In "A Christmas Memory," Truman Capote prioritizes character over plot. Due to this, the story feels more like a character sketch than a traditional narrative, primarily focusing on the relationship between the narrator, Buddy, and his older cousin, his friend.

Capote uses several techniques to characterize the friend. He uses figurative language to describe her physically, explaining that "[s]he is small and sprightly, like a bantam hen" and that "[h]er face is remarkable–not unlike Lincoln's." He lists the things she has never done, like "wished someone harm, told a lie on purpose, let a hungry dog go hungry," and the things she has done, like using a hoe to kill a rattlesnake and telling ghost stories, "so tingling they chill you in July." 

Dialogue also adds depth to the friend's character, such as when she tells Buddy that a Christmas tree should be "twice as tall as a boy. So a boy can't steal the star." These techniques portray an older woman who is still youthful, generous, creative, and brave. With his attention to characterization through physical description, action, and dialogue, Capote creates a vivid image of the friend, making the story's emotional punch all the more effective.

Some readers may find the characterization overly sentimental. However, Capote limits the sentimentality by writing in the present tense from the perspective of the seven-year-old narrator rather than from an older individual longing wistfully for the past. 

Buddy reports the events as they happen, often oblivious to the sadness lurking underneath the surface. This is evidenced by Capote's frequent use of parentheticals, where many of the story's saddest and most pathetic details are mentioned. 

In one of these parentheticals, the friend tells Buddy that she wishes, just once, that she could get him a bike for Christmas, that what "gets [her] goat is not being able to give somebody something you want them to have." In another moment, Buddy and his friend have reached a pasture with Queenie, their dog. "Queenie," Capote writes, "has scooted to bury her bone (and where, a winter hence, Queenie will be buried, too)." By relegating these details to parentheses, Capote presents them as asides. The sadness–and, with it, the sentimentality–is there throughout the story, but it is never the focus.

The story is autobiographical for Capote, though the text never mentions this specifically. However, the setting of the "spreading old house in a country town" mirrors Capote's upbringing in rural Alabama. As a young boy, he often stayed with members of his extended family, just like Buddy in the story. In addition, Capote was later sent to military school, also like Buddy.

In this way, "A Christmas Memory" is as much a character sketch about Capote himself as it is about Buddy's friend. Capote reflects upon the people and forces that made him in the story. The story's final image underscores this point. Buddy looks in the sky for "a lost pair of kites hurrying toward heaven." Just as the kites are inseparable, so too is Buddy–and, for that matter, Capote himself–inseparable from his older cousin, his friend.

“A Christmas Memory” is a deeply personal reflection that utilizes first-person narration and the nostalgia of a rural Southern backdrop to create its atmosphere. Its realism is enhanced by a clear, linear narrative, while its poetic language conjures the sense of an idyllic past.

Point of View

The story features a first-person narrator named Buddy, though it is revealed that this name was given to him by his friend and is not his real name. This detail implies that the narrative is shared between Buddy and his friend, the story's other main character. The first-person perspective allows readers to experience the story through Buddy's eyes. For instance, the description of Mr. Haha is colored by the perceptions of a seven-year-old boy: “he is a giant; he does have scars; he doesn’t smile.” The italicized words highlight Buddy's awe and fear. Similarly, Buddy's feelings about the other household members are evident in his vague references to them as “other people” in the house, indicating his emotional detachment. His later mention of “those who Know Best” implies skepticism about their wisdom. The adult narrator's perspective is crucial, as it allows him to reflect on his childhood memories with greater understanding, recognizing, for example, that his friend was “still a child.” However, a drawback of first-person narration is its limited scope in depicting other characters, as readers only get Buddy's perspective on the woman without insight into her thoughts. Consequently, the reader cannot fully judge the other family members since their viewpoints are not presented.

Setting

“A Christmas Memory” is set in the rural South during the early 1930s. This timeframe is inferred from the story's initial publication in 1956 and the narrator's remark that the events occurred “more than twenty years ago.” The setting during the Great Depression, a period marked by severe poverty, may explain why multiple relatives, including a young boy without his parents, live together in one house. In reality, Capote spent several years with relatives while his mother sought employment elsewhere. Additionally, situating a nostalgic, coming-of-age story during the Christmas season—a time often remembered fondly—enhances the story's aim of evoking a warm, bittersweet reminiscence.

Structure

Partly because “A Christmas Memory” is a recollection, time serves as its primary structural element. The story unfolds across two distinct time periods: the present, where the narrator recounts the tale, and the distant past, when the narrator was a young boy. The narrator swiftly transports the reader to the distant past with a series of commands: “Imagine a morning in late November. . . . Consider the kitchen of a spreading old house.” At the story's climax, as Buddy and his cousin fly kites on Christmas Day, the narrator brings the reader back to the present with the line: “This is our last Christmas together.” This abrupt shift in time abruptly concludes the story’s nostalgic mood. In several subsequent paragraphs, Capote quickly recounts events leading to the narrator’s current life, establishing a tone of bittersweet melancholy. By setting the main action nearly twenty years earlier, that period is rendered distant and remote. The fact that Buddy’s cousin has passed away by the end of the story further underscores the passage of time and the impossibility of returning to the past.

Growing up in the Depression

Capote’s “A Christmas Memory” is set in the South during the Great Depression. While the story doesn’t explicitly delve into the broader historical context, the era’s customs are vividly illustrated through Buddy’s escapades with his cousin. During times of extreme poverty, it was common for extended families to live together, and Buddy likely stayed with his relatives due to his parents’ financial instability. The activities he shares with his cousin—baking fruitcakes, cutting down a tree, and crafting homemade decorations and presents—evoke nostalgia for a simpler era and reflect typical pastimes in a rural community where money was tight. One of Buddy’s cherished activities is attending the movies, which cost just a dime. During the Depression, millions flocked to the grand movie palaces weekly; it was the most affordable and popular form of entertainment in a world yet to be dominated by radio and television. The fact that Buddy’s cousin has never been to a movie herself is less surprising when considering she grew up before the film industry gained widespread popularity.

An Intolerant Era

Less obvious in “A Christmas Memory” are the cultural attitudes that shaped what Thomas Dukes describes as “the quintessential homosexual writing style” of the 1950s. During a time of significant sexual repression, openly addressing homosexual themes in literature was rare. Instead, authors like Capote often used a form of “code” to create scenarios that could be interpreted in a homosexual context. One element of this “code” in Capote’s story is the sensitivity of the main male character, who prioritizes his emotions and feelings over action. Another aspect is the focus on female characters and domestic issues. Notice the joke Mr. Haha Jones makes when he asks Buddy and his cousin, “Which of you is a drinking man?” Haha’s amusement suggests he associates Buddy’s gender identity more with his female companion than with his status as a young male. Beyond his writing, Capote openly identified as homosexual in the often homophobic culture of the 1950s and 1960s, evident in his chosen manner of dress and the effeminate demeanor he displayed during television interviews.

“A Christmas Memory” was adapted for television in 1967, featuring Geraldine Page and Donnie Melvin, with Truman Capote serving as the narrator. This adaptation is available on video under various titles, including ABC Playhouse 67, A Christmas Memory, and Truman Capote’s ‘A Christmas Memory’. The latter version was also released by Allied Artists in 1969 as part of Truman Capote’s Trilogy.

The story has also been adapted as part of Short Story Anthology, a sixteen-part series from Children’s Television International, with “A Christmas Memory” featured in episodes 11 and 12.

An audio version of the story, read by Capote, is available from Knopf Book & Cassette Classics. Another version, read by Celeste Holm and including “The Thanksgiving Visitor,” is available from Random House Audiobooks.

Holiday Memories is a musical stage play adaptation by Malcolm Ruhl and Russell Vandenbroucke that combines both “A Christmas Memory” and “The Thanksgiving Visitor.” This adaptation was published by Berwyn Press in 1991.

Sources

Hyman, Stanley Edgar. “Fruitcake at Tiffany’s,” in his book Standards: A Chronicle of Books for Our Time, Horizon Press, 1966.

McKenzie, Nancy. A review of “A Christmas Memory,” published in The New York Times, November 17, 1966.

Newquist, Roy. An interview with Truman Capote featured in Counterpoint, Rand McNally, 1964.

A review of “A Christmas Memory,” in Harper's Magazine, Vol. 233, December 1966, p. 132.

Further Reading

Clarke, Gerald. Capote: A Biography, Simon & Schuster, 1988. This is a highly readable and comprehensive biography of Capote. Although it is not authorized, Capote collaborated with Clarke until his death.

Inge, M. Thomas. Truman Capote: Conversations, University Press of Mississippi, 1987. This book is a collection of interviews with Truman Capote from 1948 to 1980, offering insights into his thoughts on writing and his Southern upbringing.

Moates, Marianne M. “Truman Capote’s Southern Years,” in her book Bridge of Childhood, Holt, 1989, 240 pages. Moates provides background on Capote’s early years and family, including the cousin he fictionalized in “A Christmas Memory.”