[In the following essay, Underwood compares the husbands and boyfriends in Mason's short story, “Drawing Names” to the biblical three Wise Men.]

In her short story “Drawing Names,” Bobbie Ann Mason treats her reader to a modern-day version of the journey of the Wise Men, an imaginative retelling of the classic tale of bringing gifts, with contemporary setting, characters, and issues.

Three of the sisters in “Drawing Names” have brought their men to the farm. Peggy and Iris have brought their husbands Cecil and Ray; Laura Jean has brought her lover, Jim; and Carolyn, the fourth sister, expects her lover, Kent, to join them at any time. It is these men who represent the three Magi, and the fourth Wise Man, as defined by Henry Van Dyke in his novella “The Story of the Other Wise Man.”

Peggy's husband Cecil, who, Carolyn notes, bought his way into the family, is as Melchior, who bore a coffer of gold to Christ the King. Cecil's life is defined by the money he made as a Gulf franchise owner. To the other family members, Peggy and Cecil have a certain status. Peggy directs the pouring of the dinner beverages like a queen ordering her maidservants, and their daughter Cheryl counts off her Christmas gifts at the end of the day as though they were a king's ransom.

Iris's husband Ray is as Gaspar, who brought myrrh to the stable, foretelling the death of Christ. Iris and Ray have recently separated, and the family will soon be mourning the “death” of a second marriage in their ranks. The severe ramifications of their impending divorce are obvious to Iris when she secretly tells Carolyn about her plans and asks her not to tell their parents because, “It'll kill them. Don't let on, will you?”

Laura Jean's lover Jim is most like Balthazar, who brought frankincense, a token of the divinity of the Christ Child. He is the only person at the gathering who is “unexpectedly kind, genuine” toward Carolyn, as it becomes painfully apparent to her that Kent will not make it to the celebration. He alone has divined that it must be a very difficult day for her. Perhaps Carolyn is subconsciously aware of his supremely good nature when she laughs nervously and tells Jim, “We're hard on you. God, you're brave to come down here like this.”

Kent never does arrive for the holiday gathering. He is like Artaban, Van Dyke's fourth Wise Man. Both choose lifestyle over event, process over product, journey over destination. Both men begin a journey, but neither finishes it in the conventional manner.

Artaban and Kent share like encounters on their journeys. Like Artaban, who cherished his horse and companion Vasda, Kent has a close relationship with his favorite means of transportation, his boat Joyce. On his way to the stable in Bethlehem, Artaban stops to minister to the dying Hebrew. Kent, too, stops along his way to the farm, to take his sister to his mother's home for the holiday.

Artaban hurries to meet the other three Wise Men but, upon reaching the desert, realizes that he cannot hope to cross it with a spent horse. He returns to Babylon to “refuel.” Kent reaches the lake and realizes that, due to his own forgetfulness, he does not have enough gas in his car to make it to the farm.

On their parallel journeys, both men encounter the Child. Artaban saves the life of an infant boy in Bethlehem by bribing one of Herod's soldiers. The child's mother blesses Artaban on his journey to find the Christ Child, and he continues his search. Kent's encounter is even more intimate. As a child, he raced to “see Santy,” and as the red-suited Santa was climbing onto a fire engine, Kent, age five, “reached up and pulled at his old red pants leg.” The Santa looked down and told the little Kent to “piss off, kid.” Kent's, “Maybe I'll go paint the boat. That's what I'll do! I'll go paint the boat right this minute” is more a benediction than blessing.

Finally, in their journey toward epiphany, both men discover the Cross. Artaban, as an old man, comes to Jerusalem as Christ is being crucified and stops to buy the freedom of a slave girl. As Van Dyke relates, Artaban and the freed slave girl hear these words faintly after Christ dies: “Verily I say unto thee, Inasmuch as thou hast done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, thou hast done it unto me.” Artaban sighs gently at this point, knowing that not only is his journey ended, but also that his gifts, those of the soul, have been accepted and he has found the King.

Kent, on the other hand, has known Carolyn's family, albeit subconsciously, through his relationship with her and opts not to join them at Christmas. Both his and Artaban's journeys take an interesting turn: both men miss the Christmas celebration, but both participate in the Resurrection. Artaban has discovered the Spirit that dwells within, and Kent will see Carolyn again: their relationship lives. As Carolyn muses about being out on the boat with Kent on the winter lake, she acknowledges that her relationship with Kent is not over yet, lifting her cup of boiled custard and saying, “Cheer!”

By comparing her four male characters to the four Wise Men, Bobbie Ann Mason reminds us that it is the nature of the gifts we bring to our celebration of Christmas, and indeed to life, that is important. The nature of the gifts we bring is indicative of the lives we lead.