In this sketch we should note that Scrooge is a caricature but represents very real tendencies. I have first hand experience of how harsh debt could be, working from childhood to assist his own "struggling family", my father having been sent to the Marshalsea, a debtors' prison in Southwark in 1824.
The Cratchits seem to be happy despite their condition and poverty, while Scrooge seems to get unhappier the more money he gets. So, as the Cratchits are poor, they are happy, but as a very rich man Scrooge is bitter and miserable. This serves to show us that money cannot bring real happiness, the deep down emotion that is powerful enough to bind families together whatever their circumstances.
The most important themes of the story are stated more or less clearly by characters in it. The first of these might be Marley's saying, "Business...Mankind was my business”. Where Scrooge sees business in the familiar sense of trade and finance, Marley now sees that one's "business" is what one should do in life, duty or obligation. Mankind is or was not just Marley's business of course, but Scrooge's business, your business and mine, in fact, everyone's.
Scrooge's unkind remark that poor people should die and " reduce the surplus population " brings us to another theme of the story. When Scrooge asks if Tiny Tim will die he is reminded of these words. Why? Because the "surplus population" is not an abstraction but real individuals. Scrooge is told by the Ghost of Christmas Present to find out " What the surplus is”, and “Where it is" before making such statements. This drives home to Scrooge that he could be one of the surplus population, as could Tiny Tim or indeed any one of us.
I choose to illustrate an old person to show that no one is too set in his or her ways to change, and that change is possible even late in life. This man who was shown to be a “covetous old sinner” at the beginning of the story has become “as good a friend, as good a master, and as good a man, as the good old city knew, or any other good old city, town, or borough, in the good old world.” Therefore we see the complete change of character that the Christmas spirit has had on Scrooge, and this forwards a message to my readers that all of us can change for the better if only we let the magic of Christmas work.
The three spirits and Marley are unusual in that Scrooge listens to them. At first he resists, but he rapidly learns not to oppose them. Where Marley is grotesquely comic, the first spirit is gentle and pitying, the second hearty and authoritative, and the third silently persuasive. I deem that the last spirit is the most overwhelming and powerful, because of his silence and ominous omniscience.
We are moved by Tiny Tim's courage and cheerfulness, in spite of his poverty and disability. In the next chapter we are moved again by the way the rest of the family comfort each other and remember the child. The scene is unashamedly sentimental but very moving. Happily, I can offer my readers the reassurance that Tiny Tim does not die, and I give him the last words in the novel.
Like many of my novels, A Christmas Carol is set mainly in London some time in the middle of the 19th century. I prefer to set my stories in London, the heart of England, because I believe that England can only be as good as its capital, and we must all work together to make London a cleaner, more charitable and hospitable place. This move must start from within our own homes, and then extend to the world.
We see into the homes of Fred, the Cratchits, Belle and Caroline. In stave three the story leaves London for a barren moor, a lighthouse and a ship at sea, while Scrooge's boarding school (stave two) is in a "little market-town" complete with a "church and winding river". I have tried to take my readers to different scenery and scenarios in order that they may observe celebrations amongst different people and in different ways.
Another theme is that change is possible however set we are in our ways. I imagine the most miserable and hard-hearted man I can, and show how he can be reformed if he sees his responsibilities. Of course this transformation is not easy, and it did take a total of four supernatural media to convince Scrooge, but the majority of people are not as set as Scrooge so to a lesser degree they can change also without some supernatural interference.
In many situations the spirits do not tell Scrooge why he is in the wrong, but let him see it for himself. The first two spirits especially do this. The Ghost of Christmas Past argues albeit ironically that Mr. Fezziwig has done nothing special, causing Scrooge to praise his generosity. And the Ghost of Christmas Present quotes Scrooge's own earlier words so that Scrooge can see why they are wrong. Elsewhere, of course, this ghost and Marley's, do tell Scrooge why he is wrong.
An important symbol in A Christmas Carol appears in stave one, where Marley is weighed down by a massive chain, and tells Scrooge he has an even longer chain: it was as long as Marley's seven years ago, and he has "laboured on it since" This chain, made up of cash-boxes, padlocks, purses and business documents, represents Scrooge's achievement in life - earning money which weighs down his spirit. We understand that all the hard work and penny pinching that Marley employed during his life now haunts him during his death, and he warns Scrooge that his chain will be must greater, for he has laboured longer and at a greater pace.
At the end of stave three, Scrooge sees under the robe of the Ghost of Christmas Present, two children, whose names show that they are symbols: Ignorance and Want. I deem that a lack of education and extreme poverty makes it impossible for anyone to have a good life, and I have endeavoured to make this as clear as possible. Of the two, the Ghost tells Scrooge to beware the boy " most of all" because ignorance allows poverty to continue. I hope for this message to be taken in by my readers as they read this, and do something to change the social conditions in our present-day social conditions.
Once again, thank you for publishing for me and I hope that my story, A Christmas Carol, may bring happiness and enlightenment on many a reader.
Yours truly,
Mr Charles Dickens
