Fiction Analysis Essay
Rebekah Frost
LAL 153: Online
Summer 2015
Unit 7: Literary Analysis Essay
Literary Analysis Essay Final Draft
Due: 6-20-15
“Brownies" by ZZ Packer, Literary Analysis Essay
Racism Among Our Youth
Brownies is a short story about 4th graders who go on a summer camping trip near the southern suburbs of Atlanta in Georgia. Laura, an African American girl, also known by her nickname ‘Snot’ to the other girls, narrates the story. The Narrator explains how her Brownie troop took a dislike on each and every girl in another Brownie troop, Troop 909, on the first day. The fact that girls from troop 909 were white was the primary factor contributing to the dislike. Racism has been one of the main causes of conflicts between the American people as it can be seen in the short story.
Brownies has a lot of humor in it, but at the same time, it expresses a serious purpose and theme. It is clear, not only to individuals living in the United States, but also to everyone all over the world that relations between the black and the white people have been fraught with oppression and injustice in the past. The United States government came up with several policies and laws that sought the abolition of racism. However, racism still exists not only among adults, but also between the children, as it is evident in the short story. The narrator (Laura) notes: “We had all been taught that adulthood was full of sorrow and pain, taxes and bills, dreaded work and dealings with whites, sickness, and death.”
The children had already learned about “Dealing with the Whites,” as part of the many unpleasant realities they had to experience throughout their lifetime. The hatred among these children is also evident where Arnetta, Laura’s troop leader compares the white girls to wet Chihuahuas. “They smell like Chihuahuas, wet chihuahuas.” This statement made everyone that heard this laugh very heard. In addition, by the second day of the camping trip, all the other girls in the narrator’s troop
LAL 153: Online
Summer 2015
Unit 7: Literary Analysis Essay
Literary Analysis Essay Final Draft
Due: 6-20-15
“Brownies" by ZZ Packer, Literary Analysis Essay
Racism Among Our Youth
Brownies is a short story about 4th graders who go on a summer camping trip near the southern suburbs of Atlanta in Georgia. Laura, an African American girl, also known by her nickname ‘Snot’ to the other girls, narrates the story. The Narrator explains how her Brownie troop took a dislike on each and every girl in another Brownie troop, Troop 909, on the first day. The fact that girls from troop 909 were white was the primary factor contributing to the dislike. Racism has been one of the main causes of conflicts between the American people as it can be seen in the short story.
Brownies has a lot of humor in it, but at the same time, it expresses a serious purpose and theme. It is clear, not only to individuals living in the United States, but also to everyone all over the world that relations between the black and the white people have been fraught with oppression and injustice in the past. The United States government came up with several policies and laws that sought the abolition of racism. However, racism still exists not only among adults, but also between the children, as it is evident in the short story. The narrator (Laura) notes: “We had all been taught that adulthood was full of sorrow and pain, taxes and bills, dreaded work and dealings with whites, sickness, and death.”
The children had already learned about “Dealing with the Whites,” as part of the many unpleasant realities they had to experience throughout their lifetime. The hatred among these children is also evident where Arnetta, Laura’s troop leader compares the white girls to wet Chihuahuas. “They smell like Chihuahuas, wet chihuahuas.” This statement made everyone that heard this laugh very heard. In addition, by the second day of the camping trip, all the other girls in the narrator’s troop