RESPONSE FOR 10/3

RESPONSE FOR 10/3

            In “Brownies” by ZZ Packer, he describes his characters not only physically, but by past memories that the main character, Laurel, recalls as we are introduced to each one. Because the story is from Laurel’s point of view (first person), we see all of the characters and surroundings through her perspective, so each of the descriptions she gives about the secondary characters lets us know about her personality and relationships with these characters. For example, when introducing Mrs. Margolin, Laurel remembers the biblical lessons that she had given the troop in the past, and that she creates acronyms for religious names, like the Bible, “Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth” (Packer, 504). This religious description of Mrs. Margolin gives way to the description of Arnetta, who is portrayed as very two-faced. Packer gives the reader this impression without simply stating it, by saying that Arnetta “always made a point of listening to Mrs. Margolin’s religious talk and [gave] her what she wanted to hear. Because of this, Arnetta could have” screamed something horrible through a megaphone, and Mrs. Margolin would have looked the other way (Packer, 504). Hence, she appears one way to adults, but has a completely different persona when around adults.

            Packer also did a good job of giving his other characters complexity, without obviously revealing their whole life’s stories. For example, Mrs. Hedy is depressed and we find out she is in the process of a divorce, and Daphne is extremely mysterious (Packer, 510, 511).

            I think I could use both of these techniques, using memories to convey personality and creating complex characters, into my own writings. It seemed very smooth, and when reading, I couldn’t tell that was what was happening. It didn’t sound over-written or forced.