TV Programming
The chapter titled “The Specials” references Christmas season television programs as symbols of the way that aesthetic tastes change over time and with maturation. The narrator asks rhetorical questions that point out a reduction in enjoyment of this entertainment. Charlie Brown’s voice seems to have become more annoying, and Bing Crosby seems fatter than he used to be. A host of actors associated with Christmas cartoons—as well as the Grinch by name—are portrayed as being far less funny.
Christmas Music
“The Carols” offers a similar interpretation in situating the constantly playing soundtrack of familiar Christmas songs as symbolic representation of the way that repetition dulls appreciation. The portrait of carols is one in which they are playing in every store during the holidays, thus ensuring they are heard again and again. By adulthood, the novelty of such songs had been drained so comprehensively that it is difficult even to remember which carols used to be enjoyed the most.
Tinsel
The tinsel which sheds from the Christmas tree discarded by the side of the road, subsequently clogging gutters, symbolizes the impermanence and ritualistic status of Christmas celebration. This concept of Christmas being ritualistic celebration that is limited entirely within the confines of a single month is alluded to throughout the text. The excitement of choosing the tree and decorating is juxtaposed against the unceremonious disposal before the New Year arrives. The once-shimmering tinsel strewn indecorously that marks the route of the tree from house to dumping ground becomes the primary symbol of this limited period of joyous celebration.
Christmas Tree
The chapter titled “O Tannenbaum” presents the Christmas tree as the ultimate symbol of the general weirdness of religious rites. The narrator demands that attention be paid to the bizarre aspects of bringing a tree into one’s home every year just to watch it slowly die and inevitably be dragged out of the house as garbage. The tree itself is described as “ghastly” and paralytic, almost as if it were an abomination to ripped from its natural habitat and put on display adorned with decorations shaped like bombs.
Styrofoam Snow and Mannequins
The underlying falsity of Christmas celebration is symbolized in the final chapter by “Styrofoam snow” and mannequins. Fake snow and fake humans posed as enjoying Christmas traditions in store windows underscore the façade of Christmas being a spiritual holiday and highlight how it has become little more than a marketing gimmick and dependable branding strategy.
