Drinking Coffee Elsewhere by ZZ Packer - Term Paper Example

Drinking Coffee Elsewhere The collection of short stories Drinking Coffee Elsewhere by ZZ Packer consists of several themes such as loss of innocence, power of religion, patriarchy, otherness and racism. The author has beautifully developed the characters based on the themes and the setting of each story. In this paper two stories from Drinking Coffee Elsewhere will be analyzed according to how they project loss of innocence. While reading the stories, it is found that the characters have lost their innocence due to different circumstances. Packer has projected loss of innocence with different experiences in the lives of the characters. Packer’s characters also learned to change their perceptions in relation to the people and the world with those experiences. The theme of loss of innocence indicates how the increase in knowledge about the world impacts the character and his/her personality. Packer has used Loss of innocence as the central theme in her short stories ‘Brownies’ and ‘Speaking in Tongues’. This paper will analyze how the author has characterized loss of innocence in these stories to influence the readers. The selected two stories based on loss of innocence are ‘Brownies’ and ‘Speaking in Tongues’. In ‘Brownies’, the author wants to show that anger and hatred that developed in the black and white races had no origin rather each of them did not even know why they hate others. They just show to the world what they see, observe and experience. In the story ‘Speaking in Tongues’, the author has shown how the main character lost her innocence due to pressurized sexual experience at a very young age. ZZ Packer projected loss of innocence in her stories as a transition from childhood to adulthood without any relation to gender, religion or culture. ‘Brownies’ is a story focusing on racial segregation and prejudice that existed between white and black Americans. The author showed that the girls in both troops were innocent but when they watched the behaviors of others around them their perception changed, and that’s where the loss of innocence is applied in the story. The black girls’ troop identified that the white girls’ troop called them names based on racism. The author showed in her text that the white girls did not even know why they hate the black girls or abuse them. It was rather their surrounding that made them think negative and misbehave with the black Americans. Similarly, the black girls found out that the troop of white girls also consisted of some ‘delayed learners’ who were suffering from some mental disorder, so they took their revenge by calling them ‘retarded.’ The main character of the story Snot, then realized that when someone experiences something bad in the world then he or she wishes to return it back to the world. The transition from the mere feeling of revenge to the understanding of the philosophy of life is depicted as loss of innocence in the story. In the end, the writer showed the loss of innocence through the girl (Snot) stating that there is something mean in the world that cannot be stopped (Packer 31). Packer claims through her stories that the experiences that people have in lives declare them as victims or at some point of time victimizers. Therefore, her characters appear as protagonists having some approach and pursuing towards specific goals (Packard 2). According to Packer, the girls in both troops might not even know the basis of the hatred they had for each other, but they were just following the vicious circle. The black Americans might become victims in certain situations but in some other cases they are also exploited. The author has projected this reality by expressing how loss of innocence occurs with experiences and observations of the world. ‘Speaking in Tongues’ is a story of a young girl, 14 years of age who ran to escape her living conditions and encountered a whole new world. The girl named Tia was raised in a very religious setting. She appeared to be very innocent as the story began. Parker developed the character of Tia right from the beginning to let the readers understand that how the spark to rebel ignited in the young girl and forced her to face the world on her own. Tia used to question openly about inappropriate church teachings. Due to a certain incident at the church she had to run away from her place and travel all the way to Atlanta. Here she came across sexually exploited individuals and a new world full of lust, greed and sex. Two characters were important in bringing loss of innocence to Tia’s life. Her loss of innocence is projected by the writer at different instances. For example, she felt sad when she realized that being a part of someone is linked with sex and birth so death indicates that one does not belong to anyone (Packer, Speaking in Tongues 193). Packer has described loss of innocence through Tia’s character in two ways. Once her experiences with the changing environment and incidents at church and later the forceful sexual experience she came across. Dezi forcefully compelled her and used her for his sexual pleasure. It is referred as loss of innocence in the story. Tia came across the harsh world that she did not know before. She got mature with the observations and experiences she had, particularly the sexual experience. Dezi forced Tia to have sex and learn the lifestyle of Marie. The young innocent girl got trapped in Atlanta and lost the innocence she once had. It changed her perceptions towards world, people, life, living and death. ZZ Paker’s collection of short stories Drinking Coffee Elsewhere contains different short stories that reflect certain specific themes such as loss of innocence, power of religion, patriarchy, otherness and racism. Packer builds characters and story to depict these themes. It appears that the characters in ZZ Packer’s short stories raise their voice and undergo a process of change throughout the story. These transformations make her characters real and pertinent to the readers who are also experiencing changes in their lives. In this paper, the theme of loss of innocence is studied with relevance to two short stories from Drinking Coffee Elsewhere named ‘Brownies’ and ‘Speaking in tongue’. Both stories project the loss of innocence with different perspectives and reveal the shift of character from an innocent one to a mature and experienced one. In ‘Brownies’, the writer has shown how the white girls and black girls’ troop realized the fact that the hatred that they feel for each other has no origin. They had no reasons to avert one another and this realization came through loss of innocence. Loss of innocence is projected in ‘Brownies’ by changing the views of characters about the world by gaining experiences and learning from observations. It the end, the Black troop girl realized that at some point of time everyone becomes mean either they belong to white race or black. In ‘Speaking in tongue’ loss of innocence is reflected via two ways. The little girl Tia experienced the loss of innocence when she realized the cruel realities of world at the church and with Marie at Atlanta. Another exposure to forceful sexual experience is also depicted as loss of innocence in the story. The young girl was harassed and forcefully made to sex by the character named Dezi. The writer has shown these two things completely changed her mindset and perception about the world, life and death. In both the stories ZZ Packer has left on the readers to understand and think about loss of innocence and its projection in the real world. Hence, it is concluded that Packer has used loss of innocence as the central theme in her short stories ‘Brownies’ and ‘Speaking in Tongues’. Works Cited Packard, Gabriel. "Making you feel and making you think." Writer 125.7 (2012): 1-7. Print. Packer, ZZ. "Brownies." Packer, ZZ. Drinking Coffee Elsewhere. New York: Riverhead Books, 2003. 1-31. Print. Packer, ZZ. "Speaking in Tongues ." Packer, ZZ. Drinking Coffee Elsewhere. New York: Riverhead Books, 2003. 133-193. Print. Read More