| The Kool-Aid
Wino An Essay by Heather Holtmyer The "Kool-Aid wino" is a young boy with a physical defect or rupture. This rupture prevents the boy from working in the field with the rest of the children. His family is poor. All the other family members must pitch in to make this household survive. His mother appears to be at home with the smaller children. The older children pick beans in the field for two and a half cents per pound. I believe the "Kool-Aid wino" is a negative character is this story although there are points to argue him as positive. The "Kool-Aid
wino" does not help with lightweight chores around
the house. His younger brothers' and sisters' diapers are
in need of changing, the dishes need washing and the old
rotten comic books could stand to be cleaned from the
chicken coop. The "Kool- Aid wino" does not
seem to worry about anyone's needs and wants except his
own. He creates his own reality apart from the confusion of the house he lives in where there appears to be some disarray or lack of structure. Mom doesn't seem to be in control of her life or the life which surrounds her. At least the "Kool-Aid wino" is still able to carry out his own dream. The presence of the Kool-Aid and the ceremony, by which he takes pride in making the Kool-Aid, tells me that the "Kool-Aid wino" has imagination in his world of disarray. The "Kool-Aid
wino" is negative in many ways and yet there is
still that glimmer or sparkle in his eye. An excitement
that the other family members seem to have lost. It is
important to have knowledge and imagination. Both make
one feel good about oneself, showing yourself and others
what you are made of. There is always hope for survival. Back
to Student Essays |