No, its not Robert Ludlum’s new Christmas-themed novel. It is a Christmas tradition in my family to sit down at some point during the Christmas season and watch all of the Christmas specials from my childhood. Classics such as How the Grinch Stole Christmas, It’s a Wonderful Life, and A Christmas Story all have their special places in my heart, but no movie stays with me like Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. From Hermey the Misfit Elf to the Island of Misfit Toys, the movie is perfect. However, it wasn’t until I had read John Granger’s The Deathly Hallows Lectures that I realized the esoteric, alchemical imagery hidden within the story of the reindeer-savior of Christmas.The Hermey-Rudolph-Yukon Triptych
The three heroes of our story – the eponymous Rudolph of the scarlet snout; the strangely feminine elf with a dental obsession, Hermey; and the burly, red-bearded, gold and silver (and secretly, peppermint)-bound Yukon Cornelius – represent the classic mind-body-spirit triptych which make up the soul-faculty of a person. This triptych represents the human body broken down into its three main components: the spirit (or soul), intellectual mind, and physical body, and it has been present in countless other works of art throughout the ages. The brothers in The Brothers Karamazov; Kirk, Bones, and Spock in Star Trek; Han, Luke, and Leia in Star Wars; Harry, Ron, and Hermione in the Harry Potter series, etc. etc.1 Each of these triptych representatives have their own unique characteristics which find expression (not coincidentally) in the actions and personalities of our three (again, not a coincidence) main Rudolph characters.
Hermey represents the mind of the triptych. He is a misfit from the rest of his elfish brethren because, rather than construct toys, he would rather crack open one of his leather-bound tomes concerning dentistry. Admittedly, he “wants to be…a dentist!” While dentistry itself is not considered academia, it is not Hermey’s interest in dentistry as dentistry that makes him the ‘mind’ or ‘intellect’ of the trio. It is his predilection for reading and learning in itself that sets him apart from the rest of his lot. Hermione Granger is a culturally-relevant representation of the mind faculty in the Potter triptych.
In Yukon Cornelius we find the embodiment of…well…the body. One of the hallmarks of the body faculty is the fact that is ruled primarily by the baser passions or emotions rather than being prone to using their intelligence. Yukon definitely has passion in spades. When we meet Yukon, we discover that he is a prospector searching for ‘silver and gold’ in the arctic wastes of the North Pole. Rather than exhibiting any geological or mineralogical knowledge at all, however, Yukon seems to rely solely on his senses to eke out the treasure. Throughout the story, we see him toss his pickax high into the air and then pull it out of the ground, lick the tip, and finally conclude the ritual with his usual, disappointed, “Nothin’.” It is this reliance on the physical senses that characterize Yukon as the ‘body’ of the soul-faculty triptych. Also, the fact that he is nearly three times larger physically than his two partners is a pretty visible reminder.
Finally, we come to our hero, the red-nosed expression of spirit in our soul-triptych. The spirit faculty, when expressed in a character trio, is almost always the de facto leader of the group, and this is for the reason that the spirit possesses an intellect that comes from the heart rather than from the mind. The spirit operates out of a cardiac instinct that always points them to the morally True North, which makes them the ideal leader for whatever cause the story has them representing. In Star Wars, Luke is clearly the spirit – always trying to do the right thing – as compared to the very base and sensual Han Solo or the educated, erudite Princess Leia. In Harry Potter, it is Harry himself; in Star Trek, it is Kirk. In all of these stories, it is their nature as “spirit” which makes them set off against all odds to do what they know is right. In Rudolph, it is what makes Rudolph escape the Island of Misfit Toys alone, leaving Yukon and Hermey behind, to try and find his family and take on the Bumble by himself.
However, Rudolph fails in this, just as Luke is defeated by Darth Vader in The Empire Strikes Back, and just like nothing seems right at Hogwarts when the three heroes aren’t in sync. Only when the triptych is complete can victory be obtained, for apart, they aren’t a whole soul, but a fractured one – and if we’ve learned anything from Potter, it’s that a fractured soul will always lose to a whole one (Voldemort, I’m looking at you.)
When Yukon and Hermey find Rudolph unconscious in the cave of the Bumble, they must rescue him (they are all intertwined as part of a soul, after all) and working together, Yukon and Hermey rescue their friend and are reunited. This battle is not without its toll, however, in the apparent death of Yukon. But a part of the soul cannot die and leave the other two-thirds remaining! Thus, Yukon returns at the end of the movie.
If these three characters make up a soul, what exactly is that soul? Doesn’t a soul have to belong to something in order for it to be a soul as we understand it? Well, they make the soul of the story of course! Without the friendships and loyalties developed during their adventures, it would be a pretty boring Christmas epic. There would be no character evolution, no resolution of conflict, etc. etc.
WORKS CITED
1 Granger, John. “Deathly Hallows Discussion Point #13: Ron’s Departure and Return,” Hogwarts Professor: Thoughts for the Serious Reader of Harry Potter. July 23, 2007. http://www.hogwartsprofessor.com/deathly-hallows-discussion-point- 13-rons-departure-and-return/
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