Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol

In the novel A Christmas Carol, by Charles Dickens, the main character Scrooge encounters many new experiences. These experiences cause him to feel forgotten emotions such as joy, remorse and fear. Scrooge encounters joy throughout the novel in multiple ways. Scrooge acquires joy from the pleasant experiences in his past including memories of his old friends and family. Scrooge also rediscovered his lost emotion of remorse. He begins to realize and feel regret for his selfish ways and how they have affected other characters in the novel. Lastly, one of the most memorable emotions demonstrated by Scrooge throughout the novel is fear. Scrooge displays fear towards the Spirits, his future and primarily, his death. Scrooge experiences numerous restored emotions throughout the novel that aid him in growing as a character.
After not having felt the emotion of joy in years, Scrooge displays the emotion throughout the novel. The Ghost of Christmas Past takes Scrooge on journeys to different times in Scrooge’s like that had been filled with happiness and glee. Scrooge rediscovers these times of joy when he, for example, sees his beloved sister who has passed away. This brings him joy in the form of remembering her kindness and good heart and seeing their unforgettable sibling relationship. Scrooge finds joy when reminiscing about past memories with his childhood friends such as Ali Baba and Orson who help Scrooge experience again the joys of his childhood. Also, when with the Ghost of Christmas Past, Scrooge remembers his past Christmas celebrations with friends and family. The narrator describes the joy Scrooge finds in them by saying, “Scrooge has acted like a man out of his wits. His heart and soul were in the scene and with his former...

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...ps with friends and family, Scrooge exposes the emotion of joy. His feelings of joy continue on to the end of the novel where he rediscovers joy in family and the Christmas spirit. Scrooge experiences remorse when, while looking into Christmas future, he realizes how his poor actions affect others. He becomes remorseful towards Tiny Tim, his employees and the poor who he neglected. Lastly, feat was an essential emotion that Scrooge rediscovered. Scrooge’s fear towards his future and the Ghosts showed his vulnerability as a person. At the beginning of the novel, Scrooge is described as being cold hearted and lacking emotion. However, by the end of the novel, he has gone through life altering experiences that allow him to experience forgotten emotions and to change for the better.

Works Cited

Dickens, Charles. A Christmas Carol. New York: Bantam Books, 2002. Print.