Minnows and Zombies by Rita Williams-Garcia Short Story Analysis

Just because you have problems doesn't mean you are abnormal. In “Minnows and Zombies” by Rita Williams-Garcia, the narrator is a normal seven-year-old boy at a summer camp in a group called the minnows. Swimming, snacks, and fun are a normal part of his day. After breaking their relay-race -record, he has to make a trip to the 7-Eleven with his group for ice pops. “ The best thing is marching to the Hillside 7-Eleven for ice pops, But the worst thing is marching to Hillside 7-eleven for ice pops”(2) Because he is forced to encounter the “Hillside zombies”(2). But these ‘zombies’ are really homeless people struggling from addiction. The author Rita Williams uses the uneducated narrator to keep the reader guessing by setting up an issue, building suspense, and building a mood. 

Williams uses a young first-person perspective in the story to build suspense. A great example of this is when the narrator says, “The best thing about breaking our record is marching to the 7-eleven on Hillside Avenue for our victory ice pops. The worst thing about breaking our record is marching to the 7-eleven on Hillside Avenue for our victory ice pops.”(2). After going deeper into thought, I have realized that the author put this quote in the story to not only hook the reader but also foreshadow the zombies. In addition to this, he says, “An army of used-to-be men, and used-to-be woman block buses and store entries”(3). This makes the reader wonder if these people the narrator is describing are actually zombies, and makes the reader second guess if he is telling the truth. Lastly, When the narrator says, “The mailbox zombie might be gone, but I can still smell the pee-pee” this is important because it shows the reader that these zombies are not like real people, yet not real zombies. It also makes me wonder if the author put these quotes in the story to foreshadow later events. This is an example of Williams using the first-person point of view to build suspense.

Rooting off of the young first-person narrator, Williams builds a problem to build a problem. One example of this is when the narrator says, “Daisy could tackle him like a linebacker”(11) this makes the reader aware that Daisy is big and strong, and if needed, she would do anything for her campers. Another example of this is when the narrator says, “Zombies come up to you with eyes that don't shine, and they speak slow, slurry zombie talk. “Hey, Hey, Hey. Dollar, give me dollar.” and they don't say please. They just zombie blink”(3) This really gives the reader some perspective of what these “Zombies” are like, and just how broken they are, and how they don't care about people or food, just care about fulfilling their addiction. Lastly, when the reader finds out that the campers walk “Two by two, Walk-A-Man in the back, and Daisy in the front.”(4) This not only sets up that suspense and problem. But it also makes the reader wonder if the zombies are that dangerous and reckless to hurt little kids. This is an example of Williams using the first-person point of view to build an issue.

Finally, Williams takes advantage of the uneducated first-person point of view to build a mood. One example of this is when the narrator's friend says, “Amiri (her brother) tried to sell her dad's laptop”(6). This means that Amiri is a “Zombie”, so Amiri would do anything to get the money, even go as far as to sell his dad's laptop.