Man is a social animal. He cannot live alone. In every field of life, he needs the help of someone or
the other. However, there are a few people who do not live to socialize with others. They stay away
from their fellow beings. They shirk the company of their friends and become recluses. They are
overpowered by negative feelings. The themes of human loneliness and the need to have someone
to share one’s joys and sorrows with, runs throughout the story. To begin with, the reader’s attention
is drawn to the peddler who is lonely and, in his loneliness, he makes rattraps and is left to his own
meditation. When he knocks at the cottage, the crofter welcomes him and entertains him. It is because
the crofter is lonely. He wants someone to talk to. He finds in peddler a good companion and tells him
a lot about himself and his cow, even though the peddler is a complete stranger to him. Then, we find
that the ironmaster and his daughter are also lonely. They live in a big house and have no body else
for company. Therefore, they insisted that the peddler should spend the Christmas Eve with them.
