Skipping Christmas

“[Luther] wheeled into a space near a burger joint and demanded, ‘Give me a list.’

‘I’ll go,’ she said, but only in feigned protest. Luther would hike through the rain and they both knew it.”

This goes to the foundation of Luther and Nora’s relationship. While there is an element of friction, there is an unexpected element of chivalry between them. Luthor’s underlying love for Nora is evident in his reluctant trek into the grocery.

“How nice it would be to avoid Christmas, he began to think. A snap of the fingers and it’s January 2. No tree, no shopping, no meaningless gifts, no tipping, no clutter and wrappings, no traffic and crowds, no fruitcakes, no liquor and hams that no one needed, no ‘Rudolph’ and ‘Frosty,’ no office party, no wasted money. His list grew long. He huddled over the wheel, smiling now, waiting for heat down below, dreaming pleasantly of escape.”

This passage is reminiscent of a passage in Dr. Seuss’s How the Grinch Stole Christmas in which the Grinch broods over the noise, the singing, the feasting and all the things that he hates about the holiday. Luther, like the Grinch, is already thinking about how he can “avoid Christmas.”

“A year earlier, the Luther Krank family had spent $6,100 on Christmas—$6,100!—$6,100 on decorations, lights, flowers, a new Frosty, and a Canadian spruce; $6,100 on hams, turkeys, pecans, cheese balls, and cookies no one ate; $6,100 on wines and liquors and cigars around the office; $6,100 on fruitcakes from the firemen and the rescue squad, and calendars from the police association; […] for the party, an annual Christmas Eve bash at the Krank home […] He waffled a bit at the end, where he’d saved the charity numbers. Gifts to the church, to the toy drive, to the homeless shelter and the food bank. But he raced through the benevolence and came right back to the awful conclusion: $6,100 for Christmas.”

Spending such a sum of money on Christmas may seem extreme and unrelatable.  However, conspicuous consumption is exactly what John Grisham is critiquing in Skipping Christmas. The exaggeration of that consumption is what adds the element of satire to the story.

“They chatted about Blair, and not long into the dinner Nora kicked the door open. ‘It’ll be so different this Christmas, won’t it, Luther?’

‘Yes it will,’ he said sadly, swallowing hard. ‘Nothing’ll be the same.’

‘For the first time in twenty-three years, she won’t be here.’

‘It might even be depressing. Lots of depression at Christmas, you know.’ Luther quickly swallowed and his fork grew still.

‘I’d love to just forget about it,’ she said, her words ebbing at the end.”

The taciturn Luther can be difficult to read and often seems emotionally detached. Here, he shows a moment of genuine feeling for his daughter. The scene also shows that Nora, although her final remark may not be entirely sincere, still feels a need for a change to mark a new phase of life.

“Vic Frohmeyer had heard the rumor from Mr. Scanlon, the scoutmaster, and from his wife’s niece, who roomed with a girl who worked part time for Aubie at The Pumpkin Seed, and from a colleague at the university whose brother got his taxes done by someone at Wiley & Beck. Three different sources, and the rumor had to be true. Krank could do whatever he damned well pleased, but Vic and the rest of Hemlock wouldn’t take it lying down.”

This passage establishes the conflict between Luther and the community. They allow that Luther has the right to skip Christmas if he wants to, but they feel he has an obligation to the community as well. Vic has a point in that it would cost Luther nothing but a little time to please his neighbors by putting up his Frosty.

“He would not hide from his neighbors. He had nothing to fear from these people.

There was a twinge of guilt as he admired the two neat lines of snowmen guarding their quiet street. The Trogdons were piling more ornaments on their tree, and it brought back a few distant memories of Blair’s childhood and those faraway times. He was not the nostalgic type. You live life today, not tomorrow, certainly not yesterday, he always said. The warm memories were quickly erased with thoughts of shopping and traffic and burning money. Luther was quite proud of his decision to take a year off.”

This quotation develops the theme of Meaningful Connections and Materialism. When Luther reflects that he has nothing to fear from his neighbors, he is looking past the conflict to recognize that these people are still members of his community (and vice versa) and there is a bond between them that can’t be broken by this little conflict. His nostalgia shows that he retains an appreciation of what he has actually loved about the holiday that has been obscured by materialism.

“‘No, I’m not, Spike. We’re leaving town this year, no Christmas for us.’

‘I didn’t know you could do that.’

‘This is a free country, Spike, you can do almost anything you want.’

‘You’re not leaving till Christmas Day,’ Spike said.

‘What?’

‘Noon’s what I heard. You got plenty of time to get Frosty up. That way we can win the award again.’

Luther paused for a second and once more marveled at the speed with which one person’s private business could be so thoroughly kicked around the neighborhood.

‘Winning is overrated, Spike,’ he said wisely. ‘Let another street have the award this year.’”

This passage illustrates the theme of Meaningful Connections and Materialism. The community, represented by Spike, is approaching Christmas decoration from a perspective of competition rather than closeness and connection. Spike is right when he points out that Luther could easily participate in the holiday tradition, but Luther is correct to observe that competition is a bad reason for participating.

“I know it will be difficult not having me there for Christmas, but please don’t be sad. My children know nothing of Christmas. They have so little, and want so little, it makes me feel guilty for the mindless materialism of our culture. There are no calendars here, and no clocks, so I doubt if I’ll even know when it comes and goes. (Besides, we can catch up next year, can’t we?)

Such a smart girl. Nora read it again and was suddenly filled with pride, not only for raising such a wise and mature daughter but also for her own decision to forgo, at least for a year, the mindless materialism of our culture.”

Addressing the theme of Meaningful Connections and Materialism, Blair imparts wisdom to her parents, reminding them of what has gone wrong with Christmas in their lives. They have replaced the celebration of love with rushing and anxiety and consumption.

“‘We’re raising money for crippled children, Mr. Krank,’ Salino said, his voice suddenly soft and scratchy. Nora felt a tear coming.

‘We give to crippled children, Officer,’ Luther shot back. ‘Through the United Way and our church and our taxes we give to every needy group you can possibly name.’”

This scene recalls a scene in Dickens’s A Christmas Carol in which the two benevolent gentlemen ask Scrooge to contribute to a fund for the poor. Both Scrooge and Luther point out that they already donate through taxes. Luther, unlike Scrooge, has always given more than the minimum. He merely wants to assert his independence for once this year.

“Halfway through the obituaries, he would take a cup of coffee, the same lavender cup every day, with two sugars, to his dear wife.”

Luther has difficulty expressing love. He does so by gestures large and small. This is one of the wordless little rituals that show his love for Nora. The cruise is a grand gesture that expresses a need for more.

“By five, some of the most starched and staid accountants at Wiley & Beck would be groping or attempting to grope some of the homeliest secretaries. Getting plastered was accepted behavior. They’d haul Stanley to his office and fill him with coffee before he could go home. The firm hired cars so no one would drive.

All in all, it was a mess. But the partners loved it because it was a good drunk away from their wives, who’d been properly entertained at the firm’s fancy Christmas dinner and had never been invited to the office party. The secretaries loved it because they saw and heard things they could tuck away and use as blackmail for the rest of the year.

Luther hated the Christmas party even in a good year. He drank little and never got drunk, and every year he was embarrassed for his colleagues as they made fools of themselves.”

Again, the description of the office Christmas party illustrates the triumph of materialism over meaning. Everyone treats it as a drunken debauch. Luther, to his credit, is repelled by the spectacle. His misanthropy is fueled by a seed of idealism.

“Halfway through their salads, Luther asked, ‘Any regrets?’

She shook her head no, swallowed, and said, ‘Oh, I’ve missed the tree at times, the decorations, the music, the memories, I guess. But not the traffic and shopping and stress. It was a great idea, Luther.’”

To the theme of meaning and materialism, Nora and Luther are beginning to strike a balance, identifying the things they miss and the things they don’t. By the end of the story, they will have used their new understanding to restore Christmas to the elements that actually give them happiness.

“It was a rowdy night on Hemlock. Marauding bands of boisterous carolers took turns at the Krank house. Often they were assisted by neighbors seized by the spirit of the moment. At one point, a chant of ‘We Want Frosty!’ erupted behind a choir from the Lions Club.

Handmade signs demanding ‘Free Frosty’ appeared, the first hammered into the ground by none other than Spike Frohmeyer. He and his little gang were up and dawn Hemlock, on skateboards and bikes, yelling and reveling in their pre-Christmas Eve exuberance.

An impromptu block party materialized. Trish Trogdon fixed hot cocoa for the kids while her husband, Wes, rigged up speakers in the driveway. Soon ‘Frosty the Snowman’ and ‘Jingle Bells’ were wafting through the night, interrupted only when a real choir arrived to serenade the Kranks. Wes played a selection of favorites, but his favorite that night was ‘Frosty.’”

Representing the theme of Community Versus Individuality, this scene contains no real malice toward Luther. His neighbors are frustrated with him, but they turn their teasing into a party that draws the community together in opposition to him. Luther himself is well aware that he will be forgiven in time.

“He stood at the front window, exactly where the tree would’ve been, sipped his coffee, gazed upon his lawn to make sure it had not been vandalized by Spike Frohmeyer and his band of outlaws, and looked at the Scheel home across the street. In spite of all its lights and decorations, it was a gloomy place. Walt and Bev were in there, having their coffee, sleepwalking through the motions, both knowing but not saying that this could be their last Christmas together. For a moment Luther felt a twinge of regret about eliminating Christmas, but it didn’t last long.”

Walt and Bev represent multiple themes for Luther. They are a reminder of the meaning that has been lost from the holiday for him. They represent his love for his wife and his sense of community. Mostly, they represent everything he has to lose in life.

“On the morning of a typical Christmas Eve, Nora would bounce out of bed at sunrise with two long lists, one for her, an even longer one for him. By seven, she’d have a turkey in the oven, the house spotless, the tables set for the party, and her thoroughly defeated husband out in the jungle trying to beat last-minute traffic with his list. They’d bark at each other, face to face and by cell phone. He’d forget something and be sent back into the streets. He’d break something and the world would come to an end.

Total chaos. Then, around six, when they were both exhausted and sick off the holidays, their guests would arrive. Their guests would also be dog-tired from the frenzied ordeal of Christmas, but they would push on and make the best of it.

The Krank Christmas party had begun years earlier with a dozen or so friends over for appetizers and drinks, Last year, they’d fed fifty.”

The Christmas party that once represented a quiet gathering of friends has become a frenzy of materialism. It has been a source of conflict and irritation between Luther and Nora, which is one of the things Luther is trying to repair with his romantic cruise.

“Luther sat on the edge of the sofa with his face stuck in his palms and appeared to be crying. Nora stood with the phone clutched in her hand and her hands on her hips, staring at the man on the sofa and debating whether or not to hurl it at him. Against her better judgment, she decided not to.

He opened his palms just wide enough to say, ‘What time is it?’

‘It’s eleven-fifteen, December twenty-fourth.’

The room was frozen for a long time before Luther said, ‘Why did you tell her we were having the party?’

‘Because we’re having the party.’

‘Oh.’

‘I don’t know who’s coming or what they’re going to eat when they get here, but we’re having a party.’

‘I’m not sure—’

‘Don’t start, Luther. This was your stupid idea.’

‘You didn’t think it was stupid yesterday.’

‘Yeah, well today you’re an idiot.’”

Blair has changed the balance between Meaningful Connections and Materialism. Luther and Nora have gone from the extreme of materialism to the extreme of complete rejection. Now Blair’s return will force them to find a better balance.

“She stopped writing and glared at him. ‘Here’s the truth, Luther. We have less than seven hours to get this place ready for Christmas.’

‘She should’ve called earlier.’

‘No, she assumed we’d be here with a tree and gifts and a party, same as always. Who would ever dream that two otherwise sensible adults would skip Christmas and go on a cruise?’”

Luther has a legitimate point, but Nora and Luther never contacted Blair and told her their plans. Nora’s response suggests that she nad Luther have an obligation to community and family after all.

“‘The Trogdons are leaving home for a week, and I’m going to keep their tree for them.’

‘Why?’

‘Trees catch on fire a lot, especially ones loaded with lights. Mr. Trogdon is worried about the tree getting too hot, so I’m going to move it over to my house for a few days.’”

The tree-moving scene is lifted virtually straight out of How the Grinch Stole Christmas. Even the excuse—the lights being dangerous—is similar to the Grinch explaining to Cindy-Lou Who that her Christmas tree has a light that won’t light on one side.

“Luther took a deep breath and gazed up and down Hemlock. Eyes were watching him, he felt sure, the way they’d been peeking at him for weeks now. How did he become such a villain in his own neighborhood? Why was it so hard to dance to his own beat once in a great while? To do something no one had dared? Why all this resentment from people he’d known and liked for years?”

Regarding the theme of Community Versus Individuality, Luther has done nothing fundamentally wrong yet is harassed by his neighbors because he avoids something that gives him no pleasure or meaning. Luther’s individuality, in the face of a consumerist community, is shown to be more valid than placing his community’s needs above his.

“Hanging there, waiting for death, waiting for the rope to slip then give completely and send him crashing down, Luther hated Christmas with a renewed passion. Look what Christmas was doing to him.

All because of Christmas.”

The climax of the story is the lowest point of Luther’s story arc. He is blaming Christmas for his troubles rather than recognizing that he has been the author of unnecessary conflict all along.

“‘What’s the plan here, Vic?’ Luther asked. It was difficult to talk with his feet straight above him. Gravity was pulling all the blood to his head, and it was pounding.

Vic hesitated. They really didn’t have a plan.

What Luther couldn’t see was that a group of men was standing directly under him, to break any fall.”

Despite the recent conflict and their irritation with Luther, the community of Hemlock Street looks past their immediate feelings, and their deeper connection takes over. All along, Luther has had a safety net that he hadn’t appreciated. His community loves him no matter how cranky he becomes.

“Luther let them shuffle and strain, and when they ran out of their flimsy excuses he said, ‘It’s a gift from us to you, a sincere, heart-felt, no-strings-attached Christmas offering to two people who are, at this very moment, having a difficult time finding an excuse. Just go for it, okay?’”

Events have brought home to Luther that the Scheels represent everything Luther has to lose. The one gesture he can make to them and to himself is to give him the opportunity for closeness and connection that he has rediscovered.

“Unburdened by the thick envelope now, shed of its pricey tickets and thick brochures, freed of all the self-indulgence contained therein, his steps were a little quicker. And, filled with the satisfaction of making the perfect gift, Luther walked straight and proud with hardly a limp.”

Luther now recognizes the selfish element in his plan to skip Christmas. Surrendering to the burdens of community ironically lifts a burden from him.