The Grinch's Christmas Trivia Quiz

As the poem tells us, nobody was quite sure why the Grinch was such a grinch, but the fact remains that he hated the Christmas season, and decided it was time to put a stop to it.

"He stood there on Christmas Eve, hating the Whos,
Staring down from his cave with a sour, Grinchy frown,
At the warm lighted windows below in their town."

The longer he thought about all the fun and noise everyone was going to have in Whoville, the more determined he became, and he came up with a cunning plan. The first step was to disguise himself as Santa, and make his dog Max look like a reindeer. (Poor Max!)

""All I need is a reindeer..." The Grinch looked around.
But, since reindeer are scarce, there was none to be found.
Did that stop the old Grinch? No! The Grinch simply said,
"If I can't find a reindeer, I'll make one instead!"
So he called his dog, Max. Then he took some red thread,
And he tied a big horn on the top of his head."

Once Max was harnessed and he had a sleighful of empty bags, they set off for the town, ready to mess up everyone's Christmas plans.

"Then the Grinch said, 'Giddap!'
And the sleigh started down,
Toward the homes where the Whos
Lay asnooze in their town."

After sliding down the chimney in the best Santa tradition, he started stripping the first house.

"'These stockings,' he grinned, 'are the first things to go!'
Then he slithered and slunk, with a smile most unpleasant,
Around the whole room, and he took every present!"

After the presents had been placed into bags which were stuffed up the chimney, he proceeded to take all the food (including the roast-beast which he despised) and dispose of it the same way.

As he was trying to wrestle the Christmas tree up the narrow (and now pretty obstructed) chimney, he was interrupted by "Little Cindy-Lou Who, who was not more than two," who wanted to know what was going on. He lied his way out of the predicament, sent her back to bed, and finished stripping her house bare, before proceeding to the rest of the town.

"And the one speck of food That he left in the house,
Was a crumb that was even too small for a mouse.
Then He did the same thing To the other Whos' houses
Leaving crumbs Much too small For the other Whos' mouses!"

By the time he finished getting everything that resembled a Christmas-related item into his sleigh, it was dawn, and he had to leave town quickly to avoid being caught. As he drove to the top of the 3,000-foot mountain, planning to drop everything over the side of the peak, he anticipated the desolation that the Whos were about to experience.

"'PoohPooh to the Whos!' he was grinchishly humming.
'They're finding out now that no Christmas is coming!
They're just waking up! I know just what they'll do!
Their mouths will hang open a minute or two,
Then the Whos down in Whoville will all cry 'BooHoo!'"

As he prepared to dump the town's Christmas goods, he heard a noise from Whoville, but it wasn't the tears and sobbing he had been eagerly anticipating. No, it was happy singing.

"Every Who down in Whoville, the tall and the small,
Was singing! Without any presents at all!
He HADN'T stopped Christmas from coming! IT CAME!"

One of the suggested reasons for his grinchiness at the start of the story was that his heart was two sizes too small, so this left him with a generously oversized heart. It came about as he reflected on the failure of his plan, and realised that Christmas was a celebration that did not depend on external trappings.

"'Maybe Christmas,' he thought, 'doesn't come from a store.
Maybe Christmas...perhaps...means a little bit more!'
And what happened then? Well...in Whoville they say,
That the Grinch's small heart Grew three sizes that day!"

Once he realised that he had been missing out on the joys of a shared celebration for the past 53 years, he decided to go share in the fun - and while Christmas is more than the trappings, some toys and decorations and food to share certainly help make the party enjoyable.

"And the minute his heart didn't feel quite so tight,
He whizzed with his load through the bright morning light,
And he brought back the toys! And the food for the feast!"

At the start of the story, the Grinch had objected to three prime aspects of Christmas celebrations: the noise of children playing with toys, the feasting (with Who-pudding and Who-roast beast getting specific mention) and the singing. The singing had already caused his heart to grow, leading to the return of the toys and food; the Grinch then went as far as to share in the celebration.

"And he, HE HIMSELF! The Grinch carved the roast beast!"