Xmas By Gregory Dodd Chapter Summary
Xmas
A)
Gregory Dodd is a man in his mid-forties and a teacher of political science. He has had two previous marriages and is currently having a relationship with the ten-year younger photographer Susan. It is the night before Christmas and Gregory is driving his car, heading for Susan's house in Jamaica Plain. At one point Gregory is driving though a city and he ends up driving behind a car, which suddenly stops and then makes a u-turn. Gregory has no time to react and he barely manages to avoid smashing into the other car. Gregory is not certain if his car has perhaps touched the number plates on the other car, and while he is thinking of this, the other driver and his co passenger get out of the car and walk over to Gregory. When Gregory opens his window …show more content…
to speak with them he is hit by a punch in the face. The other car drives off, and Gregory is left sitting alone in his car contemplating what just happened, half denying the incident. Afterwards he realizes that what he wishes the most is to be to with his old family, his second wife, now ex-wife, and his three children. Realizing this also makes him realize that he cannot continue things with Susan as they were before.
B)
Self-deception can be to deny facts or reality simply by ignoring them, but it can also come to a point where your self-deception is so strong, that you are not aware, yourself, that you are living in an illusion.
In "Xmas" by Russell Banks published in 2000 we meet our main character Gregory Dodd. Gregory is in his mid-forties and in many ways, his way of living resembles the one of a man in a midlife crisis. He has had two previous marriages and children as well.
"The important thing was that both marriages were ended now, that's all the brief marriage of his adolescence and the fifteen-year marriage of his young manhood. (pp 15-17)
His first marriage was in his adolescence and his second in his young manhood. It seems like each marriage symbolizes a part of his life, and with the second marriage ended, a new part is bound to begin.
Most people see their life as one long story with many chapters.
And as in most books, the main character develops throughout the book, learning from his or hers mistakes and whatever else they might have come across. "What doesn't kill you, makes you stronger" is a saying that many live by, or turn to in bad times. What it means is basically that it is impossible to know which roads to take in life. You might experience a rough time once in a while, but life is about learning, and this is what you learn from. Secondly you will learn that if you choose one that is a blind alley you should probably consider an alternative the next time you have to a similar decision.
"He preferred to think of his marriages as "ended"; to him they were distinct blocks in time that may as easily have been the best of times as the worst." (pp 9-11) "Over and done with, and sufficiently behind him that he was able to begin anew, as it were, and he had done that, he believed with Susan." (pp 17-19)
Gregory, however, does live by this saying. It seems that every time his marriage fails, he starts over, not learning from his mistakes. As soon as he has had time to lick his wounds he's ready to give it another
go.
"So that, by falling in love with Susan, Gregory felt that he had moved into a new block of time, one that was as endless-seeming as each of the others had been in the beginning, and he was thrilled again. (pp 20-23)
It could seem like Gregory is unable to imagine a life without being married. Perhaps marriage to Gregory is just a desperate hope to be loved.
"Besides, in each case, his commitment to the marriage had been total, absolute, without hedges, without a control. Gregory had loved both women." (pp 6-8)
Gregory's commitment and love in his marriages had been absolute, but not a word of whether or not this was returned. His first marriage was when he was young and foolish, but his second lasted fifteen years. Something must have caused it to end, Gregory himself perhaps? We're not given any hints on the cause, which could indicate this.
Perhaps Gregory's misfortune is that he is incapable of learning and growing as a character throughout his life. If you're married to someone for fifteen years, a relationship has to develop in order to survive, if it stagnates it will, in most cases, eventually fall apart. And perhaps this is the exact same situation Gregory is in, at first without even realizing it.
His drive is symbolizing this.
" Following the taillights of the only other car in sight." (pp 67-68)
Perhaps Gregory has already accepted, subconsciously at least, that he is at a loss, that he needs guiding. Nor is it a coincidence that it is "Messiah roaring from the radio".
"This was not so much a neighbourhood as a zone of half-destroyed buildings located between construction sites, a no-man's land still being fought over by opposing armies; people lived here, but not by choice, and only temporarily." (pp 74-77)
Without realizing it, this is the life he has been living, unable, or incapable, to flea. Even though Gregory would be describing himself as a happy' man in the beginning of the story, truth is, that he has probably not been this for a very long time. Instead he has been living a life in insensibility, numbed by all the things life did not have in store for him.
Driving his car on his way to visit Susan, Gregory is following his self-deluding path through life, truly' believing that this time, with Susan, everything is going to go right. He is in desperate need of a wakeup call, which is exactly what he gets when the car in front of him, the one that he is following, makes a u-turn. This incident could also have a symbolic aspect, seen as the other car is also driving trough the same point of life' that Gregory's at, but unlike Gregory it decides to turn back. This is where they collide. Although it was not particularly Gregory's fault, the other driver comes to him and punches him in the face for no reason at all. Or is there a reason lying underneath? Perhaps one could say that the other driver is Gregory's Messiah, his saviour.
Or at least he has tried, but is Gregory capable of making the necessary changes?
"I must have broken my mouth by accident; something that I don't know about must be what just happened." (pp 149-150)
Again denial.
"The Chrysler pulled back onto the street and moved slowly away, its tail-lights shrinking in the snowy distance, and Gregory began to tremble." (pp 151-153)
Why does he start to tremble? Perhaps he has just realized how unfairly he has been treated, or perhaps he realizes the importance of the decision he has to take, now that there are no lights to lead him. Should he turn back as well or should he continue driving? In other words, should he continue his life as it is, or try to make the necessary changes? This is where he starts to contemplate his situation.
"He was utterly ridiculous to himself. He was a fool, a man whose life was unknown to him, and whose future was a deliberate, willed fantasy." (pp 165-168)
Finally it dawns on him that he has been deluding himself.
"He felt like an unattached speck of matter afloat in space, and all he wanted was to be in his own home with his own children and their mother, in his proper place, his life intact, all the parts connected and sequential." (pp 168-171)
He realizes that the things he has in his life now are not important, and that the few things that he misses are very far away. And finally he admits to himself that he misses his old life, his ex-wife and his children, and that no substitute can ever replace them. He is not, however, strong enough to make the decision to fight for it, to take his life in his own hands, not yet anyway. But he has come some of the way, just by coming to this realization. He continues driving towards Susan, but he is well aware that he will never find happiness there.
"But they would never be the same together as they had been before and as he had planned, so that while he drove he had to fight against the new and terrible longing to turn back." (pp 175-177)
Despite this first decision there is hope that he will come to his senses, seen as they are already trying to persuade him to go back.
The title of this short story "Xmas" could symbolize how he has tried to replace his ex-wife with a new and younger model. Xmas is the American modern expression for Christmas, an old religious tradition. Replacing the word Christmas with Xmas also takes away some of the meaning of the word.
To realize that the life you have been living is partially an illusion created by oneself is not easy. You might find yourself so caught up in your self-deception that you don't even know what you truly wish for. Realizing this and then taking the chance to pursue this dream that is no small challenge.
A)
Gregory Dodd is a man in his mid-forties and a teacher of political science. He has had two previous marriages and is currently having a relationship with the ten-year younger photographer Susan. It is the night before Christmas and Gregory is driving his car, heading for Susan's house in Jamaica Plain. At one point Gregory is driving though a city and he ends up driving behind a car, which suddenly stops and then makes a u-turn. Gregory has no time to react and he barely manages to avoid smashing into the other car. Gregory is not certain if his car has perhaps touched the number plates on the other car, and while he is thinking of this, the other driver and his co passenger get out of the car and walk over to Gregory. When Gregory opens his window …show more content…
to speak with them he is hit by a punch in the face. The other car drives off, and Gregory is left sitting alone in his car contemplating what just happened, half denying the incident. Afterwards he realizes that what he wishes the most is to be to with his old family, his second wife, now ex-wife, and his three children. Realizing this also makes him realize that he cannot continue things with Susan as they were before.
B)
Self-deception can be to deny facts or reality simply by ignoring them, but it can also come to a point where your self-deception is so strong, that you are not aware, yourself, that you are living in an illusion.
In "Xmas" by Russell Banks published in 2000 we meet our main character Gregory Dodd. Gregory is in his mid-forties and in many ways, his way of living resembles the one of a man in a midlife crisis. He has had two previous marriages and children as well.
"The important thing was that both marriages were ended now, that's all the brief marriage of his adolescence and the fifteen-year marriage of his young manhood. (pp 15-17)
His first marriage was in his adolescence and his second in his young manhood. It seems like each marriage symbolizes a part of his life, and with the second marriage ended, a new part is bound to begin.
Most people see their life as one long story with many chapters.
And as in most books, the main character develops throughout the book, learning from his or hers mistakes and whatever else they might have come across. "What doesn't kill you, makes you stronger" is a saying that many live by, or turn to in bad times. What it means is basically that it is impossible to know which roads to take in life. You might experience a rough time once in a while, but life is about learning, and this is what you learn from. Secondly you will learn that if you choose one that is a blind alley you should probably consider an alternative the next time you have to a similar decision.
"He preferred to think of his marriages as "ended"; to him they were distinct blocks in time that may as easily have been the best of times as the worst." (pp 9-11) "Over and done with, and sufficiently behind him that he was able to begin anew, as it were, and he had done that, he believed with Susan." (pp 17-19)
Gregory, however, does live by this saying. It seems that every time his marriage fails, he starts over, not learning from his mistakes. As soon as he has had time to lick his wounds he's ready to give it another
go.
"So that, by falling in love with Susan, Gregory felt that he had moved into a new block of time, one that was as endless-seeming as each of the others had been in the beginning, and he was thrilled again. (pp 20-23)
It could seem like Gregory is unable to imagine a life without being married. Perhaps marriage to Gregory is just a desperate hope to be loved.
"Besides, in each case, his commitment to the marriage had been total, absolute, without hedges, without a control. Gregory had loved both women." (pp 6-8)
Gregory's commitment and love in his marriages had been absolute, but not a word of whether or not this was returned. His first marriage was when he was young and foolish, but his second lasted fifteen years. Something must have caused it to end, Gregory himself perhaps? We're not given any hints on the cause, which could indicate this.
Perhaps Gregory's misfortune is that he is incapable of learning and growing as a character throughout his life. If you're married to someone for fifteen years, a relationship has to develop in order to survive, if it stagnates it will, in most cases, eventually fall apart. And perhaps this is the exact same situation Gregory is in, at first without even realizing it.
His drive is symbolizing this.
" Following the taillights of the only other car in sight." (pp 67-68)
Perhaps Gregory has already accepted, subconsciously at least, that he is at a loss, that he needs guiding. Nor is it a coincidence that it is "Messiah roaring from the radio".
"This was not so much a neighbourhood as a zone of half-destroyed buildings located between construction sites, a no-man's land still being fought over by opposing armies; people lived here, but not by choice, and only temporarily." (pp 74-77)
Without realizing it, this is the life he has been living, unable, or incapable, to flea. Even though Gregory would be describing himself as a happy' man in the beginning of the story, truth is, that he has probably not been this for a very long time. Instead he has been living a life in insensibility, numbed by all the things life did not have in store for him.
Driving his car on his way to visit Susan, Gregory is following his self-deluding path through life, truly' believing that this time, with Susan, everything is going to go right. He is in desperate need of a wakeup call, which is exactly what he gets when the car in front of him, the one that he is following, makes a u-turn. This incident could also have a symbolic aspect, seen as the other car is also driving trough the same point of life' that Gregory's at, but unlike Gregory it decides to turn back. This is where they collide. Although it was not particularly Gregory's fault, the other driver comes to him and punches him in the face for no reason at all. Or is there a reason lying underneath? Perhaps one could say that the other driver is Gregory's Messiah, his saviour.
Or at least he has tried, but is Gregory capable of making the necessary changes?
"I must have broken my mouth by accident; something that I don't know about must be what just happened." (pp 149-150)
Again denial.
"The Chrysler pulled back onto the street and moved slowly away, its tail-lights shrinking in the snowy distance, and Gregory began to tremble." (pp 151-153)
Why does he start to tremble? Perhaps he has just realized how unfairly he has been treated, or perhaps he realizes the importance of the decision he has to take, now that there are no lights to lead him. Should he turn back as well or should he continue driving? In other words, should he continue his life as it is, or try to make the necessary changes? This is where he starts to contemplate his situation.
"He was utterly ridiculous to himself. He was a fool, a man whose life was unknown to him, and whose future was a deliberate, willed fantasy." (pp 165-168)
Finally it dawns on him that he has been deluding himself.
"He felt like an unattached speck of matter afloat in space, and all he wanted was to be in his own home with his own children and their mother, in his proper place, his life intact, all the parts connected and sequential." (pp 168-171)
He realizes that the things he has in his life now are not important, and that the few things that he misses are very far away. And finally he admits to himself that he misses his old life, his ex-wife and his children, and that no substitute can ever replace them. He is not, however, strong enough to make the decision to fight for it, to take his life in his own hands, not yet anyway. But he has come some of the way, just by coming to this realization. He continues driving towards Susan, but he is well aware that he will never find happiness there.
"But they would never be the same together as they had been before and as he had planned, so that while he drove he had to fight against the new and terrible longing to turn back." (pp 175-177)
Despite this first decision there is hope that he will come to his senses, seen as they are already trying to persuade him to go back.
The title of this short story "Xmas" could symbolize how he has tried to replace his ex-wife with a new and younger model. Xmas is the American modern expression for Christmas, an old religious tradition. Replacing the word Christmas with Xmas also takes away some of the meaning of the word.
To realize that the life you have been living is partially an illusion created by oneself is not easy. You might find yourself so caught up in your self-deception that you don't even know what you truly wish for. Realizing this and then taking the chance to pursue this dream that is no small challenge.