The Lonely Toiling
My favorite book has always been A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. This work has an element of self-reinvention that I find attractive. Few themes are as interesting for me as the theme of a man or a woman, by strength of will, changing his or her stars and defying the convoluted schemes of the Fates. In this regard, I feel a special appreciation for Charles Dickens’ work because Ebenezer Scrooge is not reinventing himself for the sake of material gain; the sole purpose of Scrooge’s transformation is redemption. Dickens constructs a dichotomy in Scrooge’s situation that is unrivalled among literary characters. Ebenezer Scrooge is a man whose driving motivation is to cultivate affluence and wealth, yet these seemingly beneficial things are what cause him to lose his humanity and suffer boundless misery and loneliness. As such, the story of Scrooge is a paradox in kind, where the striving for money and the attainment of happiness are not synchronous.
Perhaps the reason that I feel so drawn to the character of Ebenezer Scrooge is that I also suffer greatly from this paradox. I stand at the forefront of those about to join the Investment Banking workforce; security and power are the guaranteed welcome mats. However, I cannot help but ponder all the personal sacrifice that this entry shall entail. The hundred-hour workweeks and the burgeoning pressure from superiors will make it all but impossible for me to foster a family or retain any semblance of a social life. Thus, as for Robert Frost, two paths have converged in the woods for me, and I need to choose the one that I shall travel by. To help guide me in this reconciliation between the personal and the professional, I am visited by my own respective literary ghosts of Christmas past, present, and future.
I.
The ghost of Christmas past arrives to me in the guise of Karl Marx. A short, stocky German man with a thick beard and ruddy eyes, he takes me back to nineteenth century Belgium at the onset of the Industrial Revolution. I view workers toiling over produce that is ultimately taxed out of their hands. I witness the extent to which man is degraded as I look upon the rampant cannibalism caused by the extreme disparity between poverty and wealth. As I struggle to grasp the reasoning behind these sights, Marx explains:
The worker becomes poorer the more wealth he produces, the more his production increases in power and extent.
the book A Christmas Carol. Dickens wanted the reader to understand the businesses in life. Is to respect others in life the way you want to be treaded. Scrooge was a mean man who was full of money and did not care about others.
Robin Sharma, a famous writer, once said, “Change is hard at first, messy in the middle and gorgeous at the end.” Many people believe that change is a very big decision. It takes time and can get a little messy on the way. The truth, however, is a small decision, Like donating money for the poor in need. Unfortunately, in the play, A Christmas Carol, the main character, Scrooge, is a selfish miser. Fortunately, by the end of the play, Scrooge realizes that he was selfish and no good and changed his ways. For example, he donated to the poor.
The battle at Antietam Creek occurred in the fall of 1862. The following section of this case study will cover the key events in the months leading up to the battle, which will help to understand the state of mind of the military commanders on both sides of the engagement. During the summer of 1862 the Confederacy was feeling defeated after going sometime without a decisive victory over the Union forces. Additionally President Davis had not received any good news from the battle fronts in months.
The Wall Street Crash of 1929 marked the start of the great depression which hit America and much of the industrialised world during the 1930’s. The cycle of prosperity turned into a spiral of depression as consumer spending fell by almost half, unemployment rose to over 12 million and there was widespread poverty and homelessness. The Hoover government’s ‘rugged individualism’ meant that people did not receive any relief from the federal government and led to a loss in support for Hoover as people blamed him for their problems. After his landslide victory in 1932, President Roosevelt vowed that through his reforms and economic policies, America would return to the road of prosperity. In 1933 he set out the ‘New Deal’ which sought to deliver relief, recovery, and reform. It could be argued that although the New Deal was effective in certain aspects such as short term relief, it did not end the depression; rather the war was the decisive factor.
Ebenezer Scrooge is the major character in the story, A Christmas Carol written by Charles Dickens. A Christmas Carol is about how a “cold-hearted, tight fisted, selfish” money grabbing man is offered an opportunity of a life time, to change his behaviour, attitude... to have a second chance in life.
How and why does Ebenezer Scrooge change throughout “ A Christmas Carol?” Scrooge changes after seeing himself dead in the future. There are several quotes throughout the story to help prove this. This essay will show only three of these, one from the beginning, one from the middle, and one from the end. Scrooge thought he would never change, but it turned out that he was wrong.
In this essay I am going to distinguish the personality of Scrooge also show you how he was at the beginning of the novella in the 1st Stave to how he changes at the end in the 5th Stave.
Andrew Jackson had already gained a reputation for being a fierce fighter and leader for his fighting with Native Americans by the time he fought in the Battle of New Orleans. However, the Natives were primitive, and the Battle of New Orleans was against the strong British Empire. In command of the British forces was Major General Lord Edward Pakenham, and his army consisted of hardened veterans who had fought the French. The American forces included active duty military, state militia, pirates, and free blac...
"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).
Imagine living a horrible life where . Where people disliked people and wanted them to die, just to get there money. Although in three nights it could be fixed so life would be normal again. In the story "The Christmas Carol" Ebeneezer Scrooge lives this miserly life.Scrooge has three nights to change his life into a compassionate one because Christmas Past, Present ,and Future visit him to teach him a lesson. Present one of the Christmas spirits influences him the most to fix his present in society.
Commodity fetishism has blinded people into believing that value is a relationship between objects, when in reality, it is a relationship between people. This in turn, prevents people from thinking about the social labor condition workers have to endure; they only care and value about how much objects costs. They think that the source of the value comes from the cost, but it truly comes from labor (FC). Through this objectification stems alienation and estrangement. Marx starts with the assumption that humans have an intrinsic quality. As human beings, individuals like to be create and manipulate his or her environment. Creating is a part of people; therefore, people their being into their creations. However, Marx postulates that capitalism and specialized division of labor separates that working class from their creations in four ways- through alienation from the product, the labor process, one’s species-being, and humanity itself. The working class suffers through this hostility to make create more wealth for owners of factories. They get trapped in a cycle to make products for profit, but as automation advances, machines begins to take over people’s jobs; therefore, there less employment opportunities available, which in turn allows factory owners to decrease wages and exploit and devalue the working class (EL). In the The Poverty
On December 23, 1814, Andrew Jackson rode his way into history. His victory over the British on that day made him into a national hero. Jackson used this popularity to ensure his victory over John Quincy Adams in the election of 1828. But who was the real "Old Hickory?" Was Andrew Jackson the courageous, honor bound "man of the people", or, as his opponents liked to think, was he a hot tempered, poorly educated farm boy? This essay will present both sides of the case and try to reach a conclusion.
Marx states that the bourgeoisie not only took advantage of the proletariat through a horrible ratio of wages to labor, but also through other atrocities; he claims that it was common pract...
Many children are born into families that are a part of a branch of the military. Parents may wonder if the constant moving and deployment will bring negative effects on a child’s development. The rigorous lifestyle of the military can have negative effects on the children’s development growing up, but the opportunity of living as a military child is a culturally diverse, socially strong, and mature development of characteristics. The military life offers many benefits for raising a child. Have a family in the military lifestyle can greatly help the children’s development of positives characteristics.
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.