Drinking Coffee Elsewhere Analysis

Many of the worlds’ most renowned literary figures often employ the use of several techniques in their pieces. Some of the most notable examples include similes, the use of personification, hyperbole & most importantly, metaphors. A metaphor is a word or phrase that is used to refer to something else in the piece, suggesting they are similar. In the story, “Drinking Coffee Elsewhere” by ZZ Packer, there are numerous examples of metaphors. This writing technique helps enhance compact details in the story that are more influential than they seem at first glance. Throughout the story, the reader may more easily grasp a character’s strengths, weaknesses, and other bits of important information by the usage of metaphors.
Dina, a young black girl from Baltimore who came to study at Yale University, is an independent woman who isn’t afraid of speaking her mind. She doesn't genuinely seem to care about how it might affect others. Although independence is liberating, her independence seems to be destroying her, due to her lack of emotions and feelings towards others. This results in her pushing away people who care about her, since she doesn't know how to cope
We read about how she imagines visiting Heidi in Vancouver, and begins having very detailed thoughts. Yet from analyzing these thoughts, they start to seem more like feelings within her that she did not know how to express. Although Dina seems to be tough and emotionless, deep on the inside were emotions and a soft spot towards Heidi that Dina didn’t possess towards others. We become more aware with the use of metaphors, such as when Dina calls Heidi a dolphin rather than a whale, knowing that dolphins are more beautiful. The ramen noodles that show comfort, also show a sense of social class, while the coffee cup, the most adequate representation of Dina, reveals that how one might seem on the outside, might not be what is truly beneath the