"Christmas is a Sad Season for the Poor": 05/23/25

"Christmas is a Sad Season" for the Poor by John Cheever (1949) was included in the December 24, 1949 issue of The New Yorker. It features another elevator operator who works in another New York apartment building. It's Christmas and Charlie, who lives alone and is basically friendless, spends Christmas running people up and down in the elevator he operates.

Charlie for reasons all his own begins to weave a tale about how poor he is. While he's not as well off as the tenants, he's not suffering like he pretends he is. Nor does he have a spouse or children.

The well to do families in this apartment building feeling the guilt of the season share their meals, their drinks, and even toys for his nonexistent family. Ultimately his bold faced lies cost him his job and he goes home laden with gifts and food.

Cheever ends on an ironic note with Charlie giving his landlord all the toys he received. He can't see that he's worse off than his landlord but they take the gifts out of social obligation, leaving him jobless and giftless.

Of the Cheever stories I've read so far, this one is my least favorite. It's a lot more cynical than the others. It paints all people as shallow, conceited, and blind to their place in the world.

Like the other Cheever stories I've reviewed this one sits on the Road Narrative Spectrum. Charlie who plays up his poverty is framed as a marginalized traveler (66). His destination is uhoria as represented by how oddly time flows on Christmas (CC). His route is the railroad as represented by his elevator (00).

Three stars

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