In the short story “Brownies,” author ZZ Packer uses the narrator, Laurel, to explore the tensions that exist between belonging to a community and maintaining individuality. While at camp with her brownie troop, she finds herself torn between achieving inclusion in the group and sustaining her own individualism. Although the events of the story take place at Camp Crescendo, Packer is able to expand (and parallel) this struggle for identity beyond the walls of the camp and into the racially segregated society from which both the girls and their families come. Packer is exploring how an individual's innate need for inclusion in the group subsequently fuels segregation and prejudice against those outside the group in various social strata. in the first paragraph it is said that Laurel and her troop not only share a cohesive group identity, but that part of this unity is based on their obvious racial difference from the all-white group, Troop 909. The aggressive tone in this passage illustrates that there need not be a direct clash between the two groups; the conflict is already present as Troop 909 is “doomed from day one” (Packer, 185). Even before their arrival at the camp, group dynamics are inherently formed around race which subsequently leads to segregation, something that was only strengthened during their life in the Atlanta suburbs. Since their total separation from the white community most likely stems from socioeconomic factors, it becomes clear that Laurel's group and community find themselves on the "have nots" side of the spectrum, fueling their prejudice and ignorance towards the group. .. paper ......op and within his black community to explore how racism and hatred can be transferred. Although Laurel is aware that the insult probably didn't happen, she still decides to accompany her troop to attack Troop 909, reaffirming her inclusion in the group but not agreeing with the justification. After reflecting on his father's experience with the Mennonites, he begins to understand that his troop's justifications have the same roots as his father's. Although none of the girls in Laurel's troop were harmed in any way by Troop 909 nor directly discriminated against by any other white person, they still perceive that racially motivated interpersonal and cultural conflict exists. Shocked by the realization of this self-perpetuating cycle of racism and segregation, Laurel realizes that “there was something mean in the world that I couldn't stop”.” (194).