Christmas Memory By Capote Essay Research Paper

Christmas Memory By Capote Essay, Research Paper

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 year he has chosen, though,

is that of the last Christmas three friends spend together. A boy of seven,

Capote has but two friends: his ?sixty-something? year old distant cousin

and a loyal, happy pooch named Buddy. Although the age difference between the

cousins is great, it is clear that the two are almost on the same level of

intelligence. His old cousin is not ignorant or innocent by choice, rather,

because of her frail condition she has been brushed off by adults and has never

outgrown her childish ways. As the narrator, Capote recounts memories of good

times; the times before his family members decided that home was not where he

belonged. Overall, the story is bittersweet because there is joy to be found in

the simplicity of the three friends? happiness. However, after this specific

Christmas, Capote is forced to move out of his house and to leave his innocence

behind. The story is not purely self-serving because Capote uses this piece not

only to revisit his memories of happier times, but to also evoke the memories of

the readers. The theme of a loss of childhood innocence is one that many people

can relate to, as well. However, Capote composed this piece using the observant

eye of a youth juxtaposed against wisdom only gained with age. An uncommon usage

of colons is employed throughout his work to present different areas of text.