Why would Ebenezer Scrooge say, "Men's courses will foreshadow certain ends, to which, if persevered in, they must lead. But if the courses be departed from, the ends will change. Say it is thus with what you show me." He said that because of what the spirits have told them, and that he needed to be a better man. The first spirit showed him his past. The second spirit showed him the present. Finally, the last ghost showed him a shadow of what the future could be. These are some reasons why Scrooge said what he said. The first reason he said what he said is because of what the Spirit of Christmas Past said to him. One of the first things he showed him was when he went to a party with his girlfriend and proposed marriage. She said yes. This was before he was greedy and mean. This showed him that being pleasant and kind pays off. The spirit then shows Scrooge another part of his past, where his wife …show more content…
He showed Scrooge what his worker was doing that day. The spirit showed Scrooge his worker buying a turkey. He could only afford a small turkey. That showed Scrooge he should pay his workers better. He also showed his worker taking his son little Timmy home on his shoulders, since Timmy has a lame leg. This makes Scrooge feel bad for him. The spirit also tells Scrooge that Timmy does not have a long time to live. The last reason he would have said this is because of what the Spirit of Christmas Future showed Scrooge. The spirit shows him his worker's house again but the worker is really depressed because his son had died. This made Scrooge very sorrowful that he had caused this. The next thing he showed Scrooge was a dead body. This made him miserable because deep down, he knew exactly who it was. He asked the spirit who was it and the spirit brought them to grave. It said Scrooge, and that scared Scrooge the most. That is when he said his
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
Scrooge was and owner of a factory and made a whole bunch of money, but he did not care about anyone else. “Merry Christmas said his nephew, what right do have to be merry you are poor enough”. This shows that scrooge is mean to family and does not care about Christmas.
In the beginning of the play in spite of being selfish Scrooge is also cheap, cold-hearted, and cruel. Scrooge behaves in this manner to his nephew, Fred. One way of proving this is when Fred said “Merry Christmas.” Scrooge replied salty saying “Humbug Christmas is just a time for spending and wasting money.” Not only he treats Fred badly but many more people. For instance take one of his quotes towards the Gentleman Visitor, “Are there no Jails for the poor, are there no
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. Those three spirits visited each day to haunt him about his Christmases. Eventually, he traveled with two of the three spirits, but when the spirit of Christmas Future arrived, Mr. Scrooge realized that he would die in a few years. Ebenezer begged for mercy and promised to celebrate Christmas with joy and festivity. (Dickens 7-32) After the haunting with the spirits, Mr. Scrooge woke up and asked a boy what day it was. When the little boy, Adam, replied that it was Christmas, he ordered the boy
Scrooge is just a normal guy who went to border school when he was a kid. He didn’t spend to much time with his family. He only got to see them on Holidays. Now, he is a grumpy old man.
The novel introduces Scrooge as a man of greed. This is shown in the first stave when Scrooge's clerk Bob Cratchit can barely keep warm by such a small fire "that it looked like one coal." Because of Scrooge's greed, he insists on storing up on his wealth by burning less coal, despite it's lack of warmth. Furthermore, one can notice Scrooge's greed as he refuses to give any donation from his surplus wealth to the poor and destitute that the collectors were raising money for. Scrooge's selfish response to the collectors was, " 'I wish to be left alone...I don't make merry myself at Christmas, and I can't afford to make idle people merry..."
When we first met Scrooge, we are informed, and also observe that he is cold, miserly, and bitter. However, after the visit of the Ghost of Christmas future, Scrooge changes into a generous and cheerful man. It is clear that something must have caused a man who is really nice, turn into a mean and nasty person, in this case it was the Industrial Revolution.
Dickens portrays Scrooge as being a mean old man that wants nothing to do with anyone throughout the beginning of the novel. As a young boy many family members played a huge role in Scrooge’s life. It is easy to tell as a young boy, Scrooge loved his family although his father was extremely hard on him. His sister is the only member of his home-family that has a scene in the story. It seems as if that she was the only one who truly loved him. Whenever the ghost of Christmas past takes Scrooge back to the time his sister came and told him that she was taking him back home he was filled with joy. The ghost was sure to remind him that his sister passed away when giving birth to Fred. This really effected how Scrooge looked at Fred later in life. As hard as Scrooge was towards Fred, Fred never gave up on getting Scrooge to enjoy Christmas. “His nephew, Fred, and Bob Cratchit represent the salving spirit of Christmas. They have never abandoned hope and faith” (Gold 153). Scrooge’s relationship with his family is critical to the plot of the story. All of his hard times growing up led to Scrooge’s jealousy of Fezziwig’s wealth and charm. Scrooge’s determination to be like Mr. Fezziwig turned him into the exact opposite of his goal. “Dickens contrasts Scrooge, “excellent man of business,” with old Fezziwig, the master of his apprenticeship days. Fezziwig was a “reasonable” employer; he worked his men hard and fairly, be he was able to play occasionally, and he did not he did not hesitate to spend money at Christmastime for the entertainment and jollification of his employees” (Davis 122). Scrooge’s drive ended up being his
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
Mr. Scrooge was a man who didn't like christmas. Mr. Scrooge thought christmas was a waste of his time. Mr. Scrooge wasn't a christmas person ether. Mr. Scrooge hated christmas. Mr. Scrooge was a person who didn't like coming out on christmas he always liked to stay inside his house. Mr. Scrooge was an old man too.
On page 64, we see how Scrooge shows sympathy in the quote, “There was a boy singing a Christmas carol at my door last night. I should like to have given him something. That 's All.” After being shown a memory of himself as a boy, Scrooge regrets being harsh to the boy caroling and not giving him any money. Seeing his own sadness as a child made him realize it would have been nice to give the boy something to make him happy. He will probably do nicer things in the future because he now realizes that the boy would have been upset because of how Scrooge turned him away so harshly. He is changing his actions, and regretting bad actions in the past. He wants to fix what he did wrong, and he feels sympathy for the boy. People want to be shown compassion, so in the future if he helps people out and is kind, he will not be as isolated. Another quote to show how he becomes less detached from humanity is on pages 92-93, ‘”Spirit,” said Scrooge, “Tell me if Tiny Tim will live.” Scrooge feels sorry for Bob Cratchit because the spirit says if the future remains unaltered he will die. He feels upset that Tiny Tim will die, and sympathy for Bob because his son will probably die. He probably regrets not giving Bob more time with his son. He had made a comment earlier that if someone will die they better go and die to decrease the population, when the donation collector
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
“hear me! I am not the man I was. I will not be the man I must have been but for this intercourse.” “I will honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year. I will live in the Past, the Present, and the Future. The Spirits of all Three shall strive within me. I will not shut out the lessons that they teach. Oh, tell me I may sponge away the writing on this stone!” (Dickens, Stave 4, Page 84) Finally, Scrooge changed for good.
Charles Dickens’s powerful novel encompasses the notion that generosity involves more than just the giving of money, it requires the giving of one's goodwill and compassion, this required for Scrooge’s own redemption as well as attempting to insinuate within the reader a reflection of their own values and behaviours. Dickens’s novella also acts to warn Scrooge and the audience of the ramifications of their actions if they do not take this into consideration, that generosity always involves more than just the giving of money, it requires the giving of one's goodwill and compassion.
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.