| The Kool-Aid
Wino An Essay by David Welch "The Kool-Aid Wino" is a story about a poor handicapped boy who was a member of a large German family. His family did not have enough money for him to get a an operation to repair his rupture so he remained crippled. This young boy felt like an outcast in a hard working family. Unable to work, he spent his days as a Kool-Aid wino to escape reality, My opinion is that the wino is a negative character, and there are several reasons why I believe him to be negative. It is true this young boy has had a hard life and did not grow up with silk sheets. His rupture would be devastating to live with, but he used it as an escape to avoid living a life of work. That lead nowhere like the rest of his poverty stricken family, This boy turns into a wino instead of dealing with reality. Living every day for Kool-Aid gives the boy a false sense of hope. The wino could not even take the time to help change baby diapers or help his mother wash the dishes, something he surely was capable of doing. The wino did not mind using his only friend to buy Kool-Aid. It would be hard for the boy not to be a negative character because negativity is the only thing he knows besides the Kool-Aid which leads him nowhere. In closing I
feel the last line of the story is important "He
created his own Kool-Aid reality
and was able to illuminate himself by it." We all
need our own Kool-Aid reality to visit, to brighten our
lives. But we can't function if we choose to live there
all the time.
This is a negative mistake the boy has made, and he may
be trapped in the Kool-Aid realitv forever, unable to
leave and live a true life.
|