Junky's Christmas Symbolism

“The Junky’s Christmas” is a short story about an opiate addict named Danny attempting to obtain heroin on Christmas Day after having been in jail for three days. Danny must also deal with the intense opiate withdrawal. The short story was adapted into a short film titled The Junky’s Christmas which follows the original story.
After being given an opiate medication by an alcoholic doctor, Danny uses his remaining cash to rent a cheap hotel room for the night. He goes to his room and begins going through his ritual of injecting drugs. Just as he is about to put the needle in his arm, he hears groaning coming from the neighboring room. He tries to ignore it at first, but cannot due to the horrible sounds. He reluctantly removes his …show more content…
After returning to his room, Danny lays down and begins to float up and away from his bed, with his arms stretched out at his sides in a pose that is commonly seen in depictions of religious figures. “Hark the Angels Sing” plays, which further implies that some sort of divine intervention is taking place. The scene also features visual effects and the only colors in the entire film. Close-up shots of Danny’s face in ecstasy are blended with what appears to be golden-yellow smoke and several bright gold explosions. The sudden addition of color to the film helps lead the viewer to the conclusion that something out of the ordinary is taking place. The scene concludes showing Danny sleeping soundly in his bed, with the camera slowly being moved out of the room and the screen fades to black. The ending is much less ambiguous than the short story version, as Danny is clearly seen breathing as the scene ends, while the short story allows the reader to interpret Danny’s fate. The film adaptation of “The Junky’s Christmas” both adds to and takes away from the original short story. The visuals allow the viewer to become more invested in the story, but the ending of the film does not leave as much room for interpretation as the short