Santa Claus is dead. We have systematically killed him with our cynicism. The eight-year-old version of myself (V 8.0) could not tolerate the Nietzsche-esque “god is dead” prognosis. I stubbornly wanted to believe Santa and his workforce of elves could render moral justice and realize the dreams of children all across the world. Much to my chagrin, the cruel honesty of my peers and adults convinced me that the existence of Santa was highly unlikely. The current patched version of myself (V 17.1) has an alternate ending. I came to the conclusion that Santa is not really a person, but a philosophy of thought embodied in a jolly and somewhat portly icon. He is a symbol of imagination, gratitude, and charity. Thus, I gather with my friends every
In contrast to Dillard initial perception of God as wrathful she recognizes him now as loving by associating God to her kind neighbor and a cheery old man filled with joy. Dillard recalls, “For so many years now I have known that this Santa Claus was actually a rigged-up Miss White, who lived across the street, that I confuse the dramatis personae in my mind, making of Santa Claus, God, and Miss White an awesome, vulnerable trinity” (Dillard, 1982, p. 72). Dillard utilizes juxtaposition by comparing “awesome, vulnerable trinity” to Santa Claus, God, and Miss White. The trinity of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit portray invincibility; yet in this sense Dillard depicts a “vulnerable trinity.” Dillard’s juxtaposition of the trinities demonstrates her comprehension of their differences and she acknowledges her mistake of initially confusing the two. Dillard implement Santa Claus in her narrative as a representation of God’s omnipotent presence. Dillard reminisces, “; Santa Claus stood in the doorway monstrous and bright, powerless, …” (Dillard, 1982, p. 71). Dillard juxtaposes “monstrous” and “powerless”. This example of juxtaposition conveys the alteration in her perception of God because as a child she perceives Santa and God as threatening, like a monster; yet as an adult she realizes they do not mean to harm
On Christmas Eve , Scrooge is gone by a progression of ghosts,starting with his old business accomplice, Jacob Marley. The three spirits follow,the Ghosts of Past , Christmas present and Christmas future ,show how his ,mean conduct has influenced everyone around him. Toward the finish of the story ,he is soothed to find that there is still time for him to change and we see him changed into a liberal and kind hearted person.
Elf starts out with the introduction to the life of Buddy, an orphaned baby, who would mistakenly crawl into Santa’s sack on Christmas Eve. Buddy would be raised on the North Pole but would soon realize that this wasn’t his place. Santa soon revealed that his true father was still alive, lived in the New York, and most importantly was on the naughty list.
For instance the text states “Every man moves on...but there is no need to grieve. He leaves good things behind.” (MacLeod 305). This statement shows that although he stops believing in Santa Claus and moves on from his childhood years, his memories will always remain with him throughout his adulthood even though he knows that Santa Claus is fable. An example that supports this argument is when the narrator is describing his father's health, “He has “not been well” for over two years...he is most sympathetic of all concerning my extended hopes.” (MacLeod 302) .The main character realizes how ill his father is, he will have to soon replace his role as man of the house which requires him the move on from Santa Claus and become an adult. The last example supporting this argument is “The ones for my younger brothers say from Santa Claus but mine are not among them any more...It is as if I have suddenly moved into another room and heard the door click lastingly behind me.” (Alistair MacLeod 305) This shows that he is now an adult, the gift giving experience with Neil that Christmas. It shows his coming of age through his brother's gesture of letting his stay up at night to see the grownups in the family putting presents under the tree other that a jolly old man in a red
In Charles Webb’s “The Death of Santa Claus,” the speaker describe how a story of how Santa Claus died to him once he found out Santa Claus is not actually real. In the first half of the poem, Webb tells the story of how Santa Claus was feeling kinda sick and the sickness turned into his death. At the end of poem the 8 year old kid telling the story about Santa Claus gives the reader some details but not many, on how his mom had to tell him Santa Claus was not real.
We had finally done it! We were good enough to play on stage. We had practice so long for the concert. We could play the Christmas songs we practiced for in front of our parents.
III. I would dare to say that most of you in here today do not know the true story behind the legend of Santa Claus but after today you should understand why Saint Nicholas is undoughtably worthy of praise.
“Why,” you ask, “position yourself only to be disappointed upon realizing that all you hold as true is in fact false?” I will tell you that I grew up believing in Santa Claus—the jolly, old, fat man who annually descended the chimney with his endless sack of treasures. I will tell you that I still believe that Santa Claus exists, despite being told otherwise by both parent and peer. I will tell you not only that Santa Claus exists, but that he exists in you and your family and your friends and every person who gives a little extra in any way thinkable.
How does Santa play an important role in the story An Angel Just Like Me?
Meeting the Ghost of Christmas Past begins the first stage of Scrooge’s transformation: regretting his actions. When Scrooge is shown his younger self alone in his classroom on Christmas, he regrets chasing a Christmas caroler away from his door. The Spirit skips ahead a few years to show him a happier time. His sweet little sister Fan arrives to take him home, and this is his first Christmas in a long time that is spent with family. Unfortunately, Scrooge doesn’t see it that way; seeing this scene makes him “uneasy in his mind” as he thinks about the way he treats his nephew Fred. Instead of treating him like his only family member, Scrooge denies invitations to Christmas dinner every year and is rude whenever Fred speaks to him. He doesn’t have time to dwell on this for long, however; Scrooge has many other important things to think...
Every Christmas morning as a child, like every child, I couldn’t wait to see what was waiting under the tree that Santa had brought. It has always been what the child couldn’t wait to find, not what the parents couldn’t wait to find. They were for me, the selfish kid that I was.
I think Christmas has always been one of my favorite holidays. Maybe because of the special atmosphere that you can feel everywhere, in shops, restaurants , pubs and even streets, where you can hear the magical carols, or maybe it's because of its religious background, but what I can tell you for sure is that I can't think of anything more exciting than the image of the entire family preparing the Christmas Tree or fixing the Christmas dishes.
We only know what is real by what our senses tell us is real. But how our senses tell us what is real is through our brain’s interpretation, so really our brain tells us what is real. Our brain defines what is real to us, however determining what is not real is not so simple. I am struggling to define what is not real. Your question is too broad for me to determine what is not real, if something does not have physical shape, color or size it cannot be real in a materialist world. I believe anything and everything you can think of is real to some degree. A character you read in a book is real, even if it only existed in our minds. A fragrance is also real, even though it does not have a size or shape that can be definable by touch, or sight.
I can't remember how it all started, but it seems to have taken on a life of its own. Perhaps the small lawn sculpture shaped like a cheery Santa triggered the avalanche under which I find myself today. Looking into his electric blue eyes I was put into a hypnotic frenzy. I soon realized this loveable, jolly fellow required companionship on my front lawn. On my next jaunt to the Christmas shop, I found the most adorable reindeer to join my Santa. But wait, I couldn't buy just one; Santa had 8 reindeer. Now they needed a sled to haul, and it had to be big enough for Santa and all of his packages.
Ever since I could remember, I have spent Christmas at my grandmother’s house, a house which is full of comfort, warmth, and happiness. At Christmas, I have always been able to escape the cold and dark real world allowing myself to truly enjoy just several moments in time. These moments have left impressionable memories from my childhood making Christmas a holiday that is special to me and my family. It is a time for my family to get together, share stories, laugh, and even cry.