“Blair was twenty-three, fresh from graduate school with a handsome résumé but not ready for a career. A friend from college was in Africa with the Peace Corps, and this had inspired Blair to dedicate the next two years to helping others […] For the first time in her young and sheltered life, Blair would spend Christmas away from home. Her mother clutched her hand and tried to be strong.”

Blair has been the thing that grounded her parents to the community. At the same time, she has been sheltered and is perhaps immature for her age. This is her opportunity to take a step into adulthood and her own life. In a reversal of roles, it is her mother who clings to her.

“[Luther] wheeled into a space near a burger joint and demanded, ‘Give me a list.’

‘I’ll go,’ she said, but only in feigned protest. Luther would hike through the rain and they both knew it.”

This goes to the foundation of Luther and Nora’s relationship. While there is an element of friction, there is an unexpected element of chivalry between them. Luthor’s underlying love for Nora is evident in his reluctant trek into the grocery.

“How nice it would be to avoid Christmas, he began to think. A snap of the fingers and it’s January 2. No tree, no shopping, no meaningless gifts, no tipping, no clutter and wrappings, no traffic and crowds, no fruitcakes, no liquor and hams that no one needed, no ‘Rudolph’ and ‘Frosty,’ no office party, no wasted money. His list grew long. He huddled over the wheel, smiling now, waiting for heat down below, dreaming pleasantly of escape.”

This passage is reminiscent of a passage in Dr. Seuss’s How the Grinch Stole Christmas in which the Grinch broods over the noise, the singing, the feasting and all the things that he hates about the holiday. Luther, like the Grinch, is already thinking about how he can “avoid Christmas.”