Howard Nemerov "Home for the Holidays"
...t that the persona feels depressed shows how distant the he has become, trying to separate him from the rest of society. During the this time of year Santa Claus has become a symbol for the holiday season and Nemerov refers to “the sack of Santa Claus / [as] deep and black.” (27) Santa has become the main focus of the holidays and an icon for commercialism. By using the words "sack / deep and black" Nemerov portrays Santa as a thief who stole away the glory of Christmas causing many people to forget Christ should be the main focus when they celebrate Christmas. The persona becomes aware that with each passing year “Christ is born time and again.” (31) The author's use of "time and again" captures how trite the holidays have become. With each passing year Christ's birth seems to have become a part of the regular year instead of the most remarkable event in history. Through the persona's observation and attitude towards the change in focus of Christmas the author demonstrates commercialism's affect on the holidays. As the persona looks out the train window he begins to remember watching trains go by as a child. Nemerov uses his memories to convey the transition from the former innocence of the holidays to this commercialized Christmas. Now that the persona has grown up he finds that "the mystery of the railroads was more enthralling [when he was a boy.]” (7-8) The word "enthralling" suggests a sense of addiction and enslavement to the trains. During Nemerov's time people saw the train as a powerful object able to haul massive amounts of cargo and was nick named the "iron horse" because it replaced the job of horses. Before television and phones the train was the main source of exchanging information and commercialism between different towns and cities. The author uses the train to symbolize the power of commercialism to control children as the train entices the children. The persona feels a sense of connection to these children “through / backyards of tenements where [they] watch[ed] / [him riding home for] Christmas.” (40-42) Because the train travels though the neighborhoods of the children they cannot escape its presents. Just like the train the children cannot hide from the presents of commercialism because their naïvety make children easy target. The constant exposer to commercialism causes children to lose there understanding of the religious significance of the Christmas. The change to this commercialized Christmas is evident though the large amount of presents which children receive, "so much of which no one is able to use."(49) The unnecessary amount of gifts over emphasizes the receiving of gifts while Christ becomes less and less important. While children welcome these presents, they fall victim to the need for more material things. Nemerov shows that the transition from the former innocence of the holidays causes the idea behind Christmas to deteriorate. Near the end of the poem, the author uses train imagery to describe how powerful commercialism has become during the holidays. Throughout the poem the author makes references to the story of “The Iliad.” In this Greek epic, the Greeks built the Trojan horse as a false gift for the Trojans in a plot to concur Troy. The persona relates "all towns [to] Troy, [with] the iron horse breaching [its] wall[s]."(25) Using the words, "iron horse" the author links the train, representing commercialism, to the wooden horse that lead to the destruction of Troy. Commercialism does not appear dangerous however Nemorov warns the fact that people don't see commercialism makes it even more dangerous. Nemerov states the “axle of h...