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Here Comes the Sun: Deconstructed Student Essays

Alphonso's Hotel Development

The severity of hotel development becomes evident in this passage as it becomes clear that land across the island of Jamaica is being dispossessed from those who call it home. Just as the neighborhood of Little Bay was lost to tourism development years prior, the same occurrences are becoming present in River Bank. The sole goal of colonialism was strategic economic gain at the expense of others, and the same trends are occurring in neocolonialism on the island of Jamaica through hotel development. The residents are not taken into account during any decision regarding future changes to the landscape of their home despite being the ones impacted the most. (Dennis-Benn 120)

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1. Alphonso's Hotel Development The severity of hotel development becomes evident in this passage as it becomes clear that land across the island of Jamaica is being dispossessed from those who call it home. Just as the neighborhood of Little Bay was lost to tourism development years prior, the same occurrences are becoming present in River Bank. The sole goal of colonialism was strategic economic gain at the expense of others, and the same trends are occurring in neocolonialism on the island of Jamaica through hotel development. The residents are not taken into account during any decision regarding future changes to the landscape of their home despite being the ones impacted the most. (Dennis-Benn 120)
Contents of this annotation:
1. Alphonso's Hotel Development The severity of hotel development becomes evident in this passage as it becomes clear that land across the island of Jamaica is being dispossessed from those who call it home. Just as the neighborhood of Little Bay was lost to tourism development years prior, the same occurrences are becoming present in River Bank. The sole goal of colonialism was strategic economic gain at the expense of others, and the same trends are occurring in neocolonialism on the island of Jamaica through hotel development. The residents are not taken into account during any decision regarding future changes to the landscape of their home despite being the ones impacted the most. (Dennis-Benn 120)

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1. Discriminatory Development Policies During the development of Alphonso’s new hotel, the construction company seeks out ways to undermine local legislation to save time and money at the expense of the residents of River Bank. Unfortunately, this is common practice around the world. Policies exist that unfairly target those of racial minorities and also people who are at an economic disadvantage, whether it is intentional or not. Policies like these only further worsen the racial and economic disparities worldwide. (Donahue)
2. Alphonso's Hotel Development The severity of hotel development becomes evident in this passage as it becomes clear that land across the island of Jamaica is being dispossessed from those who call it home. Just as the neighborhood of Little Bay was lost to tourism development years prior, the same occurrences are becoming present in River Bank. The sole goal of colonialism was strategic economic gain at the expense of others, and the same trends are occurring in neocolonialism on the island of Jamaica through hotel development. The residents are not taken into account during any decision regarding future changes to the landscape of their home despite being the ones impacted the most. (Dennis-Benn 120)
3. Forceful Development This passage from Here Comes the Sun explores the possible ways the hotel development seeks to undermine the residents of River Bank to save money during construction. They explore methods such as forceful removal and government-backed contracts designated to relocate residents. Practices similar to these are common across the Caribbean where construction is rarely designed to positively impact the residents who call the islands their home. Shortcuts are made with the sole intention of making as much money as possible for future tourists, and often these decisions are backed by the government. The system was put in place by colonial powers and now exhibits characteristics of neocolonialism to this day. (Dennis-Benn 213)
4. Jamaica Colonial Map The key attributes present in the map further embody the colonial rendering of island geographies. The influence these powers held over the island is shown by the striking similarities between this map and maps of the world's colonial powers. The entire island of Jamaica was transformed during the colonial era to become a money maker for the British Empire. The land of the natives was lost as the island was subdivided and settled by thousands, coastlines were destroyed to make way for cities, and slavery was introduced, altering the social and political hierarchies of the island forever. (Browne, Patrick, and J. Bayly)