A Christmas Carol: Similarities Between The Movie And The Novel

Many have heard of A Christmas Carol, a famous book by the author Charles Dickens. Charles Dickens wrote the short novel in 1843 in the mid years of his life. Long after his death in 1870, a live action film was made to tell his story to the eyes in 1984. Recently, my classmates and I watched this live action film and recorded the changes and similarities between the two. What are some of these differences and similarities between the novel and the movie, which were made over a century apart? One major similarity between the movie and the book is the way Scrooge meets and interacts with the four spirits. From Jacob Marley’s startling revival to The Ghost of Christmas Future’s deathly appearance, the traits of these spirits meet the book to a tee. Another major similarity for the two has to be dialogue. I was surprised to know that many of the lines from the novel are said exactly the same in the movie, and they aren’t just the stand out lines such as “If they would rather die, they had better do it and decrease the surplus population.” they were also much simpler lines such as “A poor excuse for picking a man’s pocket every twenty-fifth of December!” Oh, and as far as similarities go, let’s not forget how well the movie mirrors Scrooge’s character changes throughout his journey

There is also a loss from the book’s excitement when Martha is neither late nor surprises Bob and Tiny Tim as they return home from church. Another change was made to the movie’s introduction when it started with “dead as a door nail” rather than ended with it. Also, in the film, Scrooge and The Ghost of Christmas Present do not visit near as many places as in the book, instead making their third and final stop at a place where the homeless