Honorable Tommy by Maud Van Buren
On the day before Christmas, in the old New England village where Tommy Dunbar lives with his aunts Nancy and Sarah, his uncle Reuben, and his grandmother, Tommy plays in the yard between the Dunbar and Roseberry houses with Cora Roseberry, who tells him she plans to hang her stocking for Christmas. Though he has never done so, Tommy shyly says he will hang his too. That night, after his family finishes rendering lard and grinding sausage, he sneaks downstairs in his nightgown and hangs his blue yarn stocking by the sitting-room fireplace. His aunts and uncle discover it, find the idea of solemn little Tommy hanging a stocking hilarious, and Reuben proposes a prank: they fill the stocking with pigs' ears, a pig's tail, a potato, a turnip, and two beets, laughing uproariously as they do it. Tommy lies awake in rapturous anticipation, watching a star from his window, and comes down at dawn to open his stocking while the three watch secretly. After a single small sound, he silently repacks the stocking, walks outside, then returns and goes to his room without a word. His aunts and uncle realize with dismay that the joke has wounded him deeply, but he says nothing and goes about his morning chores with a stern, altered face. Outside, Cora shows off her lavish Christmas presents and asks what was in his stocking; Tommy tells her only "useful things" and walks off with dignity, prompting her to call him mean. Pressed again by his aunts, Tommy says he is ashamed of them and refuses to explain further. Later that morning he faints and is put to bed with a doctor's care, having eaten nothing and slept little. His grandmother, unaware of the prank, worries over his health. That afternoon his uncle Tom Loring arrives from Boston, having planned to bring Tommy home for Christmas with his aunt Annie, a tree, and a dinner. Despite Tommy's fainting spell, the family agrees he should go, hoping the change will help him. Tom questions Tommy about the stocking, but the boy again answers only "useful things," and his aunts and uncle let the matter drop rather than expose their joke. Tommy leaves for Boston wrapped in furs, comforted. After that Christmas, Tommy divides his time between Boston with Tom and Annie and summers at the farm, remaining outwardly affectionate toward his aunts and uncle; no one mentions the stocking again. Grown up, Tommy and Cora marry and live in Boston. When Cora asks him what was in the stocking, he still will not tell her, keeping faith with his childhood code of honor. She later asks Aunt Sarah directly, and Sarah confesses the truth about the pigs' ears, tail, and vegetables, expressing lasting shame over the joke. Cora reassures her that the experience may have shaped Tommy's honorable character, and Sarah agrees, though she says she would not repeat the trick if she had it to do over.
By Maud Van Buren · First published 1927 · Genre: Coming-of-Age Fiction, Domestic Fiction, Christmas Fiction · 7,438 words
First lines
_Mary E. Wilkins Freeman_
It was the day before Christmas, long ago, when Christmas was seldom / observed in New England. There were two houses in the village separated / by a wide yard in which the grass, of a dirty dun color, lay like a / frost-woven mat underfoot, crunching when the children sped over it.[18]
What this Textopian page supports
Honorable Tommy is listed on Textopian as a short story by Maud Van Buren, dated 1927 CE.
This source record anchors work identity, reading entry points, and catalog context for checking claims about the work.
- Work type: Short story
- Author: Maud Van Buren
- Date: 1927 CE
- Language: English
- Genres: Coming-of-Age Fiction, Domestic Fiction, Christmas Fiction, Moral Fiction, Literary Realism
- Length: 7,438 words
- Structure: 1 section, 181 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Easy (6th Grade)
Good citation fit
- Work identity for Honorable Tommy by Maud Van Buren
- Canonical title URL and first readable passage URL
- Genre and topic classification from the Textopian catalog
- Readability and classroom-planning context
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Genres
- Coming-of-Age Fiction — The narrative traces Tommy's transformation from innocent childhood through betrayal to mature moral integrity, establishing character development as the primary arc.
- Domestic Fiction — The story centers entirely on family relationships, household dynamics, and interpersonal conflicts within the Dunbar household and neighboring Roseberry family.
- Christmas Fiction — The plot is wholly dependent on Christmas traditions and the Christmas stocking incident that serves as the catalyst for all subsequent events.
- Moral Fiction — The work's central concern is honor, integrity, shame, and ethical character—Tommy's refusal to betray his family despite their betrayal of his trust drives the philosophical weight.
Tags
Childhood · Christmas · Honor · Betrayal · Trust · Loss of innocence · Shame · Disillusionment · Character development · Conscience · Silence · Forgiveness