This excerpt tells the story about a young boy, called the Kool-Aid wino, who has been born into a very poor family. He suffers a rupture that cannot be cured since his family has no money for an urgent operation. His friend gives him a nickel so that the wino can buy a package of grapes for making Kool-Aid.
The author’s use of words is extraordinary. He combines terms that do not really fit together. He calls the blankets under which the wino sleeps as “tattered revolution of old blankets” or the “diapers” of his younger brothers or sisters “in various stages of anarchy”. This is probably meant to emphasize the bad living conditions of wino’s family. The whole family is working hard on the fields nevertheless to poor to buy adequate blankets or new diapers.
Generally, the author’s language is very pictorial for example when describing the grocer’s birthmark: it looked “just like an old car parked on his head”. Moreover, when refers to a field he compares it with “a feathered pig”. This is a rather untypical way to describe landscape.
The most striking paragraph in this story is the Kool-Aid ceremony performed by the wino. In general, making Kool-Aid is nothing special. But for the boy it has a great meaning. Though he takes too much water and omits sugar, since his family can’t afford any, he is helpful. He can’t work on the fields as the rest of his family, but he can make Kool-Aid for them.
The text gives us an insight on the daily life of a poor boy and his friend. But it leaves open an important question. We don’t learn about the other boy’s background and why he’s giving money to the wino to by a package of grapes.
The author’s use of words is extraordinary. He combines terms that do not really fit together. He calls the blankets under which the wino sleeps as “tattered revolution of old blankets” or the “diapers” of his younger brothers or sisters “in various stages of anarchy”. This is probably meant to emphasize the bad living conditions of wino’s family. The whole family is working hard on the fields nevertheless to poor to buy adequate blankets or new diapers.
Generally, the author’s language is very pictorial for example when describing the grocer’s birthmark: it looked “just like an old car parked on his head”. Moreover, when refers to a field he compares it with “a feathered pig”. This is a rather untypical way to describe landscape.
The most striking paragraph in this story is the Kool-Aid ceremony performed by the wino. In general, making Kool-Aid is nothing special. But for the boy it has a great meaning. Though he takes too much water and omits sugar, since his family can’t afford any, he is helpful. He can’t work on the fields as the rest of his family, but he can make Kool-Aid for them.
The text gives us an insight on the daily life of a poor boy and his friend. But it leaves open an important question. We don’t learn about the other boy’s background and why he’s giving money to the wino to by a package of grapes.
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