A Christmas Carol was written by Charles Dickens (1812-1870) and published in 1843. The novel was the first of five in a series of Christmas books that Dickens was commissioned to write. It is thought that several of the darkest episodes in his novels are based on his own personal experiences, for instance when his father spent some months in a debtor’s prison in London. Memory serves as an important tool for the ghosts to reach out to Mr. Scrooge’s sympathetic feelings, thus contributing to the change of personality that Mr. Scrooge undergoes towards the end of the novel. The First of the Three Spirits: The first of the Three Spirits is the "Ghost of Christmas Past" which represents Mr. Scrooge’s memory. Memory here serves as a reminder to Mr. Scrooge that he is still emotionally connected to other people, despite his withdrawal. The first memory that sparks Mr. Scrooge’s feelings is the scene from his childhood: the little boy Ebenezer that had to spend the Christmas holidays alone at his school. "At one of these a lonely boy was reading near a feeble fire; and Scrooge sat down upon a form, and wept to see his poor forgotten self as he had used to be." (38). We see that he is immediately very touched when he sees this scene before him, which is exactly the reaction the ghost hoped for. After this scene, Mr. Scrooge sees his sister telling him that their father has given his consent to let Scrooge come home. We learn that she is now dead and that she left a child:
After the previous spirit disappeared, Scrooge looks up to find the final spirit, The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come. The phantom remains silent and simply takes Scrooge toward the city, where they eavesdrop on a few conversations between people. One of them was between two men who were talking about how someone had recently died. They retorted about how nobody liked the man and, consequently, they expected nobody to show up to the funeral. The twain continued to another pair of businessmen who had also heard the news that someone had died, but did not care. Scrooge, oblivious as to who they were talking about, tries to ask the spirit some questions, in which the spirit doesn’t respond. The phantom just drags Scrooge to a nearly abandoned
Dickens displays guilt as the main form of how Scrooge’s character develops into a compassionate person by the end of the novella. As Scrooge feels this quilt, it's purely based on the visions that the ghosts provide which further causes Scrooge to realise the consequences of his actions. His alienation from specific characters that he used to love such as Belle, “...has displaced me…” whom left Scrooge, due to his desire for money and wealth which grew. This desire grows with him as he is rejecting the christmas joy and spirit as he continuously states that Christmas is a “humbug,” but by stating this it provides comparison. Dickens depicts that Scrooge has become a better person because of fear but in the end he has become kinder. As the
On Christmas Eve , Scrooge is gone by a progression of ghosts,starting with his old business accomplice, Jacob Marley. The three spirits follow,the Ghosts of Past , Christmas present and Christmas future ,show how his ,mean conduct has influenced everyone around him. Toward the finish of the story ,he is soothed to find that there is still time for him to change and we see him changed into a liberal and kind hearted person.
In the play, Mr. Scrooge is a greedy man who thinks Christmas is “Bah Humbug!” (Dickens 3). His family has always wanted him to join them for a Christmas feast, but Mr. Scrooge has never wanted anything to do with Christmas. Marley, Mr. Scrooge’s old business partner, didn’t want Mr. Scrooge to end up like him with chains of greed attached to him when he died, so he sent Mr. Scrooge three spirits: Christmas Past, Present, and Future.
Little did Ebenezer Scrooge know, this was going to be the kickoff to a substantial journey on his night of Christmas Eve. The ghost of Christmas past had the appearance similar to a child, yet it had some characteristics comparable to a lit candle. This ghost took Scrooge to all of his most painful memories leading up to his present day position. After brief reminders of these incidents, Scrooge started to get melancholy. Events from his schooldays, his engagement, and even his happy apprenticeship with his former boss Fezziwig provided enough insight for the main character to visit his childhood. Scrooge then got an unexpected visit from the ghost of Christmas Present. He took the display of a gigantic man, dressed in a green robe. This ghost helped provide an insight for Scrooge on what his acquaintances were doing on Christmas Eve night. Bob Cratchit, had a dinner with his family and could barely afford any food due to his low wage from Scrooge. Lastly, Ebenezer received a visitation from the ghost of Christmas yet to come. The ghost was strictly straightforward with Scrooge’s future if he kept acting similar to what he did. The three ghosts provided a prolonged climax to the story, giving Ebenezer a direct turning point in his actions and beliefs. He had adjusted to not making
An example of this is shown in his bitter attitude towards the cheerfulness of his nephew Fred and by thinking Christmas a "humbug." And then, moments before he bitterly declines his nephew's friendly invitation to come dine with him, he says crossly to him, "'Every idiot who goes about with 'Merry Christmas' on his lips, should be boiled with his own pudding, and buried with a stake of holly through his heart.'" Lastly, an instance that illustrates the cold heart of Scrooge is when he speaks of the poor, "'If they would rather die, they better do it, and decrease the surplus population.'" By these demonstrations, Scrooge exposed the coldness of his own
He is taken to the streets of his town. Scrooge sees three businessmen discussing his funeral. They say that they thought he would never die. They also say that they will only go to his funeral if there is food there, but if there is no food they don't plan on attending. Nor, do they even think that there will be a funeral because there will be no one willing to pay for it because he was such an awful person. Scrooge is unable to put two and two together to figure out that this was what was going to happen to him. He thought that they were talking about his ex business partner, James Marley. Next, Scrooge sees people discussing things that they would want to sell for money. They then begin discussing how they had taken it off dead Scrooge’s body after he had died. They explain how they had taken the very clothes he was wearing right off of his back and just left him there. They took everything they thought they could make money off of. Scrooge, while watching the scene, realizes that this is an awful thing to happen to someone, but still does not understand that it is him that they are talking about. Finally, Scrooge is taken to his grave with the Ghost Of Christmas Future. The ghost points at the grave and gestures for him to get in it. Scrooge pleads, and pleads with the spirit to allow him to live, and after a while of begging, the ghost shakes a little bit and puts his finger down. “Spirit, this is a
In this Stave, Dickens shows the importance of kindness by showing Scrooge’s absence of it and the effects of his harmful indifference. Scrooge is taken into his own past and shown memories of when he was young. The Ghost shows him scenes of when he was small and alone on Christmas. This memory makes him regret his harshness towards a young caroler that had come to his door the previous day. He sees that he lacked kindness and wishes he gave something to the caroler. His indifference towards the caroler insured that Scrooge would remain alone. The Ghost also reminds Scrooge of his beloved sister, Fannie who had died and left only her son. “’Always a delicate creature, whom a breath might have withered,’ said the Ghost. ‘But she had a large heart!’ ‘So she had,’ cried Scrooge. ‘You’re right. I will not gainsay it, Spirit. God forbid!’ ‘She died a woman,’ said the Ghost, ‘and had, as I think, children.’ ‘One child,’ Scrooge returned. ‘True,’ said the Ghost. ‘Your nephew!’ Scrooge seemed uneasy in his mind; and answered briefly, ‘Yes.’” (pg. 33-34). Scrooge’s only connection to his kind and gentle sister is his nephew, who also shares Fannie’s sweet nature. Scrooge is then filled with regret because of his callous treatment and lack of relationship with his nephew, who only wanted to be kind and spread the joy of the season. Scrooge’s sheer indifference and lack of kindness towards his nephew prevented
During the story, Scrooge is visited by the Ghosts from Christmas past, present, and future, who shows the ill-tempered Scrooge how to be feel compassion towards others human beings. A large quantity of the story revolves around money, and it plays a large role, to contrast how generosity is viewed in society. Scrooge is incredibly wealthy, as he lives a l...
In A Christmas Carol there is a man named Scrooge. He didn’t like Christmas very much, but 4 ghosts come to visit to get his mind right. The next morning when he woke up he saw it was Christmas then he went out to his window and told everyone merry christmas and everyone was really surprised, because everyone knew scrooge as a man that doesn't like Christmas. In A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens shows that one’s business in life is all about helping people through the changes Scrooge makes.
After the ghost takes Scrooge to see Belle with her husband and children, Scrooge then says, "Leave me! Take me back! Haunt me no longer!" I think Scrooge reacted quite strongly to the visions shown by this Ghost of Christmas Past, and that the emotion and agony he demonstrates with the Ghost of Christmas Yet To Come is the culmination of all the horrors he has been shown that
In "A Christmas Carol" by Charles Dickens, Ebenezer Scrooge undergoes a transformation as a result of his encounters with three ghosts and becomes a kind, happy, and generous man. His greedy, cruel, and grumpy demeanor is replaced seemingly overnight, but he doesn’t just wake up and decide to be nice. It takes three Spirits to change his outlook on life - The Ghosts of Christmases Past, Present, and Future. The Ghost of Christmas Past makes Scrooge begin to regret his selfishness, and the Ghost of Christmas Present begins to teach him about others. This second Ghost helps to make him realize that money doesn't buy happiness. The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come, however, teaches the most profound lesson of all: unless he changes, no one will care if Scrooge dies. Because of the Ghosts, by Christmas morning Ebenezer Scrooge is a completely different person from the man who went to bed on Christmas Eve.
In the Novella A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, Ebenezer Scrooge is an old man who despises Christmas with all of his frigid heart. Three spirits come to his aid to have an intervention about his hatred for Christmas, and will try to change him into a merry man. In the Novella A Christmas Carol of the three spirits the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come is the most influential. The other two ghosts have an impact but the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come is the final nail in the coffin of Scrooge’s austere heart.
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens is a fantasy story about a businessman changing for the better with help from supernatural spirits, which uses allegories. The ghost shows the children to him because he wants for Scrooge and the audience to learn a lesson. When the spirit of Christmas Present was getting older in an open place two children come out of the spirit’s robe. Dickens writes “They are man’s… beware of them both.” (92) The two children are named Want and Ignorance. The figurative meaning of what the ghost says is that being ignorant and wanting stuff or wealth is not good. I think that the ghost shows the children to him because he wants Scrooge and the audience to learn a lesson. Which is not be ignorant and to not want things
Charles Dickens wrote the novel A Christmas Carol because he believed that he can have an influence on the situation in England in the 19th century(Bio). He included the character’s greed and want that are a part of Scrooge during his visits with the Ghosts of Christmas.