The novel is about an evil and cold-hearted man who goes by the name of Ebenezer Scrooge. We also read about Jacob Marley, who was Scrooge’s business partner until he died. Scrooge does not see the purpose of Christmas and so is visited by Marley’s ghost. He tells Scrooge that he must change his attitude unless he wants to end up like him, wrapped up in chains. Scrooge is visited by three ghosts, the ghosts of Christmas past, present and yet to come. The ghosts show him what has taken place in the past, what is happening at the moment, and what is to come if things carry on as they are. All these actions happened in order to try and persuade Scrooge to transform his behaviour towards people and Christmas. In the end, he decides to do so and becomes a friendly and pleasing man.
In some ways, the novel can be seen as a fairy tale. The story explains how an evil man changes in the course of a night into a warm human being. A Christmas Carol is also arranged quite simply in the fact that for each visit by the Ghost represents a chapter. The Christmas Carol ends happily with Scrooge saying ‘the spirits of all three shall strive within me”. These all show us how “A Christmas carol” resembles a Fairy tale.
In stave 1, Scrooge is described as a
“squeezing, wrenching, grasping scraping, clutching, covetous, old sinner”
He is said to have “cold within him”. This particular quality
“froze his features, nipped his pointed nose, shrivelled his cheek, stiffened his gait; made his eyes red, his thin lips blue; and spoke shrewdly in his grating voice”
This description is of a typical upper class male of the Victorian era in Dickens’ perspective; cruel and full of hatred. His voice is described as “grating”, which makes the character sound annoying, harsh and aggressive. He has also been illustrated in the readers’ minds using the adjectives above, which are all inhumane.
Scrooge has an employee, Bob Cratchit. His room is described as a “dismal little cell” and a “tank”. Furthermore, all Bob has to warm himself is a fire that looked like “one coal”. However, Bob has remained a loyal worker because this career was the only job he could get and would need it to feed his growing family. Scrooge obviously does not care much about Bob by giving him such a small and uncomfortable office. We can conclude from this that there were not many jobs available in Victorian times and those that did have jobs, were often paid very little and worked in unspeakable situations. Bob is shown to be one of the lucky ones with a job. In this novel, he is used by Dickens to represent the poor.
Scrooge’s nephew, Fred, enters the office in an effort to enlighten Scrooge with the advantages of Christmas but Scrooge simply does not want to know. As Fred speaks, Scrooge continuously uses the words “Good afternoon” to try and get rid of him. It seems as though money is the only thing Scrooge cares about when he keeps arguing against Fred’s view, which is that he does not need money to be happy. Instead of listening to Fred, he tells him to
“Keep Christmas in your own way.”
Fred can clearly be seen to symbolise happiness because even though he is not rich and does not have much to spend, he is still joyful and merry at Christmas time.
In stave one of the novel, two charity workers enter the scene and ask Scrooge to spare some change for the poor at that specific time of year. However, he dismisses them by asking if the prisons and workhouses were still in use. The charity workers try to come back at him by reminding him of the dreadful conditions of these accommodations but all he says is
“Oh, I was afraid that something had occurred to stop them in their usual course”
The poor are living in very deprived conditions. These are shown when Dickens is describing Scrooge near the very start. It is here that Dickens makes the remark that “No beggars implored him to bestow a trifle”. This is Dickens’ way of saying that there were homeless people living on the streets, without disclosing it directly.
“Are there no prisons?” “No Union workhouses?”
Again Dickens is showing us how ignorant some rich people were in the way they didn’t put any effort into helping the poor; they just locked them away in prisons and workhouses. Dickens is also using Scrooge to reject the Malthusian theory by suggesting that it would be absurd to force the rich into the workhouses when the poor would rather die than to live in them.
Jacob Marley, Ebenezer’s employment partner returns to his former colleague on the eve on which he died, seven years later to warn Scrooge about his attitude. Scrooge is shaken and tries to suppress his fear. Dickens has included the ghost in the story because he wants to show that one can change to a pleasant and better person.
The weather is shown to be gloomy and murky. It is foggy beyond belief and exceedingly bitter.
“The fog and darkness thickened so, that people ran out with flaring links”
And
“The ancient tower of a church, whose gruff old bell was always peeping slily down at Scrooge out of a gothic window in the wall, became invisible”
This sums up Scrooge, dark and dull, and sets the scene for the events that are to follow. The weather is essentially used to make the picture mysterious and dismal, and foretells the proceedings in the remainder of the novel.
The second ghost whom we witness is the ghost of Christmas past. Its facial features aren’t quite distinguishable as it looks like a young child and an old man at the same time.
“It was a strange figure – like a child: yet not so like a child as like an old man, viewed through some supernatural medium”
This may be because it resembles memories, which are also distorted and blurry. He shows Scrooge as a child, and Scrooges sheds tears at the sight of himself missing out on the fun, sitting in a corner reading a book.
“Scrooge sat down upon a form, and wept to see his poor forgotten self as he used to be.”
The ghost of Christmas past also manages to show Scrooge his sister and former employer and how nice they are. He is trying to show Scrooge what a real Employer and uncle should act like.
The third ghost that appears is the ghost of Christmas present. This is once again a warning ghost; a ghost who is there to warn Scrooge of what his actions are doing to other people. The ghost of Christmas present takes Scrooge to see other people who are less fortunate than him but still manage to be jolly and enjoy what they have at Christmas time. The spirit accompanies Scrooge to the house of Bob Cratchit, Scrooge’s clerk. Scrooge pays Bob a very low salary but the Cratchit family still manage to enjoy Christmas and make the most of what they do have even though they have a sick son, Tiny Tim, who will most likely die. Scrooge looks at the family, and becomes attached to Tiny Tim, and the fact that he is so ill, has a huge effect on Scrooge. Scrooge was touched in the same way as the reader is by Tiny Tim.
“Even Tiny Tim, excited by the two young Cratchits, beat on the table with the handle of his knife, and feebly cried Hurrah!”
Scrooge wants to know more about Tiny Tim.
“Say he will be spared.”
The Spirit also repeats Scrooge’s words to him that he said to some portly gentlemen collecting for the poor, Scrooge had said
“If he is going to die he’d better hurry up and do it and decrease the surplus population.”
Scrooge feels extremely guilty at having his own words thrown back at him, and he realises he needs to be kinder and give Bob a rise in salary.
The last spirit to visit Scrooge is the Ghost of Christmas yet to come. This spirit is very different to the Ghost of Christmas present. It is much more frightening in manner and appearance and is the genus of ghost you might expect to find in an archetypal ghost story. Like all the other spirits, he is described in tremendous detail, but in a slightly different way to the others. The others were definitely inspiring, but the last one is shrouded in mystery and the classic tension and atmosphere starts to build-up. The spirit is said to be
“shrouded in a deep black garment, which concealed its head, its face, its form, and left nothing of it visible, save one outstretched hand.”
This description portrays the ghost as being gloomy and mysterious. The spirit reveals how things will turn out if Scrooge does not change. He shows Scrooge the death of a young, helpless child, Bob Cratchit’s son, Tiny Tim. He also shows him what things will be like after he dies if he doesn’t change. This ghost shows what people thought of Scrooge too.
“He frightened every one away from him when he was alive, to profit us when he was dead.”
Others were pleased about his death.
“It was a happier house for this man’s death!”
There are some men talking in the street about Scrooge’s death. One said, “What has he done with his money.” “I haven’t heard,” replied the other “Left it to his company, perhaps. He hasn’t left it to me. That’s all I know.” These comments just go to show how much the general public despised Scrooge.
Dickens uses the three spirits to go through his life and show the real Ebenezer Scrooge, not the grumpy, rich and sinful one. He also wants to show that inside every typical rich human being, there is a true person; it just takes something to bring it out.