Brownies

The names Daphne and Laurel allude to Greek mythology. In Greek mythology, Apollo falls in love with Daphne; however, Daphne does not reciprocate this love. In order to hide from Apollo, Daphne turns herself into a laurel tree. If there are moments in “Brownies” where Daphne and Laurel seem to exist as “stranger twins” to each other, as doppelgangers, by the end of the story, they merge, sharing an understanding of the confounding machinations of racism.

In literature, a conceit is when two very different things are compared and associated, usually with the help of an extended metaphor. In “Brownies,” the two groups of girls—Snot’s Brownies and Troop 909, the latter of which is comprised of developmentally-disabled white girls—are compared.

At a craft level, Packer uses this conceit to “turn” the story, moving the narrative from rising tension to a moment where the tension cannot build more, and a resolution to the conflict must be found. In this case, it’s the realization by Snot’s Brownie troop that Troop 909 is comprised of developmentally-disabled individuals who are not racist.