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Coffee Elsewhere Dina Summary

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In the story drinking coffee elsewhere the author ZZ Packner allows the reader to believe that the main character is trying to understand her sexual and racial identity but in reality the story is not about race or sexual preference, passably as metaphors for the actual problem of conceiving an authentic self. The author allows the reader to believe that Dina is exploring her sexuality as a way to transition into fitting into a group but in actuality it is a coping mechanism. Dina uses this strategy of pretending to deflect her real issue with finding her identity and where she belongs in this world. Dina is not at all gay but by the author labeling her as that she is able to metaphorical show that Dina being gay allows her to focus on being apart of something she knows so well. The author makes this evident in the story when said "showing me handing out lies as if they were apples”..... "What …show more content…

At that time it is evident racism was intense and whites were considered superior to black. Dina does not want to be a compliant African-American but she isn't sure how to find a place for herself. As a result Dina names a revolver as an object she desires to transform into intentionally. “And if I had to be any object, I guess I'd be a revolver". Metaphorically her goal was to turn herself into an outcast. Hence, her reasoning because she could be seen as a self-made outcasts. Lastly the title of this short story Drinking Coffee Elsewhere allows us to finally understand that Dina always pretended to suit the situations she was in. ZZ Packner makes this visible when her mother died. “I'd pretended it was coffee”. I imagined I was drinking it elsewhere.”The morning of her mother’s funeral she was given warm milk to relax her a bit and she pretended it was coffee and she was drinking it elsewhere. It is obvious that pretending was her survival mechanism to help her

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