| The Kool-Aid
Wino An Essay by Suzanne Schueler The Kool-Aid wino is a short complex story, of a poor boy who lives in a fantasy world. During some parts of the story he seems to be positive, but ends up being negative. Throughout the story the author portrays the ritual in a fantasy-type setting. The wino takes every little step very seriously, with meticulous attention to detail. I believe if this were a true story, that it would be a sad one. This "wino" is living in very poor standards and has retreated into his own little world. The boy, however, should have enough self respect to pull himself up every morning and try to make a better life for himself and his family. Which he is not doing. The "wino" may have a rupture, but that rupture did not prevent him from making his lunch and walking a total of 6 blocks past several pheasants in a field. And what about that strenuous task of carrying the water? If he had that much strength to make his precious Kool-Aid, he could have been more helpful in the house with his dirty siblings and the dishes. Most would blame the parents for the child's behavior. But I only give that a little credit. It was said the rest of the family was in the fields doing hard labor to earn very little money, but they were doing what they could. I believe the children did suffer some neglect,but it was only so they might have dinner that night. This "wino" seems to be living in his fantasy world and corrupting his friends. This world is all he has, which is sad. The child needs to be shaken from the world only for short period of the day for the house work and his siblings. For without this fantasy world his real world may not be there any more. This character is both negative and positive. He is lazy, thoughtless, and rude. He does nothing to help his family. He only cares about getting his precious Kool-Aid and does not care how. But he also shows that there is a light at the end of a bleak dark tunnel. And this fantasy world is the only thing that he is clinging to. In his ritual and fantasy world, he dreams of a better life. Don't we all do that. Have day dreams of winning the lottery or something. But in the real world they are only day dreams and we all realize this, and go about our hectic lives. Is everyone in the world just positive or negative? Every person can be both. And so is the "Kool-Aid Wino." The reader
only saw negative behavior, I should say almost all
negative behavior. Which is how I read the story. He
is a very negative behaving person.
is both negative
and positive. But the character in the end is both
negative and positive. Back
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