A Christmas Memory | Themes

A Christmas Memory Themes

"A Christmas Memory" is an evocation of an idealized early childhood, a memory clouded by the innocence of a seven-year-old. The narrator, who is now an adult, remembers making fruitcakes with his elderly cousin, an annual event which marked the coming of Christmas.

Memory and Reminiscence

From the beginning of the story, the narrator's memory is linked to the act of storytelling and creativity. "Imagine a morning in late November. A coming of winter morning more than twenty years ago." Though the narrator sets the scene, he depends on the reader's own experiences to bring it into focus so he can tell the story. This technique plays upon the questionable nature of memory, in which personal experience is combined with images from other stones, books, and pictures to form a mind's-eye view. Thus, the veracity, or truthfulness, of memory is cast into doubt.

The story also illustrates the power of specific...
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