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At a surface level, “Brownies” is a story about race; at a deeper level, like many narratives about race and racism, “Brownies” is a story about both perception and power. As characters who would have been born just after the time of the African-American civil rights movement in America, Snot and the rest of her troop are the first generation to come of age in the post-civil rights era. Implied in this, is the fact that they would be aware of—and would have themselves encountered—the continuing racism in America after this movement, especially in the American South.

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While Packer offers physical descriptions of characters in “Brownies,” she makes explicit mention of many of the characters’ voices in a way that provides insight into their personalities. This is particularly important in a story that focuses on race and racial prejudice,as it shifts identity away from the physical by focusing instead on how characters sound, which, in turn, draws our attention to what they say and how they say it.

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A number of different social hierarchies exist in “Brownies.” There is the hierarchy in Snot’s Brownie troop, with leader Arnetta’s tyrannical decisions paving the way for the story’s climactic moment. There is also an absence of hierarchy in the adult-minor dynamic in the story, with adults often offstage or unaware of goings-on. Additionally, there is, both explicitly and implicitly, the notion of racial hierarchy, which functions as a driver for the decisions of the girls in Snot’s Brownie troop

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"Brownies" by ZZ Packer, is a very dramatic look at a brownies' trip and the events that followed. Packer uses language throughout that made the situations seem much more dramatic than they actually were.

As an African American woman,Packer uses the Brownie Troops to show her observations of her race using stereotypes to form hatred and jealousy.

The entire story is a simile for the societal issue of racism. On one hand we have a race that believes the other is rich and pretentious. And on the other hand we have a race that believes the other is poor and dirty.

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Reader's Response
Feminist
Marxist
Formalist
Archetypal