Friendship is essential to human life, even if sometimes we don’t realize it. You just don’t notice because it’s so common to see, such as your childhood peers, your college buddies, your internet friends, and even animals, who may not even be the same species. Those that you befriend throughout your time on Earth will help you in those tough times and cherish the good ones with you. The link that people make with others can change your life for the better and create a world that is even just a little bit easier to live in. In “A Christmas Memory” by Truman Capote, Buddy, and his cousin have such a strong bond because they understand each other the most out of all other people, and because nobody else is there to make that same connection, they create a long-lasting, unlikely friendship that surpasses traditional boundaries.
Buddy can’t connect with any of his other relatives because of their difference in power, they make him and his cousin cry, and they make him do things he doesn’t want to do. He states this at the beginning of the story: “Other people inhabit the house, relatives; and though they had power over us, and frequently make us cry, we are not, on the whole, too much aware of them. We are each other’s best friend.” (Capote 64). Buddy believes that his relatives have power over him and his cousin. They make the two cry often enough that now, they just try to ignore them. Buddy and his cousin have the understanding that they are on the same level of power in their household and create a bond over that mutual standing. Another situation is when Buddy and his cousin drink whiskey and their relatives discover them. “Enter: two relatives. Very angry. Potent with eyes that scald. Listen to what they say, the words tumbling together into a wrathful tune.” (Capote 68). The relatives in this quote are mainly spoken of with a negative connotation. The first thing Buddy notices about them is that their eyes and words are angry and hurtful. He does not refer to them by name or title either. This could show the lack of respect he has for them. An older Buddy later on shows more signs that he does not respect his other relatives when they send him off, as the text implies. “Those who Know Best decide that I belong in a military school. And so follows a miserable succession of bugle-blowing prisons, grim revel-ridden summer camps.” (Capote 72). He speaks of his relatives in a very bitter and sarcastic tone, almost as if they frequently said they “know best” for Buddy. The young boy has hated them for trying to govern his life throughout his entire childhood. This is another reason that he was close to his cousin; she never tried to do that. Additionally, Buddy resents his relatives because they sent him away from home and away from his cousin, his only friend.
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The fact that Buddy and his cousin can have fun keep a childlike mindset, and have behaviors that mirror each other’s, contributes to their long-lasting friendship. After getting in trouble for drinking whiskey, he consoles his older cousin. “Not funny. Fun. More fun than anybody.” (Capote 68). Buddy has the most fun when he is out with his cousin. They live in what seems to be a small town, where there aren’t many people there. It is safe to assume that that means there aren’t many kids that are Buddy’s age around. The only friend he has is his cousin, and therefore, she is the only possible person around whom he could have fun, once again another contributing factor to their long-lasting friendship. During Christmas, they both annoy their relatives by trying to wake them up early. “Quite deliberately my friend drops a kettle on the kitchen floor. I tap-dance in front of closed doors.” (Capote 71). She and Buddy share a childlike demeanor. First, by doing petty acts such as trying to loudly wake their relatives up, and second, by not being patient enough to wait for the festivities that they feel the need to hurry things along. Most likely, the other relatives are mature and don’t get up to antics like these. Buddy relates to his cousin and can have a fun childhood with her.
Two unlikely friendship situations in real life that mimic Buddy and his cousin’s friendship are internet friends and interspecies friendships. Unlikely companionships happen all the time in the real world, with today’s technology making it even easier to break boundaries. Lots of people connect with others who they don’t know in real life, but become friends through common interests or just because they click with one another, regardless of age or where they come from. The internet and Buddy’s small town serve as filters for the boundaries that prevent friendships. Both of them make people see past the exterior and make friends based on who they are on the inside. In many situations, animals of two different species that wouldn’t normally form a companionship become friends after having no other animal around. Both creatures are in the same situation, and they create a bond during that time, much like Buddy and his cousin. Those animals then become inseparable.
Many different factors can lead to an unlikely friendship with people that, under other circumstances, wouldn’t happen. Understand that friendship is strong and can break society’s boundaries of what can and can’t be, which can be seen represented in fictional stories and real life. If people look past the exterior, they may create a true friendship and bond that will stay with them for the rest of their lives.
Works Cited
- Capote, Truman. 'A Christmas Memory.' Holt Elements of Literature, Third Course. Orlando, FL: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 2007. 64-72. Print.
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