Stuever's Argumentative Essay

At the beginning of this section, Stuever talks mainly about the artificial side of Christmas, about how everything can be “better”, which is talked about repeatedly on page 306. “They suggest the lakeside lights… villages and quain sounding burgs in Minnesota and Vermont.(306)” “... people waiting in line to see one Santa tell me about Santas who are better (more beloved)... People point me to “better” people, too, by which they mean people having nobler, more storybook Noels…(306)” All around him there is unhappiness or dissatisfaction with what people currently have. He can find nothing else except people seeking for something “better” to fill their shallow hearts, and when that isn't enough, they move on again. Then, Stuever drops one tiny little bomb meant to touch our hearts on what Christmas is really about: the children.
He was given one artificial “‘lead” after another, “but in the end, there was one thing that gave Christmas its best reason of all…(306-307)” and then he throws this phrase in, possibly to make us feel for him, or become more involved in what he’s about to say, “...
and it’s something I do not have, and never will: a child.(307)” The “something I do not have, and never will” is put in to bring forth the natural curiosity of the human mind. Why is he never going to have a child? Is it something in his life that he doesn’t want, or is it something his partner doesn’t? Have they tried and failed? He doesn’t say, and you keep reading to see where this child road will take you. Once Stuever paints a picture about how Christmas is “wonderful by the simple fact that it delights children- and therefore delights the children within any
adult.(307)” and his visit with Caroll and the adventures of her adorable new grandson, he goes right back to how “Christmas is at our throats.(307)” and how not only do we, the people, need Christmas to please the children and our inner child, but also how our economy depends on the sales and money this particular time of the year brings in. Stuever first bombards you with the fakeness of Christmas, and how there seems to be no satisfaction to actually be found in all the beauty and the presents and the togetherness, but then he brings a beautiful thing such as a child’s happiness, and covers it with the cold hollow-ness of money. The way he organizes this is meant to show how, yes we’re pretty fake and we’re unhappy with most things in our lives and picky, but we do have some actual cheer with the holidays, and we enjoy ourselves, but as soon as its over, that small spark of “true” happiness is gone. This passage shows how temporary Christmas is, and though it does brings us some joy, it really doesn’t matter very much in the jist of everything, except for maybe how it affects our economy.