The Burglar's Christmas is a short story by Willa Cather. It was first published in ''

Home Monthly ''Home Monthly'' was a monthly women's magazine published in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in the late 19th century. When ''Home Monthly'' was established in 1896, it hired Willa Cather as the managing editor of the magazine. Cather oversaw the public ...

'' in 1896 under the pseudonym of Elizabeth L. Seymour, her cousin's name.

Plot summary

Out in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

Christmas Eve Christmas Eve is the evening or entire day before Christmas Day, the festival commemorating the birth of Jesus. Christmas Day is observed around the world, and Christmas Eve is widely observed as a full or partial holiday in anticipation ...

, two shabby-looking men are considering getting food after they have not been eating for days. Crawford is too tired to walk however, so the other homeless goes off by himself. Crawford 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 off 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 Browning Robert Browning (7 May 1812 – 12 December 1889) was an English poet and playwright whose dramatic monologues put him high among the Victorian poets. He was noted for irony, characterization, dark humour, social commentary, historical sett ...

's 1855 poem ''

Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came "Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came" is a narrative poem by English author Robert Browning, written on January 2, 1852, and first published in 1855 in the collection titled '' Men and Women''. The poem is often noted for its dark and atmos ...

'' and the

Dance of Death The ''Danse Macabre'' (; ) (from the French language), also called the Dance of Death, is an artistic genre of allegory of the Late Middle Ages on the universality of death. The ''Danse Macabre'' consists of the dead, or a personification of ...

. *William performed in a theatrical adaptation of

Harriet Beecher Stowe Harriet Elisabeth Beecher Stowe (; June 14, 1811 – July 1, 1896) was an American author and abolitionist. She came from the religious Beecher family and became best known for her novel '' Uncle Tom's Cabin'' (1852), which depicts the har ...

's 1852 novel ''

Uncle Tom's Cabin ''Uncle Tom's Cabin; or, Life Among the Lowly'' is an anti-slavery novel by American author Harriet Beecher Stowe. Published in two volumes in 1852, the novel had a profound effect on attitudes toward African Americans and slavery in the U ...

''.

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.James Leslie Woodress, ''Willa Cather - A Literary Life'', University of Nebraska Press, 1989, page 122

References

External links

''Full Text''
at th
''Willa Cather Archive''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Burglar's Christmas 1896 short stories Short stories by Willa Cather Works originally published in Home Monthly