The next ghost was the ghost of Christmas present, he was clothed in one simple deep green robe, which was bordered with white fur. ‘This garment hung so loosely on the figure, that its capacious breast was bare, as if disdaining to be warded or concealed by any artifice.’ His feet was also bare, and on its head it wore no other covering than a holly wreath with shining icicles. ‘Its dark brown curls were long and free; free as its genial face, its sparkling eye. Its open hand, its cheery voice, its unconstrained demeanour, and its joyful air.’ Around the ghosts middle was an antique scabbard; but there wasn’t a sword in it, and the ancient sheath was eaten up with rust.
The last of the ghosts to meet Scrooge was the ghost of Christmas yet to come. You couldn’t see any of its facial features because ‘it was shrouded in a deep black garment, which concealed its face, its head and its form, and left nothing of it visible, save one outstretched hand.’ Because of this it would have been difficult to detach its figure from the night, and separate it from the darkness by which it was surrounded.
The spectre in the signalman by Charles Dickens isn’t described very well in the story, all we know is that the spectre is a man and he has a sleeve over his arm. His voice was hoarse with shouting ‘halloa, below there!’
In the Christmas carol, Marley is a friendly ghost and he is very nice, he enjoys being in the company of Scrooge, Scrooge says ‘you were always a good friend to me.’ He obviously cares about Scrooge because he wouldn’t have gone there to warn him about the three ghosts and what would happen to him if he kept hating Christmas. Marley was the only true friend Scrooge has had.
The ghost of Christmas past is nice, friendly and reasonable. The ghost cared for Scrooge, he once asked him ‘what’s the matter?’ Even though he is nice and friendly, he forces Scrooge into seeing things that he doesn’t want to see. For example Scrooge says ‘leave me, take me back, haunt me no longer.’ ‘But the relentless ghost pinched him in both arms and forced him to observe what happened next.’
The ghost of Christmas present is a kind and jolly ghost. The ghost and Scrooge were cheerful when they visited homes. ‘The spirit stood besides sickbeds, and they were cheerful and they were patient in their greater hope, by poverty and it was rich.’ The ghost makes Scrooge more relaxed around him, he isn’t frightened, and he is calm in the ghost’s presence. Like the ghost of Christmas past, this spirit is also forceful and makes him see what he doesn’t want to see.
The ghost of Christmas yet to come doesn’t speak at all, this ghost is the one Scrooge is scared of most. ‘Scrooge feared the silent shape so much that his legs trembled beneath him, and he found that he could hardly stand when he prepared to follow it.’ Scrooge is frightened of him the most because he doesn’t know what his personality is like; with the other ghosts they were kind and caring. This ghost just points to places. But when Scrooge saw his grave then he got worried and cried ‘hear me! I am not the man I was, I will not be the man I must have been but for this intercourse. Why show me this if I am past all hope?’
When Marley visits Scrooge, he is scared at first, because he doesn’t know who it is, until the ghost got a bit closer, Scrooge was surprised to see his old friend, when Marley walked off to the window ‘it beckoned Scrooge to approach, which he did. When they were within two paces of each other, Marleys ghost held up its hand, warning him to come no nearer. Scrooge stopped.’ Scrooge stopped not in obedience but in fear. As Marley floated out the window. Scrooge was desperate with curiosity, so he looked out and saw the air was filled with phantoms.
The ghost of Christmas past visits Scrooge, and shows him all his past Christmas’s, Scrooge doesn’t like it at all ‘spirit’ said Scrooge in a broken voice ‘remove me from this place’ Scrooge then cries ‘leave! Take me back haunt me no longer!’ This ghost probably had one of the biggest effects on Scrooge; he didn’t like what the ghost had shown him. It makes him think that he should treat people better. The ghosts took Scrooge back home, and he was exhausted, so he slept.
When the ghost of Christmas present arrives, he takes Scrooge to Bob Cratchits house; Scrooge sees that they are very poor, when there is not a lot on their plates for dinner. He then sees tiny Tim and he asked the spirit ‘tell me if tiny Tim will live.’ The spirit tells him he will die. Scrooge clearly felt sorry for the family, even though they don’t have much they are still happy, this makes Scrooge realise poor people can have fun. The ghost then takes Scrooge to his nephew’s house, there, he plays games and has lots of fun and when the spirit told Scrooge they had to leave, de didn’t want to. Scrooge realises you can have fun, whoever you are. They then leave. When the spirit was about to leave, he showed him two children and tells Scrooge to beware of them. Scrooge was worried, the bell then struck twelve and the ghost left.
The ghost of Christmas yet to come is the one Scrooge feared the most, mainly because he never spoke and you couldn’t see his face. When the spirit showed Scrooge his grave, ‘spirit’ he cried clutching at its robe, ‘hear me, I am not the man I was. I will not be the man I must have been but for this intercourse. Why show me this if I am past all hope?’ Scrooge didn’t want to die, he didn’t want to be hated. After what the spirits had showed him, he wanted to change into a nicer person, he then cried ‘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!’
The spirits definitely changed Scrooge. The next day he woke up and screamed ‘I will live in the past, the present and the future!’ he then sent a turkey to Bob Cratchits house and raised his wages. Then he went to his nephew’s house for Christmas day and they are all shocked to see a happy, nice Scrooge.
In The Signalman by Charles Dickens, the narrator thought that the spectre was strange. The signalman first thought the spectre was the narrator, because they both cried ‘Halloa! Below there.’ This makes the narrator curious to find out whom this spectre is, he wonders why he shouted the same words he did. Then at the end of the story when the signalman is killed by a train, he talks to the man who warned the signalman, the man said he was shouting ‘Below there; look out! For gods sake, clear the way!’ This haunts the narrator and he wonders whether it was a coincidence or not.
The three spirits tried to change Scrooge into a better person, by showing scenes from his past, present and future. Scrooge realised how nasty and selfish he was, when looking through the window at Bob Cratchits house, seeing Bobs crippled son and the small amount of food they eat. The ghosts make Scrooge feel guilty and he changes into a better man. The three ghosts changed Scrooges view on Christmas and now he loves it. The moral of this story is to treat people the way you would want to be treated, not being nasty and selfish all the time like Scrooge, but having fun and being kind to each other. Also people who read this story, could change into a better person, they might realise they are like Scrooge and they will change.
