That Christmas
The imagery of Christmas was the only good memory of David’s childhood. He remembers it with pleasure, because it was a beautiful time when both his parents were alive, they had enough money to live on and he got a train. “People came to see us that Christmas. We always had some people in the house, coming in blowing and rubbing their hands together and shaking out their coats like it was snowing outside. But there was no snow. Not that year. But they were nice, and brought me things. I remember the preacher gave me a book of Bible stories”. This imagery expresses the best time of David’s life, his perception of the standing order and reflection about the world.
Fake family cake
On Christmas, David’s mother used to treat everyone with the delicious fruit cake which was cooked, as she said according to the old family recipe. She cooked it every year and was very proud of it. But later David found out that his mother had never cooked the cake, she just ordered it from some bakery in Wisconsin. No one, except his mother, him and the postman, never found out the truth and it seems as if the boy didn’t care of it too much, he realized that adult life is full of lie and many other dirty things he will never understand. That imagery shows the process of David’s implementation into the adult life.
New house – the sad place
When David’s father was fired, they had to find another place to live, something cheaper and smaller. The new home was a sad place for David because it was old and they didn’t have enough money to make it look warm and cozy. As it was too expensive for the family to buy curtains, Aunt Mae gave her old stage costumes that she tore up to use instead. They were too small, but there was not better option. In one of the rooms there was a red costume on the window and when the sun was shining through it the whole room was red. Poppa was saying that it reminded him of hell but they didn’t have any other choice. Outside the house wasn’t much better than inside: “Our own yard was just cinders and a few weeds that grew around the steps and the porch. It was hard to play in the yard because there wasn't much to do, and if I fell down on the cinders they'd stick in my skin and have to be was hideout with soap. I couldn't play back in the hills either, because they were full of snakes, so I got used to playing on the porch and in the house.” The image shows new conditions of life, the family had and how they accepted it.
Train
The imagery of the train is connected with David’s best childhood memories, he loved if so much that every time he felt sorrow or didn’t know what to do, he was hiding in the room where the train was and it calmed him down: “All that night I stayed in the room where my train was. The wind howled and whistled and shook the house, and I was frightened”. Train was a relief for him, he knew that if there is his train then everything will be all right. It was not just a toy for him, it was part of him and he loved it very much: “My train was a beautiful thing, though. It ran all through the room. First it went under the tunnel, then over an old shoe box which I covered with crepe paper to make it look like a green hill, then it came down off the shoe box over the trellis bridge, which looked just like the steel bridge they had over the river at the county seat”.
