Wednesday, July 2, 2014

How do the shifts in tone in "A Christmas Memory" reflect Buddy's coming of age at the end of the story?

Truman Capote changes the tone of his nostalgic short story “A Christmas Memory” with two lines. “This is our last Christmas together.” “Life separates us.” These lines signal the end of Buddy’s childhood and his move into young adulthood. These lines delineate the portion of the story that describes Buddy’s childhood relationship with his friend and the next step in his life when the adults have decided that he needs to be in military school.


...

Truman Capote changes the tone of his nostalgic short story “A Christmas Memory” with two lines. “This is our last Christmas together.” “Life separates us.” These lines signal the end of Buddy’s childhood and his move into young adulthood. These lines delineate the portion of the story that describes Buddy’s childhood relationship with his friend and the next step in his life when the adults have decided that he needs to be in military school.


The story becomes melancholy as Buddy realizes that his friend is deteriorating. They stay in correspondence and it becomes evident that his friend is becoming increasingly confused as she keeps him apprised of what is happening in their childhood home. When his friend dies, Buddy realizes that his childhood is over.

No comments:

Post a Comment

What is the Exposition, Rising Action, Climax, and Falling Action of "One Thousand Dollars"?

Exposition A "decidedly amused" Bobby Gillian leaves the offices of Tolman & Sharp where he is given an envelope containing $1...