Brownies Zz Packer Analysis
In “Brownies,” the author Z. Z Packer writes about a group of young black Girl Scouts at Camp Crescendo who are certain they have been discriminated.
Z.Z Packer deliberately makes the girl scouts unrighteous through language, cynicism, and contrast so that she can depict her point of view on racism. When neither of the girls stand up against fighting Troop 909, it makes the reader wonder who is really innocent in this story.
The author does not want the reader to believe that none of the girls are righteous and none of them merit compassion for their unfortunate situation and probably this is why the girls are put in the same camp as the mentally disabled campers, who in fact do deserve compassion.
The narrator uses Laurel to show her observation …show more content…
Troop 909 was doomed from the first day of camp; they were white girls, their complexions a blend of ice cream: strawberry, vanilla." (Packer, 1) This sentence is impeccably organized so that the blame falls on the troop and not on Laurel. This explains why the author uses first person to tell the story. The reader can see how prejudice Laurel’s point of view is as she witnesses Arnetta and Octavia’s insults. These discrepancies made by Packer, shows the lack of courage to overcome the deeply rooted racism. Moreover, the author uses cynicism to illustrated the contrast between virtue and prejudice as the story becomes complicated to read due to the harshness of dialect used. “What is it Miss Caucausoid? What do you want?” (Packer, 8) or “Oh shut up, Snot” (Packer, 11). Listening to the young girl’s harsh words is the author’s way of showing they are not innocent girls and they show no effort in become one. Laurel sometimes tells her contentious opinion to Arnetta and Octavia. “They won’t ever be alone, “I said. All of the rest of the girls looked at me, for I usually kept quiet. If I spoke even a word, I could count on someone calling me Snot. Everyone seemed to think that we could beat these girls up; no one entertained the thought that they might fight back.” (Pearson, par. 50) …show more content…
As they share the journal, Laurel tries to write something but undesirably, she stops writing. “I opened the journal she’d given me. I looked out the window, trying to decide what to write, search for lines…, and I gave up trying to write.” (Parker, 25) The journal symbolized the moral truth telling that even though racism remains to be a problem that provokes hatred it is not wise to act upon it.
Toward the end of the story, the author appears to admit that racial dissimilarities are part of our life. Having her growing up in Atlanta south side, the author depicts her sensibility toward prejudice through Laurel. Throughout the story, Packer uses sarcasm to attest her feelings toward discrimination. Sarcasm in a sense that the Brownie young girls meant to be innocent but because of their financial hardship and family difficulties prevented them to becoming one. As the truth reveals, Laurel understands about the difficulty of life, empathy, the harshness of racism and her own
Z.Z Packer deliberately makes the girl scouts unrighteous through language, cynicism, and contrast so that she can depict her point of view on racism. When neither of the girls stand up against fighting Troop 909, it makes the reader wonder who is really innocent in this story.
The author does not want the reader to believe that none of the girls are righteous and none of them merit compassion for their unfortunate situation and probably this is why the girls are put in the same camp as the mentally disabled campers, who in fact do deserve compassion.
The narrator uses Laurel to show her observation …show more content…
Troop 909 was doomed from the first day of camp; they were white girls, their complexions a blend of ice cream: strawberry, vanilla." (Packer, 1) This sentence is impeccably organized so that the blame falls on the troop and not on Laurel. This explains why the author uses first person to tell the story. The reader can see how prejudice Laurel’s point of view is as she witnesses Arnetta and Octavia’s insults. These discrepancies made by Packer, shows the lack of courage to overcome the deeply rooted racism. Moreover, the author uses cynicism to illustrated the contrast between virtue and prejudice as the story becomes complicated to read due to the harshness of dialect used. “What is it Miss Caucausoid? What do you want?” (Packer, 8) or “Oh shut up, Snot” (Packer, 11). Listening to the young girl’s harsh words is the author’s way of showing they are not innocent girls and they show no effort in become one. Laurel sometimes tells her contentious opinion to Arnetta and Octavia. “They won’t ever be alone, “I said. All of the rest of the girls looked at me, for I usually kept quiet. If I spoke even a word, I could count on someone calling me Snot. Everyone seemed to think that we could beat these girls up; no one entertained the thought that they might fight back.” (Pearson, par. 50) …show more content…
As they share the journal, Laurel tries to write something but undesirably, she stops writing. “I opened the journal she’d given me. I looked out the window, trying to decide what to write, search for lines…, and I gave up trying to write.” (Parker, 25) The journal symbolized the moral truth telling that even though racism remains to be a problem that provokes hatred it is not wise to act upon it.
Toward the end of the story, the author appears to admit that racial dissimilarities are part of our life. Having her growing up in Atlanta south side, the author depicts her sensibility toward prejudice through Laurel. Throughout the story, Packer uses sarcasm to attest her feelings toward discrimination. Sarcasm in a sense that the Brownie young girls meant to be innocent but because of their financial hardship and family difficulties prevented them to becoming one. As the truth reveals, Laurel understands about the difficulty of life, empathy, the harshness of racism and her own