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Areas of TDO
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OBJECTIVIST
Q&A
Dear David M. Brown: Regarding Michael Levin's
interesting article " A. Well, seems to us that Levin concedes your
basic point here, Dr. Sciabarra. (See the conclusion to his piece.)
His complaint is that the various messages were all lumped together
as a package deal. If his own counter-analysis is a tad ironically
one-sided…well, so what? The dialectic has been skewed all too much
the other way—as you point out, through much of English literature.
Sure, as "responders" to a work of art each of us is often obliged
to forgive a fair amount of thematic gunk so as not to deprive
ourselves of the values and pleasures that are there. But the fact
that we do so doesn't mean that those more poisonous strands can't
or oughtn't be independently analyzed, and criticized for their
actual implications.
Furthermore, "A Christmas Carol" is a special case,
exerting an especially destructive influence precisely because of
its ingeniously effective affirmation of the spirit of human joy and
benevolence that is symbolized by Christmas as inextricably
blended with the most gooey altruistic sentiment imaginable!
It's persuasive, to be sure! Dull, unread literature is no enemy of
capitalism and rational self-interest.
Cratchit in particular is such a simpering whiner in any
rendition of this story that you really do want to strangle the guy
on sight. And that puling brat of his, Tiny Tim—don't you want to
just grab the crutch and bash him over the head with it?
Q. Actually not... I'm a sucker for the
story—and it brings tears to my eyes anytime I see the cinematic
version with Alastair Sim. But I understand your frustration with
many of the mixed cultural expressions throughout English
literature. I'm able to recognize and name the mixed messages, but
bracketing them out does enable you to appreciate the story on
another level entirely.
A. Bah, humbug. Everybody who believes in
Christmas should be boiled in his own pudding and buried with a
stake of holly through his heart.
Q. Well, let me share with you how I celebrate
Christmas with my family: the same way I always have. Not because I
slavishly reproduce a tradition, but because I was taught early on
to believe in love and gift-giving and the magic and joy of the
holiday. Of course, as a child, I was told that Santa Claus existed.
But I never resented the fact that Santa didn't exist, when I came
to realize—quite young—that he was not real. It inspired my
imagination to think about the fantasy, and I enjoyed all the wonder
of getting up in the morning and finding presents under the tree.
Till this day, even without Santa Claus, I do not open my gifts
until Christmas morning, and I celebrate with all the pomp and
cirumstance of the traditional holiday: we put up a tree, with all
the trimmings, and we even display an ancient family artifact under
the tree—a very old nativity scene that has been part of my family
for well over 50 years, with lifelike sculptured figurines that are
almost Renaissance-like in their beauty.
For those who celebrate and appreciate the humanism of
Renaissance art, let us not forget that nearly all of it was
religious in character: it is possible to appreciate the aesthetic
of traditions that one might not accept as true.
Oh, and we sing the carols too—still some of the most beautiful
music ever written—and we watch things like Sim's "Christmas Carol,"
and the original "Miracle on 34th Street" or "The Bishop's Wife,"
and we eat up a storm. Raised in a Greek and Italian household—that
is one thing that can never be avoided: great food, great desserts,
and wonderfully warm family gatherings. For some members of my
family all this has a very deep religious significance (my
grandfather, after all, was a Greek Orthodox priest, the founder of
the Three Hierarchs Church, first Greek Orthodox church in
Brooklyn). For others, it has no religious significance. Still, each
of us "keeps Christmas" in his or her own special way. And it
remains, easily, the most festive of family holidays.
And just walking around this—the greatest city on the planet, of
course—provides enough eye candy till next year. New York City is
magnificent in its glory at Christmas time—not just the celebrated
lights of Rockefeller Center, but all the homes in the outer
boroughs decorated with lights and animated figures. In fact, right
here in Brooklyn, every neighborhood is covered with lights. We have
several magnificent homes in the Dyker Heights-Bay Ridge section of
the borough that have won awards for the beauty of their
decorations: you have to see it to believe it (and I'll be happy to
take anyone for a tour!). Ayn Rand was right: Christmas does inspire
the most incredible creativity and benevolence.
A. Uh…wait…are you saying that Christmas has
been endorsed by Ayn Rand? Well…guess it's all right then…. –DO– Chris Matthew
Sciabarra is a dialectician
living in Brooklyn. David M.
Brown is the editor of
The Daily
Objectivist. | |||