In my opinion the boy who made the Kool-Aid in "The Kool-Aid Wino"is not a negative character. You must consider he is from a large, poor family and has a rupture which his family cannot afford to fix. I can understand why some people feel he is a negative person because of his selfish actions. But I feel he is as positive as a person could be in his situation. You must consider his age and his everyday situations before you can decide if his character is negative or positive. The three reasons that prove to me he is positive are: his preciseness in preparing Kool-Aid, the fact that he sleeps with his clothes on, and his imagination.

   If you read the story without taking into consideration the life he is forced to live, you will think he is a negative person. You must look beyond his actions and understand why he is the way he is. First off, he is a young boy; we can infer that because of the wording that refers to the other children in the first paragraph of the story. He is not only young, but he cannot go to work because of his health conditions. He comes from a poor, large family  which adds nothing but negativity to his life. It may appear that he is lazy and disrespectful to his mom, but you must read in between the lines. In order for him to survive he has to do something besides the dishes and take care of his younger siblings. It would not be healthy for this boy to do all the duties of adults. He should be able to be a kid no matter how poor his family is.

   The first reason I feel he is a positive character is because of his exact Kool-Aid making ceremony. A negative person would not take the time to make the Kool-Aid step by step. They would just rush through the process, not caring whether it was spilled or not. The boy takes his time making the Kool-Aid and goes the extra mile to make it perfect. The next reason I feel he is not a negative character is because he always sleeps with his clothes on at night. This shows hope, a hope of survival and life. A negative person would not plan on waking up in the morning or even getting out of bed. The boy plans on waking up and doing something productive, which shows he is positive towards life

   The last reason I feel the boy who makes the Kool-Aid is positive is because of his intense imagination. He has the imagination to take himself out of his poor, boring life into a better life he has created. A world of Kool-Aid. The Kool-Aid and his imagination help him escape his poor, sick life into a world of hope and purpose. The ritual of making Kool-Aid shows he is able to make a world where he has a purpose in life. This is the imagination of a boy who is positive.

   In conclusion, in my opinion the Kool-Aid boy is positive because of his preciseness in preparing Kool-Aid, his practicality of sleeping with his clothes on, and his imagination. Despite his bad life which could make him appear to be negative, these three details of the story "The Kool-Aid Wino" show that the boy is a positive character.