Loss of Innocence in Geese by ZZ Packer - Book Report/Review Example

GEESE Analysis The basic theme of the story shows that life is full of difficulties and chaotic situations which are difficult to manage. The story reveals that life is not at all a bed of roses for any person. Usually people think that their life is miserable as compare to others, but in actual everyone has to face problems. In general, people suffer different problems in all aspects of life. It is advised that everyone should respect the feelings of the other by not ignoring or hurting them in any way. Having a respectable and noble identity is the right of everyone in the society without any kind of discrimination. The writer of the “DRINKING COFFEE ELSEWHERE” has expressed the feelings of some black and white characters very sensitively, but added humorous elements to keep it light in his storybook. His focus is to raise the voice of ignored people in the society as depicted by the feelings of ugly/black people through Dina in the story “Geese.” In the Story of ‘Geese’ the writer wants to depict the struggles of the people to achieve a notable and respected position in the society. But at the end these people may not get what they strive to get. Dina decided to leave the country and informed it to her family. Everybody at Dina’s home was surprised with her decision to leave for Japan. Dina made the excuse that she saw some opportunities there to make some money. However, in reality, she was not going just after the money. In fact, she was much attracted by the beautiful city itself and its traditions. She wanted to go there just for "the loveliness" (p. 211). Therefore, she managed to convince all her family to let her go to Japan. Dina had found a job in an amusement park. The job was of the operator of teacups- one of the swings at that park. She also met a person named Ari who was her coworker. They often exchanged duties. Ari was a nice person. The teacups job lasted until the summer only. Before trying for another job Dina decided to take a vacation with the money, she had saved for her return flight. She visited temples, ate at expensive restaurants and even the colorful and lively city named Shinjuku. Dina found herself being complicated by many men whom she crossed often in subways. Dina had two options to herself for a job: teaching and modeling. Her visa had expired too, which made it more difficult to find a job. Ari took pity on the jobless Dina and took her home with him. Dina gets through different experiences in her life by meeting different types of people. At Aris place, Dina had a bad experience of meeting a hopeless girl, whose career of modeling was finished after her severe accident. That model girl, named Petra, had money and other resources but now it was impossible to change her ruined face, which remained the reason behind her ruined career. After observing Petra’s situation, Dina learned that money could not solve every problem. Dina understood that the fact that her days as a model were over and that she would have to spend the rest of her life with a ruined face. Another strange fact of the life was depicted in the character of Zoltan, the boy friend of Petra. Their intense love for each other still cannot prevent them from small fights. He once used to be a bodybuilder. He had pictures in poses pasted all over his place. Zoltan would often act sentimentally. He usually teases Petra in several ways i.e. by burning himself. He burned his hand intentionally whenever they fought. This made Petra cry for hours. In the end, they would always make up (Packer, ZZ., 2003). Another sad aspect of the life is depicted in the character of Saeed. His wife had left him and he could not arrange money to start a business to earn livelihood. His family had promised to support him and send him some money, but the money never arrived. He was a friendly person who smoked a lot. However one strange night Dina found Saeed on top of her and holding a knife at her throat. She screamed and Saeed left blaming her. Ari comforted her that it would not happen again. After that, Dina stopped talking to Saeed pretending he did not exist. She rather avoided him for the whole day. Each of them was trying desperately for a job. When none of them managed to one, they opted for stealing. Otherwise, they would die of hunger. Each of them would steal food items from different stores in the neighborhood. Petra turned out to be an expert, acting as a pregnant woman and carrying a sack tied to her that she filled with stuff. However, this did not work long and she was caught. The big melon that she tried to steal slipped from her sack, fell on the floor, and broke. The store manager asked her to leave. After that, the stores became suspicious of them so they gave up. Finally one day Ari told them all they had to leave the apartment abruptly. He had lost his job- their last hope. They went to a nearby park and sat there aimlessly. Saeed pointed out some geese in the park. Zoltan ran and chased the birds. It looked to Dina that he would simply grab one of them and kill it right there. When he was about to catch one of them, they flew, and he fell. It looked embarrassing but then the families started laughing and clapping at them. Ari signed them to stop but they rather mocked. It made Zoltan weep silently. Dina then made up her mind to visit Shinjuku, the colorful city with prostitutes she had once visited. She opted to their methods and had a one-night stand with a stranger. He paid her some money. She was depressed and hopeless (Packer, 2003). This shows the desperate attitude of Dina towards her desires and her own life. On her way, back she saw geese flying together in a pattern like the one she had seen in her books. She had read about pilots flying on a suicide mission in planes that would not stand the altitude and crash. In the book it says, “She remembered how she’d marveled when she’d read it, amazed that anyone would do such a thing; how—in the all-knowing arrogance of youth– she’d been certain that given the same circumstances, she would have done something different” (p. 233). So she had then wondered how could anyone ever do it intentionally, but now she understood. She would have done the same thing if she had a choice. By Analyzing and comparison with book “drinking coffee elsewhere,” it has known that the book “drinking coffee elsewhere” the writer ZZ Packer has highlighted the different problems we have to face in our everyday lives. He talks about the effort we put to overcome them. He discusses the human struggle against petty issues. The book has different stories and each of them is about the tensions we face and the conditions of uncertainty and hopelessness that we go through. The story “Geese” also tells the tale of an ordinary girl Dina who moves to Japan in the hope of finding a better job. She wants to improve her way of living. She is faced with multiple pressures when she moves to a foreign country far away from her close relatives. She is unique considering that she is an African- American. She has to face problems because of her identity; she does not find a good job. The character of Dina describes the bitter realities of life, she works hard to prove herself, but nobody admires or encourages her because of her ugly face (Packer). The only job she finds does not last long. She has to move to a small apartment sharing space with four other people. An experience is not at all pleasant. Her friend Ari keeps on bringing people in the apartment to offer them refuge. All of the members are like Dina-jobless. Things get worse when one of her roommates tries to kill her. She continues living in that it room with him. As situation worsens, she has to steal food. Ultimately, Dina breaks down under the constant pressure and resolves to prostitution. She has no option but to accept the reality as it is. The story has a slight humor tine but is more ironic in a sense. The reason of the story expressed as “Loss of innocence,” because Dina had come to Japan with so many bright dreams. She had eagerly spent her money for her return ticket on visiting different places. That was because she hoped she would find a job somewhere else soon. She was not aware how difficult it is for a person, who is African-American, to find a job. She had to face a lot of discrimination wherever she tried to apply for job. The only job she had was not even worth it. It was a theme park where she was deployed as the teacups operator. Things often got embarrassing when she was asked to clean the vomits of the children riding the teacups. She not only faced humiliation every day, but the salary too low as well. She could not even afford to rent a small room or apartment to stay in. The only friend she made was kind enough to offer her to stay with him. It turned out that he did not have a proper place but only a room, where already three people were staying. She adjusted herself in the new environment with strange people and got used to them. One night one of her roommates, Saeed also tried to kill her. As time passed, Dina grew more hopeless as she had not been able to find a single job. She even had to opt for stealing food from nearby stores. Eventually Dina was not able to bear the pressure and depression anymore. She gave up in a horrible way. Contrary to what many of us would think, she did not commit suicide or go back to her country. She decided to go back to the city that she once visited as a part of her vacation break from her job. The city had many colorful and glamorous places run by prostitutes. When Dina visited it, men complimented her on her seductive appearance. They considered her one of the prostitutes and that is why they offered her money. At that time, she had refused (Packer, ZZ., 2003). Now sadly things were different. She decided to offer herself to any of the men who complimented her this time. Therefore, in the end she lost the only thing she had kept safe right from the first day, which was her innocence. That is why ZZ Packers stories are often characterized as "loss of innocence’. It can be concluded that stories like Geese present the feelings of the characters very interestingly by relating to the real life, which inspires the readers to read it passionately (Myerson). The reader can easily pick the lesson of being humble to the minorities and individuals with some weakness. Works Cited Packer, ZZ. “Geese.” Drinking Coffee Elsewhere. New York: Riverhead, 2003. Myerson, Julie. "The fizz factor:Julie Myerson on ZZ Packers masterful debut, Drinking Coffee ." 6 March 2004. The Guardian. . Packer, ZZ. "Notorious in New Haven ." 16 March 2003. The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com. Read More