Even before the arrival of Marley’s ghost, the atmosphere is fairly tense. Dickens describes Scrooge as a thoroughly unhappy person. Scrooge ‘took his melancholy dinner in his usual melancholy tavern.’ This means that Scrooge is already in a low spirit. Scrooge then passes the yard, which the writer describes as, ‘so dark, that even Scrooge who knew its every stone was afraid to grope with his hands,’ he then approaches the door of his apartment; there he suddenly comes face to face with Marley. At first, he could not believe his eyes and thinks it is some kind of hallucination. Can it really be Marley? But he is not ‘dead as a door nail.’ When he enters his house, he checks the back of the door knocker, but could not find anything, apart from the bolts that held the door knocker in place. He shakes his head and runs up the stairs. He double locks his door to his room and is about to take the gruel for his cold. When, at that moment, he senses a chill blowing through the rooms and the papers start to fly around. His apartment is described as a ‘gloomy suite of rooms’ which are ‘old’ and ‘dreary.’ The wind gets stronger, the clock strikes and the disused bell rings. The door to his room flings open, Marley’s ghost, dressed in chains, appears and stood in front of him. Instantly, Scrooge receives a terrific shock and he screams. He kneels down before Marley and wants to know what the deceased has come here for. The arrival of Marley’s ghost may scare young readers, but it definitely makes us realise that material wealth is not everything on earth, because it helps to increase our burden in the life thereafter, ( the life to come after resurrection ). This gives Scrooge a sense of realisation about his bad nature and persuades him to make a change before it is too late. Although Scrooge is dumbfounded with fear, this visit makes him think back of all the bad things he has done to the community.
STAVE TWO, THE FIRST OF THE THREE SPIRITS
During Marley’s visit, Scrooge is told that he will have the visit of three spirits. The first spirit, called The ghost of Christmas Past, comes on the same night. The first spirit is described as a strange figure, it is old, but its look is like that of a child. It also has a ray of light shining from its head. This spirit takes Scrooge into his past. Within seconds, he comes to the place where he used to live in his childhood. There, he sees himself in his old school. He is neglected by his friends. His sister comes to collect him home and promises that he will never need to go back there. Next, the spirit takes him to his old work place- The Fezziwig. His boss, Mr Fezziwig is a different character. Contrary to what become Scrooge, his boss is a jovial, kind-hearted and generous person. As an apprentice, Scrooge could have easily been influenced by this happy and kind-hearted man and treats his clerk, Bob Crachit better. Instead, he turns out to be an opposite character. The spirit then takes him to his sister’s deathbed. She is very weak as she gives birth to Fred, (Scrooge’s nephew). She tells him to take good care of her child after her death. She dies very shortly in Scrooge’s arms, but he can not bear the shadows of death anymore. He starts to cry and begs the ghost to take him back to the present. However, he is told by the spirit that he will have to visit one more shadow. The last place where the spirit takes him is to his sweetheart, Belle. She is a woman who is very fond of Scrooge; but she leaves him because his lust for money eclipses his ability to love others. This scene shows us that money has an overwhelming power to destroy love and everything around you- even your family. Overall, this stave shows that the attitude of Scrooge is changing and that his character is undergoing a gradual metamorphosis.
STAVE THREE, THE SECOND OF THE THREE SPIRITS
The imperceptible changes in Scrooge’s attitude are becoming gradually pronounced when he visits the Crachit’s house and his nephew’s Christmas party during the second journey of shadows. This journey’s guide is by another spirit, The Ghost of Christmas Present. Unlike the previous spirit, this one is a majestic giant which wears a green fur robe. The spirit takes Scrooge to a number of places where people are happy with the little money they have. He takes Scrooge through London to unveil Christmas as it will happen that year. Firstly, they come to a London street: the air is cold but everybody is gleefully helping to shove snow from the pavements, and all the shops are close for Christmas. Secondly, they arrive at the Crachit’s house. Even though the family is poor, they are still contented and are preparing a miniature feast in their small home. In this scene, he sees Bob Crachit’s son, Tiny Tim. This boy is on crutches. Scrooge is told that Tiny Tim will die in the near future if no help is given. This shocks Scrooge, because Tiny Tim is such a nice humble boy. His kindness and humility warms Scrooge’s heart. He begins to realise that the condition of the house and suffering of Tiny Tim is caused by himself because he is not paying Mr Crachit enough. Mr Crachit is unable to get medical attention for his son. Next, the ghost takes Scrooge to a place where miners live. Although they are suffering from lack of money, they are still very contented with the very little things they have. They celebrate Christmas by singing Christmas hymns. Afterward, they come to the keepers of the lighthouse and a ship at the sea. There, Scrooge sees happiness amongst the people, especially the sailors. They are wishing each other a merry Christmas and hope to see their families back on shore. They also remind each other about the festive season and shares the good time by humming a tune. The next shadow which Scrooge and the spirit visit is his nephew. There, he witnesses a Christmas party. Scrooge finds the happy gathering very delightful. He pleads the ghost to stay until the end of the party. While they are still there, the spirit reminds Scrooge of his youth. Now he feels remorse: he wished that he had paid more attention to his kind-hearted nephew. The final places that Scrooge visits are the sick beds, foreign lands, almshouses, hospitals and jails. In the sick beds, everybody is cheerful, despite the fact that they are sick. In the other places, the people are happy. Everybody celebrates Christmas at this time of the year, and this brings people together in the true holiday spirit. In the final moment, the spirit produces two children from his robe,- a boy and a girl. The boy symbolises doom, meaning that ‘ignorance,’ written on his brow, is the doom of society. The girl represents want. Scrooge is told that unless something is done, the society will remain in eternal darkness. The whole idea of this stave informs us that Christmas is a time of happiness. This visit makes Scrooge realise how selfish he has been, and that love and friendship are required for happiness, not money. The Ghost of Christmas Present symbolises the many opportunities to care for others. He also symbolises the world. That is why the ghost displays the abundance that is slowly dying. He also represents charity, empathy and the Christmas spirit.
STAVE FOUR, THE LAST OF THE SPIRITS
In this stave, the spirit takes Scrooge on the final trip of shadows. He is called The Ghost of Christmas Yet To Come. This set of shadows is probably the most important one for Scrooge’s rapid change of character because they have shown what his future will be like (when he is dead). The scene set for this stave is tense, scary and dark. The ghost looks more frightening than the previous two because its figure is shrouded in black garment and he does not speak at all, this is because the future is yet unknown and it is not under our control- we cannot guess what will happen. All communications between the spirit and Scrooge is mostly by means of gestures. It is Scrooge who speaks to the spirit and implores him to lead. When he enters the world of shadows, he finds, to his dismay where his future lies. Now, Scrooge can perceive that if he does not change his attitude, he will have to force dire consequences in afterlife. In other words, ‘Death’ welcomes him. He sees that after his death, his neighbours show no respect and no one grieve for him. They bereft him of all his money and belongings. As for his funeral, they just settle for a very cheap one. Their only interest in attending Scrooge’s funeral is for free lunch. The spirit and Scrooge come to places which Scrooge has never seen in his lifetime and listen to people, whom he has never met or heard before. At last, he comes to know the profound truth only in the shadows of his death. During his journey to the future, he also goes to the Crachit’s family. There, he sees the little Crachits sitting by the corner. They are very still and quiet whilst Peter reads the part of the bible for the mourning of Tiny Tim’s death. The book also hints that no scene ‘touches the heart more than the death of Tiny Tim.’ The phantom then takes Scrooge to a churchyard. There, he sees his own name on a headstone. He is totally shocked out of action when the spirit points to the grave and back at him repeatedly while waving his arm. Scrooge cries that he is not that person in the tomb, and promises to honour Christmas in the past, present and future. He begs the spirit to tell him that the shadows will not be real in the future. He informs the spirit that he will not forget the lessons the three spirits has taught him. The spirit prays for Scrooge to have his fate reversed. The spirit disappears into the bedpost and Scrooge is in his room. Overall, this stave tells us that Scrooge has totally changed his attitude. The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come symbolises the fear of death. Scrooge fears death in this stave because his afterlife will be a punishment, not a reward. After this stave, Scrooge realises that his future will depend on the way he acts on earth. He also accepts the idea of Christmas, this is emotionally connected to the kindness of Tiny Tim. Scrooge, acting as a second father, adopts Tiny Tim towards the end of the story because he feels sorry for the boy’s suffering.
STAVE FIVE, THE END OF IT
After The Ghost of Christmas Yet To Come disappears into the bedpost, Scrooge wakes up. Realising that it is still Christmas Day, he prances about with joy and is overwhelmed with happiness at the thought of having a chance to redeem himself. He is so happy that he does not know what to do at first. Dickens describes him ‘as happy as an angel and as merry as a schoolboy...’ He scrambles out of bed and exclaims that he will live in the Past, Present and Future. He also prays to his deceased partner, Jacob Marley, that the three spirits shall strive within him. His behaviour in that morning is so unusual that one could describe him as a mad person. He goes into different parts of the house pointing out what has happened in that very place in the previous night. Also, he is so desperate to share his newly found Christmas spirit that he does not realise he is saying hello to everybody. He promptly purchases a giant turkey for the Crachits in the same morning. Later he attends his nephew’s Christmas dinner party. As his former self hated Christmas, all the guests are very surprised by his presence, even his nephew. He sees his nephew’s wife and accepts her. The next day, Scrooge goes back to his office very early. He tries to catch Bob Crachit arriving late to work as so to make a joke out of it. Scrooge raises Bob’s salary and helps his struggling family, especially Tiny Tim. He adopts Tiny Tim and acts as a second father for the latter. Ever since, Scrooge has kept his Christmas promise and had totally reformed his character by changing from his wicked, negative personality into a positive, kind and welcoming person. He has also stopped using anti-Christian terms when speaking. He has become nice to the poor and is very willing to help. He has learnt that money is not as important as loyalty, friendship and happiness, therefore he makes up with this nephew and offers charity as from now on.
CONCLUSION
The moral of this story is that generosity and happiness come first, not money. Also, Dickens is trying to put forward the idea of Christianity which is all about love and commitment. He is telling us that we must be kind to others, and he also makes us understand that if we are doing wrong, we will pay for it sometimes in our life. In other words, you reap what you saw.
