I know it’s not Christmas, but this is something that has been on my mind for a while. I’m guessing some of you remember the story of the Grinch. Whether it was from the cartoon, the book or the film with Jim Carrey, it’s the same guy. When you think of the Grinch what comes to mind? Is it the mean, grouchy guy who tried to ruin Christmas? That’s what I remember. I never went into much depth of his character until recently. Just to let you know, I’m pulling my information from the film, cartoon, and the book. I should also let you know that this is rather lengthy article. I tried to add background information to cut down the confusion.

In the city of Whoville, the citizens, known as the Whos, were a seemingly cheery folk. When it got close to the Christmas holiday, they decorated all of Whoville with decorations and holiday cheer. There was one Who who did not live among the others. The Grinch lived in an isolated mountain known as Mount Crumpit. While his jolly neighbors were having a holly jolly holiday, he stayed in his home being a curmudgeon and looking down at the rest of the Whos. He detested the idea that his neighbors were in the holiday spirit that would bring them together to sing, celebrate and have fun. He came up with a plan to ruin their Christmas. He sounds like a major jerk right? Let’s dig into this story a little more.

Let’s rewind a bit. Let’s go back to when the Grinch was in grade school. As a child, he was the only Who with green skin. This automatically made him an outsider and a target for bullying, as did the fur that surrounded his body. He didn’t always hate Christmas. He wasn’t always a grouch either. One day, his class held a Christmas gift exchange. He handcrafted a gift for his school crush. After some rather rude chiding from another classmate, the Grinch attempted to shave. He just tried to make everyone happy. When he showed up to school, he was ridiculed for shaving his hair that he was ridiculed for having in the first place. He was so heartbroken that he broke the present he made for his school crush, ran away to Mount Crumpit and he vowed a deep hate for Christmas. For all those years leading up to the present, the Grinch stayed away from the rest of Whoville.

Now, let’s go to the present, and into the town of Whoville. Everyone is cheery and preparing for the festivities that await. One little Who-child, Cindy Lou Who, does not feel the holiday cheer that everyone else is expressing. Actually, little Cindy Lou felt that going all out for Christmas was “superfluous” and unnecessary. It seemed to her that the Whos only cared about the presents and other material things. While she was with her father at his job at the post office, she had an encounter with the infamous Grinch. Like everyone else in Whoville, she had heard the mostly exaggerated stories about the Grinch being a vicious monster who ate Whos and was nothing but danger and trouble. During her spontaneous meet and greet with the Grinch, Cindy Lou who accidentally falls into a machine that could have killed her. The Grinch sees the incident. Although it crossed his mind, the Grinch didn’t leave her to die. He saved her. He then proceeded to fuss at her for not being more careful. After the incident, Cindy Lou became interested in learning about the Grinch. She went across Whoville to interview people who had encounters with the Grinch.

During the holiday season, the citizens of Whoville celebrate the Whobilation. During this celebration, one Who is chosen to be the Holiday Cheermeister, which is similar to a prom or homecoming king. Cindy Lou steps up to nominate the Grinch as the Holiday Cheermeister. The Whos are taken aback by this nomination. The mayor is against it because he was one of the Grinch’s worst bullies as a child. Cindy Lou reminds the citizens that according to the rules, the Holiday Cheermeister should be a Who who needs Christmas cheer the most. She believes that that Who is the Grinch. After stating her opinion, Cindy Lou gains the approval of the other Whos to invite the Grinch. Cindy Lou travels up to Mount Crumpit to convince the Grinch to attend the Whobilation. Reluctantly, he decides to go to the celebration.

Let’s stop here and analyze this. If you’ve seen the movie, you know that the Grinch did not like to be around other Whos. It seemed like he just preferred to be a trouble maker. All of a sudden, this little girl enters his personal space to ask him to join in fellowship with the same people that made his life in Whoville absolutely terrible. He did not want to go because he remembered how bad they treated him the last time he was around them for Christmas. Cindy Lou assured him that the citizens of Whoville would love to have him around. This helped him to decide to go after all. During the first part of Whobilation, the Grinch is having the time of his life. They’re dancing. He’s stuffing his face. He can still be himself. It seems as if everyone is accepting him for who he is for once. Things begin to go downhill once it is time for the gift exchange. The mayor cruelly gives the Grinch the same razor that he used to shave his hair as a child. This strikes up the Grinch’s memories of how he felt all those years ago. The mayor then presents the Grinch’s former crush with expensive proposal gifts. She hesitantly admits that the gifts are wonderful, but before she can give a definite answer, the Grinch scratches the shiny red sports car that the mayor had presented as a gift. Angrily, he proceeds to tell the Whos that they are nothing but selfish, materialistic people. The Grinch, on the other hand, was content with his home, dog and solitude. He tells the Whos that Christmas has always been about avarice to them. He also gives them a dose of reality by telling them that all of their gifts somehow wind up in his territory because that is where they’re garbage travels to. Before leaving Whobilation, the Grinch maniacally wreaks havoc, even burning down the Christmas tree. He then returns to Mount Crumpit. Back in Whoville, the mayor blames little Cindy Lou, even though she just wanted to have everyone together for Christmas.

After the fiasco, the Whos fix everything and continue to celebrate Christmas. Seeing that he had not broken the spirits of the Whos, the Grinch devises a plan to rob them of their Christmas. We all remember this part, right? He dresses like Santa Claus and raids each home for all of their stuff. In the process, Cindy Lou comes downstairs for something to drink. She thought that it was really Santa in her home taking her Christmas tree. Unbeknownst to her, the Grinch was looting her home. When she asks him why he is taking the tree, he improvises and tells her that there was a light on the tree that wasn’t working, and he needed to take it back to the North Pole to fix it. Can we pause right here for a minute? Rather than revealing his identity, the Grinch spared Cindy Lou’s imagination. He let her believe that he was Santa Claus. I know what you’re about to say: “He did that so she wouldn’t let her parents know that he was in the house.” That’s true, as well, but he still showed a small form of compassion towards Cindy Lou that he did not receive as a child. Before the Grinch left, Cindy Lou, still under the impression that he was Santa Claus, asked him not to forget the Grinch because she thought that he was “sweet.” This actually surprised the Grinch because that’s not usually a word used to describe him. After he looted all of the homes, he brought all of the stolen merchandise back to his home and waited for the next day.

The next morning, the Grinch waited for the Whos to wake up and cry about all of their stuff missing. What he found was the Whos gathering together to sing and still enjoy each other’s company. Before we make the Grinch seem like the jerk, let’s also acknowledge that the Whos had put too much of their faith in material things. By the Grinch stealing the gifts, the Whos realized that Christmas was not just gifts. When the Grinch heard them down in Whoville singing together, he realized that maybe they weren’t the heartless jerks that he thought they were. He saw that they did have compassion in their hearts. Because of this, the Grinch’s own heart grew two sizes bigger. By the way, if that were true, he would have died of cardiomyopathy. When the Grinch’s heart grew, he returned all of the gifts to the Whos. He admitted that he stole them, and apologized. Rather than arresting or chastising him, the Whos welcomed him into Whoville with open arms to celebrate Christmas.

I don’t believe the Grinch was the antagonist. I believe he was misunderstood. He had his reasons for doing all of those things. Some of his reasons stemmed from the pain he felt from the Whos. He also taught the Whos an important lesson about what really matters. Just because the Whos of Whoville outnumbered the Grinch, it made it easier for them to peg him as the bad guy. The Whos were not perfect citizens who were terrorized by a monster. The Whos were regular people who have done their share of bad things. The Grinch was a person who just needed compassion and understanding. In the end, the problems were worked out.

Bonus: Have you not heard the song “You’re a mean one, Mr. Grinch”? Would you want to be around people who wouldn’t touch you with a 39 ½ foot pole? Personally, I wouldn’t be too giddy about surrounding myself with people who had a song that 100% roasted me. I can completely understand why the Grinch was so distant. He was not the bad guy. He was just misunderstood.