How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #10
It was so warm so secure so comforting to be home on christmas eve to be in a nice room with a good stove to feel somehow that here was a place in the wilderness a place forever safe a place that could never be changed could never be harmed could never be intruded upon. (17.17)
It's ambiguous here whether the reason Christmas Eve can never be changed is because it lives in Joe's memory or because it's a sacred, familiar, and repeated ritual. For Joe, though, it's pretty much all the same, since he's not coming home for Christmas anytime soon.