eichoff

The Kool-Aid Wino
An Essay by Brent Eickhoff

   "The Kool-Aid Wino" is a short anecdote by Richard Brautigan about two young boys and their unusual ritual of making Kool-Aid. The main character, an under-privileged young boy in poor health, demonstrates his strong character and ability to make the best of a situation, leading the reader to feel sorry for him and admire his determination. However, closer examination tells us that the boy has many flaws in his character. He demonstrates repeatedly that he is lazy, selfish, and deceitful (else ignorant). More importantly, the boy displays unhealthy mental traits including denial and obsessive-compulsive behavior patterns. These flaws far outweigh his good qualities, allowing us to conclude that he is an overwhelmingly negative character on the whole.

   First, we are led to believe the boy is such a determined young lad to overcome adversities, such as poverty and ill health, to accomplish his goal of making Kool-Aid. But he is too lazy to take his clothes off at night and get dressed in the morning. He is too lazy to do the dishes (his chore) in the morning before running off to play.

   Not only is he lazy, the boy is selfish. He doesn't care that his younger siblings sit in soiled diapers, he only steps around them. He goes to great lengths to stretch one package of Kool-Aid to make a gallon, then hides it for himself and his friend. It never occurs to him to help his mother with the children, or to share the Kool-Aid with his family.

Additionally, the boy appears to be intentionally deceitful. Supposedly, his medical condition (a rupture) prevents him from helping the rest of the family pick beans in the fields. Yet he "hopped out of bed, " and walked three blocks through a 'Field covered with heavy yellow grass " to the store for Kool-Aid, and even led the way home. Finally, he requests no assistance when he carries the gallon jar of Kool-Aid to the chicken house, with no mention of pain or even discomfort. If the boy is not faking (at least exaggerating) his condition, then he is certainly negligent to the point of stupidity for his failure to care for his ailment by resting to promote it's proper heating.

Some may argue that the boy is a positive character. One may contend that the theme of this story is the boy's ability to overcome his cultural deprivation and physical handicap in order to gain a greater awareness of himself through the use of his imagination. Further along these lines of positive trait attribution, one may venture the theory that, since the boy lives in the midst of such overwhelming disorder ("revolution... anarchy"), that he is able to create order out of disorder by the making of his Kool-Aid in such a ritualistic fashion. These are noble, however, misguided opinions. "Like the inspired priest of an exotic cult, he had performed the firsi part of the ceremony well. " The brilliant displays of imagination (similes and metaphors abound) throughout the text are not those of the boy, but are those of the narrator who sees his friend through rose-colored glasses. Our story-teller tends to romanticize the boy's obsessive-compulsive behavior through his colorful descriptions, but ultimately reaffirms the concept that even he himself cannot refute, by labeling his dear friend a "wino " in the very title of the story. Therefore, we might deduce that any self-awareness the boy may have gained was imaginary as well. That the boy creates order out of disorder is truly an understatement. The "order" he creates is not a free or creative act of systematic organization, but more a compulsive and over-reactive denial of reality in an effort to cling to his sanitv. He is actually obsessed and dependent at a very early stage of his lifelong journey in this difficult world we live in. Hence, one may conclude that the boy's denial will, more than likely, lead to a life of emotional dependencies and physical addictions.

Yes, we all feel sorry for this poor, sick boy. Lucky for the boy, his "friend" feels sorry for him as well. How else could he raise a nickel to support his precious Kool-Aid habit? At least he'll share some Kool-Aid with him ... we hope. This boy is a poor excuse for a son, brother, or friend. He's not too stupid or lazy to accomplish what he wants, but that's all that matters to him - what he wants. If we want to feel sorry for him, let it be because he is psychologically detached. "He created his own Kool-Aid reality and was able to illuminate himself by it." In other words, he is living in a make-believe world because he refuses to accept any responsibility and face reality.

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