The narrator, Buddy, and his elderly distant cousin are, within their family, outsiders. In a sense, it is the two of them against the world. Their adventure begins with the "windfall pecans" they take, without permission, from the ground of an orchard that belongs to someone else. Buddy also describes how they scrounge up income in various ways since they are not given much by the "persons in the house." The people they bake the fruitcakes for are either on the periphery of their lives or strangers, such as President Roosevelt. The two of them exist quite happily in a world of their own with little access to the outside world or society at large. Symbolized by the "persons in the house," the surrounding society does not understand them or what makes them happy; it stands in judgment and eventually works to separate them.

In the Truman Capote short story, “A Christmas Memory,” an example of man vs. society could be when Buddy and his cousin are finishing the last little bit of whiskey after making their fruitcakes. It was an innocent action on the part of the cousin. The whiskey was left; they’d spent good money on it; it shouldn’t go to waste--so why not drink it. There was no nefarious purpose behind it. Yet when the family realized she had given the 7 year old just the tiniest bit, they acted as if she had committed a major crime. Another example of man vs. society conflict could be when Buddy and his cousin are coming back with their Christmas tree. The rich woman vigorously attempts to bully the cousin into giving up the tree as if she has no right to it, or as if she should be grateful to be offered money--all because the rich woman didn’t want the hassle of getting her own tree.