In ZZ Packer’s “Brownies” and Eula Biss’ “Nobody Knows Your Name,” the authors demonstrate that the factors that make a citizen are the values that one holds. ZZ Packer establishes the meaning of citizenship in her short story “Brownies” by showing the loyalty and sense of belonging that the girl scouts have toward each other and toward the Brownie Troop. Eula Biss enforces the idea of citizenship in “Nobody Knows Your Name” through the husband’s loyalty to the town he grew up in and his feelings of belongingness being stripped from him when he discovers that the town is no longer there.
Through her short story “Brownies,” ZZ Packer establishes that the meaning of citizenship is based on loyalty to a group and to the people in that group, and this is portrayed through the parallelism of the girl scout troops…show more content… Packer demonstrates that Laurel’s loyalty to her troop is what makes her a true citizen. When Arnetta devises a plan for the Brownies to have a secret meeting to fight back against Troop 909, she asks Laurel if she’s going to tell Mrs. Margolin and Mrs. Hedy. Laurel says, “Maybe you didn’t hear them right – I mean –” and is interrupted by Arnetta, “Are you gonna tell on us or not” (Packer 10). Of course, Laurel stays loyal to her troops, goes along with the plan, and keeps the secret meeting a secret from Mrs. Hedy and Mrs. Margolin. Her refusal to turn on her fellow Brownies shows her loyalty to the Brownies, and they know that they can trust her. Laurel exemplifies herself as a true citizen in her world of being a girl scout. Laurel and the other Brownies present themselves as citizens, though in a much smaller spectrum than nationally. In “Brownies,” the troops show loyalty to their authority, Mrs. Hedy and Mrs. Margolin, when they sing Brownies songs. It is clear that the girls don’t want to sing certain songs, for example when Laurel says, “Although I
