Dangerous Racial Tension in “Brownies” by ZZ Packer Essay

Updated: Sep 22nd, 2020

Introduction

“Brownies” is a short story by ZZ Packer that was published in 2003. The story centers on a group of Girl Scouts in training called “Brownies.” The group is predominantly African-American with only one Caucasian member. Internally, the group follows a mean but authoritative girl named Arnetta. She decides to pick a fight with a different Girl Scout group made up of girls with learning disabilities under the false presence of them using a racial slur. However, the plan goes awry when they confront the girls, with fear and guilt getting the better of Arnetta and her group. This paper will focus on how the point of view and tone of the short story conveys the dangers of racial tension.

Analysis

Although the story is told from the point of view of the girl referred to as “Snot” by the troop, Arnetta could be considered the center point of the short story. She is the one who is behind most of the girls’ actions. At her young age, she already learned how to manipulate both children and adults. She makes sure to pay attention in class to gain favor from her troop leader (Packer 3), and the girls are completely obedient to her (Packer 2). This fact leaves her unopposed and makes her every word that has authority among her group. She also has a jealous and envious attitude toward white people that she uses to instigate the fight. Other girls partially share her point of view but perhaps would not propose a fight if Arnetta was not there (Packer 3). Her point of view could be considered racist, but her age suggests that this is a learned behavior for which her family might be responsible. When confronted with fighting the girls from Troop 909 something changes her mind (Packer 21). Perhaps the act of attacking innocent girls with learning disabilities was too unjust, or her learned behavior became replaced with common sense. Either way, this event changed her mind and the mind of her group. This is significant because it shows how close racial tension can bring people to doing terrible things. The girls blindly follow Arnetta because they all partially believe that she is right, and only when they have to do something their judgment says they are in the wrong. In groups of adults, mob mentality often gets the better of people leading to horrible consequences (Stott and Drury 2).

The tone and especially the changes in tone are very important to the central theme of the story. Most of the story is told with a juvenile and almost comedic tone. There are moments of levity when the girls start humming songs, and one of them says that she is going to “marry Michael Jackson.” However, after the girls finish humming, Snot says that Troop 909 is vulnerable in the shower, turning a fun moment into a sinister one (Packer 11). The tone also changes when the main character thinks about Daphne’s poem. This time it brings introspection and perhaps the first experience with art. At those moments, the tone is much more adult and serious. Perhaps the girls are not able to fully understand it, but the foundation for deeper understanding is there. The tone also changes from dark to comedic during the confrontation in the bathroom. After Arnetta loses her composure, she asks one of the girls from Troop 909 to not tell anybody about this happening and threatens her with becoming a tattletale. To this, the girl responds that she likes tattletales, ending this event on light and pleasant note (Packer 21). Although most tonal changes in the story turn from positive to negative, this one is the inverse. This tonal change shows how racial tension can dissipate when it is unjustified.

Conclusion

Racial tension can affect anyone. The point of view of Arnetta leads to dangerous actions that girls stop just in time. However, the tone can show not only the danger of these actions but also how racial tension should be dealt with. Not with violence, but with humanity.

Works Cited

Packer, Z. Z. Drinking Coffee Elsewhere. Riverhead Books, 2014.

Stott, Clifford, and John Drury. “Contemporary Understanding of Riots: Classical Crowd Psychology, Ideology and the Social Identity Approach.” Public Understanding of Science, vol. 26, no. 1, 2017, pp. 2-14.

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