TOW #11- A Drugstore in Winter by Cynthia Ozick (written text)

“A Drugstore in Winter” was written by Cynthia Ozick in 1982. Ozick is a well-known Jewish writer about her life growing up in New York City. She often writes pieces about how she dreamed of becoming a famous writer and writing multiple successful novels when she was a child. In this essay, Ozick shares her experiences growing older and realizing she has not fulfilled her childhood dreams completely (she kind of has a realization of “what has my life come to?”). Ozick is writing to the general adult public, more specifically, to people near her age in their late 60s who would relate to the topic of realizing she has not fulfilled her childhood dreams. Ozick writes using many allusions (some of which would only be understood by an older audience, hence the older audience to whom she is writing). Ozick writes about her childhood and her connections to the innumerable books she read. She specifically explains her connection to the book Little Women that she read “ten thousand times,” saying, “I am Jo in her ‘vortex’; no Jo exactly, but some Jo-of-the-future,” which references one of the main characters from the book (6). This allusion helps the reader to understand some of the connections she had to the books she read, as well as helps the reader to better understand Ozick’s personality (for example, if she is a person who acts like Jo and has similar aspirations, etc.). Additionally, Ozick uses personal and historical anecdotes in order to create a personal connection to the piece and help to better portray her experiences of growing older and not fulfilling her dreams. Ozick writes, “Hymie, after Italy, after the Battle of the Bulge, comes back from the war with a present: From Here to Eternity” (6). Ozick also portrays her whole life throughout the essay by explaining many of the different books she read as a child and the impacts those books had on her, as well as the relationships with different people she had as a result of those books. Throughout her examples of childhood books, the reader is able to gain an insight into her childhood. Therefore, Ozick effectively portrays her experiences growing older and realizing the childhood dreams she has yet to accomplish in her “future that shrinks and darkens” (7).