Jennifer Waitke Critical Reasoning Kool-Aid Wino Final Draft 1-5-99

An Essay on "The Kool-Aid Wino"
by Jennifer Waltke

The main character in "The Kool-Aid Wino"" seems to find order in a life filled with poverty and disorder through the use of his Kool-Aid ritual. During the first few times of analyzing this story, I came to the conclusion that despite the poverty-stricken lifestyle in which he lived, he managed to take a positive and negative outlook to many aspects of his life. After analyzing this story more in depth, I have changed my main claim to support the boy as being more of a positive character than a negative character.

   The boy lived in his own world away from the daily routines of his other family members. He wasn't allowed to work in the fields along with the rest of his family due to his physical condition. There is no evidence that he did or did not put forth effort to help with his younger siblings; therefore what purpose does he have in life?

   I think that in order for the boy to maintain sanity he used sarcasm in different situations. The term "sarcasm" means a mocking or contemptuously ironic remark towards or about a person or thing, according to Websters dictionary. For example, "He hopped out of bed and was already dressed. He had told me once that he never took off his clothes when he went to bed... You're not fooling anyone by taking your clothes off when you go to bed." I look at this example as a young boy who sees no point in taking his clothes off to sleep when they have to be put back on the next day. I find it mocking because his daily life is so monotonous that there is no point in trying to change anything. I think that part of his somewhat sarcastic outlook on life is how he copes with it, not to mention he is a typical young boy. I think that in this example it also shows his age. I know a lot of young boys that think it's more sensible to just keep their clothes on when they sleep since they just have to put them back on in the morning. Either way, I feel that the boy uses sarcasm to his benefit in dealing with his lifestyle.

   The boy becomes enraptured in the only positive aspect of his life which is fulfilled by Kool-Aid. "To him the making of Kool-Aid was a romance and a ceremony." The ritual of making Kool-Aid gave him a sense of order and security. Nothing else in life mattered at that point. "His mother came around the side of the house and said in a voice filled with sand and string, 'When are you going to do the dishes?' " "Soon," replied the boy. It didn"t matter if his mother told him to do something or not, as long as he was focusing on his Kool- Aid ritual; that was all that mattered to him. Of course, as soon as the ritual was completed he reverted back to the reality of his life; only this time he had had a days worth of drinking.

   Another positive aspect is the fact that the boy continues repeatedly to choose Kool-Aid for his ritual when he diluted it so much that the taste was most likely unnoticeable and he had no sugar to add to it. "But he always made a gallon, so his Kool-Aid was a mere shadow of its desired potency . . .but he never put any sugar in his Kool-Aid because there wasn't any sugar to put in it." Knowing how Kool-Aid tastes when mixed with the right amount of water and sugar, it seems to me that the boy accepted what he could get. Even though his Kool-Aid lacked ingredients and potency, he didn't care or at least it wasn't mentioned that he objected in any way.

   Throughout the trials and misfortunes of the boy's lifestyle, he was able to set aside the bad and acccept what he could. The boy's Kool-Aid ritual was the only thing in life that was secure to him and that he could call his own. He took all of the negative aspects of his life and found a positive aspect through his very own ritual.

Back to Student Essays