adkins wino essay

"The Kool-Aid Wino": Is the Child a Positive or Negative Character?
An Essay by J’Shcarla Adkins

   The child known as the "Kool-Aid wino" was a positive person. He took Kool-Aid (which is insignificant to many people) and made it into a positive pastime for himself. During the time period in which he lived, there really weren’t many things people did to have fun. Some people would argue that he was a negative person because he was lazy and had an obsession with the Kool-Aid drink.

   In this time many people had to work, and they worked long hours. Accompanying the long hours was hard work and little pay. The child was a boy so he was expected to work, but because he was disabled, he couldn’t work. This was probably humiliating for him. Some people would argue that he had nothing to feel humiliated about; he still could have found some type of job to make money. Some would also argue that he was lazy and used his disability as an excuse not to work. Since the boy was not working, it was then probably hard for him to get money which made it hard for him to buy things (preferably the Kool-Aid). So when he received the money to buy Kool-Aid, it was probably like receiving a gift. Now when a person receives a gift, they usually treat the gift with the best care, which explains the ritualistic process he went trough in making the Kool-Aid.

Some people would argue he was obsessed or addicted to the idea of having the Kool-Aid. It was an outlet for him to leave the real problems of his world behind for a short period of time. Last, after receiving a gift, one wants it to last forever, and the child showed this characteristic when he poured the Kool-Aid into the jars. Some people would then argue that this behavior reinforced his addiction or obsession for Kool-Aid. His friend, the narrator of the story, supplied the nickel to buy the Kol-Aid, but the "Kool-Aid wino" did not offer him any. He kept it all to himself. If he really considered this a gift, he would have shared it with his friends.

   In my opinion, the "Kool-Aid wino" could be seen as a positive or a negative person. In this argument, it just depends on how you feel about the character in the story. As for me, I felt sympathetic because of the living situation and the poverty factors. On the other hand, my opponents may emphasize the child’s psychological state of mind and the economic points made above.