The Burglar's Christmas

The Burglar's Christmas is a short story by Willa Cather. It was first published in Home Monthly in 1896 under the pseudonym of Elizabeth L. Seymour,^[1] her cousin's name.^[2]

Plot summary

Out in Chicago on Christmas Eve, two shabby-looking men are considering getting food after they have not been eating for days. Crawford is too tired to walk however, so William goes off by himself. He considers stealing the food as he cannot pay for it, but when a woman drops a parcel he gives it to her instead of running off with it. He feels as if he is a failed thief, in the same manner as he has failed at everything - college, journalism, real estate, performing. He then walks into a house in an attempt to steal the jewellery, and his mother finds him there. She says she forgives him for everything; his father remains distant. They have dinner and he feels warm again.

Characters

Crawford, a shabby-looking man. Crawford is not his real name.
William, Helen and James's son, who run away from college for years.
A woman who drops a parcel in the street.
Helen, William's mother.
James, William's father. Helen says he is 'undemonstrative'.
Ellen, a woman Helen mentions.

Allusions to other works

The text mentions in passing Robert Browning's 1855 poem Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came and the Dance of Death.
William performed in a theatrical adaptation of Harriet Beecher Stowe's 1852 novel Uncle Tom's Cabin.

Literary significance and criticism

It has been argued by critic Sharon O'Brien that this rewriting of the prodigal son theme bears some resemblance to Willa Cather's own relationship with her mother.^[3]

References

↑ Willa Cather's Collected Short Fiction, University of Nebraska Press; Rev Ed edition, 1 November 1970, page 585
↑ William M. Curtis and Willa Cather, The World and the Parish: Willa Cather's Articles and Reviews 1893-1902, Volume 1, University of Nebraska Press, 1970, page 307
↑ James Leslie Woodress, Willa Cather - A Literary Life, University of Nebraska Press, 1989, page 122

External links

Full Text at the Willa Cather Archive

Works by Willa Cather

Novels	Alexander's Bridge O Pioneers! The Song of the Lark My Ántonia One of Ours A Lost Lady The Professor's House My Mortal Enemy Death Comes for the Archbishop Shadows on the Rock Lucy Gayheart Sapphira and the Slave Girl

Short stories	"Peter" "Lou, the Prophet" "The Elopement of Allen Poole" "A Tale of the White Pyramid" "A Son of the Celestial" "The Clemency of the Court" "The Fear That Walks by Noonday" "On the Divide" "A Night at Greenway Court" "Tommy, the Unsentimental" "The Princess Baladina – Her Adventure" "The Count of Crow's Nest" "The Burglar's Christmas" "The Strategy of the Were-Wolf Dog" "A Resurrection" "The Prodigies" "Nanette: An Aside" "The Way of the World" "The Westbound Train" "Eric Hermannson's Soul" "The Dance at Chevalier's" "The Sentimentality of William Tavener" "The Affair at Grover Station" "A Singer's Romance" "The Conversion of Sum Loo" "Jack-a-Boy" "El Dorado: A Kansas Recessional" "The Professor's Commencement" "The Treasure of Far Island" "A Death in the Desert" "A Wagner Matinee" "The Sculptor's Funeral" "Flavia and Her Artists" "The Garden Lodge" "The Marriage of Phaedra" "Paul's Case" "The Namesake" "The Profile" "The Willing Muse" "Eleanor's House" "On the Gulls' Road" "The Enchanted Bluff" "The Joy of Nelly Deane" "Behind the Singer Tower" "The Bohemian Girl" "Consequences" "The Bookkeeper's Wife" "The Diamond Mine" "A Gold Slipper" "Ardessa" "Scandal" "Her Boss" "Coming, Eden Bower!" "Uncle Valentine" "Double Birthday" "Neighbour Rosicky" "Two Friends" "The Old Beauty" "Before Breakfast" "The Best Years"

Short story collections	The Troll Garden Youth and the Bright Medusa Obscure Destinies The Old Beauty and Others Five Stories

Collection of poems	April Twilights

Non-fiction	On Writing Not Under Forty

Collaborations	The Life of Mary Baker G. Eddy and the History of Christian Science

Adaptations	A Lost Lady (1934 film) O Pioneers! (1992 film) My Antonia (1995 film) The Song of the Lark (2001 film) O Pioneers! (2009 opera)

Willa Cather Birthplace Willa Cather House Willa Cather Foundation WILLA Literary Award

Parable of the Prodigal Son media

Source	Luke 15 Parables of Jesus

Art	The Wayfarer (1500s) The Prodigal Son in the Brothel (1637) The Return of the Prodigal Son (1660s) The Prodigal Son (1922)

Film	L'Enfant prodigue (1907) The Prodigal (1955) The Gospel (2005) The Prodigal Trilogy (2008) The Imposter (2008) Preacher's Kid (2010)

Stage	The London Prodigal (1605 play) The Prodigal Son (1929 ballet)

Opera	L'enfant prodigue (1850) The Prodigal Son (1968)

Music	The Prodigal Son (1869) L'enfant prodigue (1884)

Songs	Symphony No. 4 "Walkin' to Missouri" (1952) "Prodigal Son" (1994)

Album	Ants'hillvania (1981) The Prodigal Son (1983)

Literature	Tears of the Prodigal Son (1622) Le retour de l'enfant prodigue (1907) "Home-Coming"

Papal	Dives in misericordia (1980) Reconciliatio et paenitentia (1984)

Other	Fatted calf The Wonderful Wizard of Ha's (2007) "Michael" "The Burglar's Christmas"

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