sense of timelessness point to a different consciousness—one that has to focus on more immediate daily needs? Further on in her story, she writes, “To the people in a small place, the division of Time into the Past, the Present, and the Future does not exist. An event that occurred one hundred years ago might be as vivid to them as if it were happening at this very moment. And then, an event that is occurring at this very moment might pass before them with such dimness that it is as if it had happened one hundred years ago” (54). Time appears to be considered much differently than how much of Western civilization views it; many in our culture seem to allow time to control their daily lives—every minute is accounted for, unlike the Antiguans who seem to view time through a different lens, we have calendars, planners, clocks/watches/alarms, and all types of electronic time keepers/planners. Is this difference due to the smallness of their living space, their isolation from globalization, or simply their culture’s emphasis on other things besides time…?
In “Tucson” by Leslie Marmon Silko, time is also referenced as something that occurs in different spaces for every person. A period of time may seem long or short depending on the context and what is being experienced daily. The stone idols that were stolen 70 years ago are only “a mere heartbeat at Laguna” (34). Why in this place of Laguna does the perception of time have a similar feel to Antigua? Is Laguna small or is the elders’ view of time so expansive that 70 years is a small fraction? Silko writes, “The old ones had stuck to their predictions stubbornly. Whatever was coming would not necessarily appear right away; it might not arrive for twenty or even hundred years. Because these old ones paid no attention to white man’s time” (35). Again, I felt this sense of difference between perceptions of time. What is “white man’s time”? A time that is measured and documented minute by minute? We anticipate time; we think time moves too slowly or too fast; we are so consumed by time and schedules and filling every minute that time is integrated into every aspect of our daily lives through objects, events, and conversation. --Kristin