| The Kool-Aid
Wino An Essay by Kim Patrick Neurath When I first read "The Kool-Aid Wino," I really didn't know if the main character was a positive or negative character. When our class formed groups, I found reason enough to call the "wino" a negative character. In the fifth paragraph, the wino wakes up dressed, and a flashback reveals that he doesn't undress at night because one would just have to get dressed again in the morning. I find this comment to be from someone with a negative attitude. Some might think that this practice is thinking ahead and planning for the future, making it a positive trait. But I don't believe that. I think that not taking your clothes off at night, for the sole reason that one will have to put them back on in the morning is a sign of laziness. Someone who doesn't care about his clothes and appearance would make these statements, constituting a negative trait within this character. There is also mention of the babies in the kitchen with soiled diapers. The boy walks around the babies and ignores the problem; worse yet, he never mentions the situation to any adults. I find this also to a negative trait. Some have argued that the younger children is not the boy's responsibility. That he is not the mother or father, of the children so why should he have to clean up the diapers? I think that at the very least he could have told someone about the diapers so that it could be taken care of. He doesn't help out in the fields, so he should at least help out as much as possible in the house, if not by changing the diapers then at least by informing someone of the problem. On the second page his mother asks him when he is going to complete the dishes. The "wino" claims that he will get right on it, and then puts it off so he can make his Kool-Aid and drink it first. I find this to be a sign of laziness, a negative trait, in my opinion. But you could look at it from a positive viewpoint. He could have been waiting to finish with the dishes while he was involved in the Kool-Aid and then wash them all together, but his previous statement and comment lead me astray from that thinking. I still believe him to be a negative character. This boy is a negative
character. He is unwilling to help is family, shows signs
of laziness, and takes pity on himself. He is ruptured,
some would mention, but I chose not to seeit this way
since he isn't doing anything to help, not even the
smallest things. I find that
the negative traits in the "wino" outweigh the
positive ones.
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