First Appearance In A Christmas Memory By Truman Capote

Imagine a staged production of A Christmas Carol set in 1843. See the stage set in the exact time it was written by Charles Dickens. The foggy, crowded streets abuzz with carolers and shoppers, the children staring wide eyed into the shops and bakeries. Hear the bells ringing as a round of “Hark the Herald Angels Sing” fills the gaslit streets with joy. As a child, going to see A Christmas Carol was one of my fondest Christmas memories. To witness Scrooge 's’ transformation from a mean, greedy old man to a joyous, loving benefactor always left me smiling and filled me with hope.

Charles Dickens: A Christmas Carol ‘A Christmas Carol’ written by Charles Dickens tells the story of a man named Ebenezer Scrooge who is taught the true meaning of Christmas and is shown the errors of his ways. ‘A Christmas Carol’ was published in 1843, this was a time of social and political unrest. Dickens motivation for writing this story was to encourage employers to treat workers well, he uses the Christmas Carol to portray this message. Charles Dickens felt strongly about the working conditions and poverty that many people endured. He wanted to encourage employers to treat their workers well.

It is curious that as children, humans have the ability to observe and remember details of specific situations and instances yet lack the ability to describe them. Truman Capote, as a grown man, took advantage of his vivid memories and composed the short work, "A Christmas Memory." The story begins in late November, a month symbolic of all the years gone by that Capote could remember beginning preparations for Christmas fruitcakes.

The feelings that Capote illustrates through his imagery have symbolized not only the character’s thoughts, but also the author’s inviting the reader into their personal world. In Part IV, Perry is relating to the tom cats as he watch[ed] their maneuvers” who “appeared with every twilight and prowled” and are notorious for “hunting” (264,1). This description of Perry allows to see what his life has been like and he literally confesses at the end that he’s “done what their doing”, “the equivalent” (264,1). These representations conjure pity for the convict and let the audience hear his cry of desperation when he was a child; homeless, starving and searching, he persevered and the imagery that’s provided shows the critical feelings that Capote wants you, and maybe even himself, endure and grasp hold of for the development of Perry. Another example of how imagery evokes emotions for the author’s purpose is how Capote introduces the deceased Clutter family at their funeral. He states the family’s clothing put around their bodies from a “dress” to a “flannel” and that it “lent the scene an awful aura” because their heads were “encased in cotton” and they were twice the size of “an ordinary blown-up balloon” (115,2). Capote carefully surrounds us with the imagery of the Clutter’s in full detail because he is trying to make them

The short story I read was “A Christmas Memory” by Truman Capote. The book was mainly about two characters, Buddy and his friend, and a memorable Christmas that they spent together a couple of years back before Buddy’s friend passed away. Basically the whole story is a memoir, his own memories and experiences , because Buddy is reminiscing on the past and is speaking upon the memories that he remembers from that Christmas spent with his friend. Even though it was a short story, Capote did a well enough job of describing not only the characters, but also their relationship with literary devices such as figurative language, symbolism, theme, and many more.

Robert Butler used setting and tone to establish thematic meaning in the story “Christmas 1910” by placing the setting at a very cold, isolated, and depressing house. This led to the thematic meaning because the main character, Abigail, is affected by the setting. If the house wasn’t placed where it was the story would be completely different.

The film adaptation of “A Christmas Memory” does very little that differs from the original piece by Truman Capote; however, the film takes the heart of the original, and adds even more through the main characters’ casting and memory-like direction. On the other hand, this move is far from faultless and features some questionable decisions that take away from the movie’s greatness. Even with its faults, “A Christmas Memory” is still a decent movie that would be a treat to any fan of the original work, but those who are unfamiliar with Capote’s work would find very little interest in the story or the characters within.

Scrooge is presented as a lonely character who has little left in life. Often he is linked to cold and darkness, perhaps linking to the demons he faces and how he presents them to others coming across as a moody, melancholics man. He has a fixation with money and how no money should be given away. Scrooge is similar to a villain in fairy tales which may be where Dickens got his character from.  In the opening line of the extract Scrooge is described as "a tight-fisted hand at the grind-stone".

It was Christmas Eve. My brothers and I sat on the livingroom floor. The Christmas tree lights dimly lit the room. We sat around my mother who was sitting on the couch while my Father was looking for The Night Before Christmas

In Truman Capote’s short story “A Christmas Memory” imagery and symbolism are used by the author to show that friendship has no age limit. Truman uses very vivid details and many different types of figurative language to show his theme ,which is that friendship has no age. An example of symbolism is, “As if I expected to see, rather like hearts, a lost pair of kites hurrying toward heaven” (6). After getting the news of his friend’s death, he goes outside and almost expects to see kites. In this example of symbolism, the author shows us how deep a bond Buddy and his friend have by showing us a glimpse of Buddy’s mind and how his heart is going to heaven with his friend. Furthermore, the author uses some imagery when he gives us a vivid description

Truman Capote’s story A Christmas Memory, is about Capote’s childhood memory of a particular holiday season and how he enjoyed that moment in time with a special friend. Capote is illustrated by the main character, Buddy. Buddy and his distant cousin have a bonding friendship and tell of their exploits during that Christmas. They pick out a very special Christmas tree, make each other presents, and make fruitcakes.

For example, in “A Simile” it states “We are as the deer, with heads high, with ears forward and eyes watchful.” This illustrates the image of watchful deer walking through the woods always on alert and ready to flee at anytime. Another example, is from “Moon Rondeau” the author writes “One evening when the smell of leaf mould.” This example clearly indicates the unpleasant memories of the relationship. The author uses Imagery to give descriptive meanings to less comparing the

old sinner! Hard as a steel and sharp as a flint, from which no steel

Looking at the story of "A Christmas Carol", it seemed to me at a young age as an enchanting tale about the spirit of Christmas. Now looking back through the article, there really was a hidden truth behind Ebenezer Scrooge and the spirits of Christmas. It affected the story by showing that many people are in poverty like the Cratchitts In another, unpublished pamphlet, Malthus, supported newly proposed ‘poor laws’ to install workhouses, arguing that men who were unable to sustain themselves didn't have the right to live. Dickens’s reply to Malthus comes in the Cratchitts, especially Tiny Tim, The warmth and cheer of their celebrations, despite a want of food and gifts touches Scrooge, and criticises his scrounging ways implicitly, by contrast, and explicitly.

I think Christmas has always been one of my favorite holidays. Maybe because of the special atmosphere that you can feel everywhere, in shops, restaurants , pubs and even streets, where you can hear the magical carols, or maybe it's because of its religious background, but what I can tell you for sure is that I can't think of anything more exciting than the image of the entire family preparing the Christmas Tree or fixing the Christmas dishes.