The Burglar's Christmas
Encyclopedia
The Burglar's Christmas is a short story by Willa Cather
. It was first published in Home Monthly
in 1896 under the pseudonym of Elizabeth L. Seymour, her cousin's name.
on Christmas Eve
, two shabby-looking men are considering getting food after they have not been eating for days. Crawford is too tired to walk however, so William goes off by himself. He considers stealing the food as he cannot pay for it, but when a woman drops a parcel he gives it to her instead of running of with it. He feels as if he is a failed thief, in the same manner as he has failed at everything - college, journalism, real estate, performing. He then walks into a house in an attempt to steal the jewellery, and his mother finds him there. She says she forgives him for everything; his father remains distant. They have dinner and he feels warm again.
Willa Cather
Willa Seibert Cather was an American author who achieved recognition for her novels of frontier life on the Great Plains, in works such as O Pioneers!, My Ántonia, and The Song of the Lark. In 1923 she was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for One of Ours , a novel set during World War I...
. It was first published in Home Monthly
Home Monthly
Home Monthly was a monthly women's magazine published in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in the late-19th and early-20th centuries.When Home Monthly was established in 1896, it hired Willa Cather as the managing editor of the magazine. Cather oversaw the publication of 12 issues of the magazine between...
in 1896 under the pseudonym of Elizabeth L. Seymour, her cousin's name.
Plot summary
Out in ChicagoChicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
on Christmas Eve
Christmas Eve
Christmas Eve refers to the evening or entire day preceding Christmas Day, a widely celebrated festival commemorating the birth of Jesus of Nazareth that takes place on December 25...
, two shabby-looking men are considering getting food after they have not been eating for days. Crawford is too tired to walk however, so William goes off by himself. He considers stealing the food as he cannot pay for it, but when a woman drops a parcel he gives it to her instead of running of with it. He feels as if he is a failed thief, in the same manner as he has failed at everything - college, journalism, real estate, performing. He then walks into a house in an attempt to steal the jewellery, and his mother finds him there. She says she forgives him for everything; his father remains distant. They have dinner and he feels warm again.
Characters
- Crawford, a shabby-looking man. Crawford is not his real name.
- William, Helen and James's son, who run away from college for years.
- A woman who drops a parcel in the street.
- Helen, William's mother.
- James, William's father. Helen says he is 'undemonstrative'.
- Ellen, a woman Helen mentions.
Allusions to other works
- The text mentions in passing Robert BrowningRobert BrowningRobert Browning was an English poet and playwright whose mastery of dramatic verse, especially dramatic monologues, made him one of the foremost Victorian poets.-Early years:...
's 1855 poem Childe Roland to the Dark Tower CameChilde Roland to the Dark Tower Came"Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came" is a poem by English author Robert Browning, written in 1855 and first published that same year in the collection entitled Men and Women. The title, which forms the last words of the poem, is a line from William Shakespeare's play King Lear...
and the Dance of DeathDanse MacabreDance of Death, also variously called Danse Macabre , Danza de la Muerte , Dansa de la Mort , Danza Macabra , Dança da Morte , Totentanz , Dodendans , is an artistic genre of late-medieval allegory on the universality of death: no matter one's...
. - William performed in a theatrical adaptation of Harriet Beecher StoweHarriet Beecher StoweHarriet Beecher Stowe was an American abolitionist and author. Her novel Uncle Tom's Cabin was a depiction of life for African-Americans under slavery; it reached millions as a novel and play, and became influential in the United States and United Kingdom...
's 1852 novel Uncle Tom's CabinUncle Tom's CabinUncle Tom's Cabin; or, Life Among the Lowly is an anti-slavery novel by American author Harriet Beecher Stowe. Published in 1852, the novel "helped lay the groundwork for the Civil War", according to Will Kaufman....
.
Literary significance and criticism
It has been argued by critic Sharon O'Brien that this rewriting of the prodigal son theme bears some resemblance to Willa Cather's own relationship with her mother.External links
- Full Text at the Willa Cather Archive