Summary:
A literary critique of the short story called "A Christmas Memory" which was written by Truman Capote and was published in Selected Writings in 1958, focusses primarily of friendship. Friendship transcends traditional and societal values.
As I read Truman Capote's "A Christmas Memory", which was published in Selected Writings in 1958, I started asking myself a few of questions. I asked myself, "How can two people with such an incredible age difference be such good friends"" As I looked deeper into the story and the characters, I came to realize that Buddy and his cousin, who I will refer to as Emily, did not bound their friendship with petty things like age. They based their friendship on things of much more substance and value. Some may say that Emily was an unsuitable friend for Buddy but I beg to differ with those people on that one. I believe they are such good friends because they were both children in mind and soul. They also confided in one another. It was these such qualities which drew them so close together.
Certain quotes stuck out to me in this story. One of them was "I am seven; she is sixty-something."(1-A) This showed the tremendous age difference of 53 plus years. At first I was taken aback by their age gap. As I read on, I began to realize how and why Buddy and Emily had such a strong friendship. Shortly after Buddy revealed their ages, he explained why Emily called him Buddy (1-A,2-B). Many things became very clear when I read that statement. I believe that Emily was traumatized when she lost her best friend at a young age. This trauma may have caused her to be the way she was. I believe that Emily was stuck in the past. She was trying to live the childhood she missed with her former best friend, through Buddy. I think Buddy knew this because in the last line of that statement Buddy said that Emily was still a child (2 B). This implies to me, that Buddy knew that Emily was not at the maturity level that a sixty-something lady should be, but he loved her the way she was.
Some people may say that a person of sixty-something with the mentality of a child, was an unsuitable and unsafe companion for a young boy such as Buddy. At one point in the story (5-A) two relatives scolded Emily for giving Buddy whiskey. They even went as far as to call her "looney." I do not believe that the relatives should have blamed someone such as Emily for giving Buddy whiskey. She obviously had the mentality of a child, so she did not know any better than Buddy did when she gave him the whiskey. Emily may have thought that if it was going into a cake, then it could be given to a child. After the scolding Emily broke down and cried. It is very difficult to be yelled at for doing wrong when she did not know any better. Buddy comforted Emily and finally got her to stop crying. Buddy and Emily both confide and find comfort with one another, and that is one of many essential quality of a true friendship.
Another essential quality of a great friendship is staying in touch. When two friends are separated, they tend to lose touch. They might keep in touch for a few weeks, or even months, but they tend to fade away. In the story, Buddy and Emily stayed in touch to the very end. Buddy's last physical memory of Emily before he was sent to military school, was the one he wrote about in "A Christmas Memory." His earliest memories were of Emily and the time he spent together. The title is "A Christmas Memory." I think it means much more than his memories of that particular Christmas. His Christmas memory was much more than one single memory of Emily, it was a lifetime of joy and happiness. It was something that no one would ever be able to take away from him, and something that he would hold near and dear to his heart. It was the perfect gift. It was sad at the end to see Emily fade away with the seasons due to her old age, but it was heart warming to see that Buddy may have lost "an irreplaceable part of" himself (8 B), but he would always remember memories that he and Emily shared.
After reading this story I realized many things. First of all no one should bound a friendship by age. Friendships are formed through a connection that someone has with someone else, mentally and emotionally. Both Buddy and Emily were at the same emotional and mental level. Emily may have been living her childhood over again through Buddy, but Buddy knew this and accepted this. Emily may have not been at the mental state of a sixty-something year old, but she was at the mental state of Buddy, and that was one major reason they were such good friends. Finally, the major test of Buddy and Emily's friendship, was when they were separated. They did not lose touch, like many people would. They kept in touch until the very end. That kind of friendship is the gift of a lifetime, and it is truly "A Christmas Memory" to cherish forever.
This is the complete article, containing 861 words
(approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page).
