Scrooge sees the Ghost of Marley when he ventures home. But there is something not quite right he is wearing chains, the ghost speaks “I wear the chains I forged in life, I made it link by link yard by yard; girded it on of my own free will and of my own free will wore it.” This shows Scrooge has chosen to live that certain type of life explained by Marley. The chains represent lack of freedom, completed by his own making. The spirit of Marley is made to walk the world because of the chain made link by link.
Overall we can see that Scrooge is an enraged character. All of the quotations show that he is a very against people being happy and has no heart or forgiveness for anyone. His behaviour is being described in such a way in Stave 1 because the reader needs to know why Scrooge doesn’t support Christmas time or like anybody around him. They need to know why Scrooge acts in this manner towards people with such a challenging attitude.
This is showing the reader that Victorian society was a very unhappy and unthoughtful period of time throughout history. It was a very tight era to live in. With unclean streets to crowded housing it wasn’t the most appetizing place to be, or nevertheless to do anything either. An example of this can be said that employer’s treatment of staff was very poor. Business and work were very difficult jobs to undertake, many people still had little pay and sometimes it wasn’t enough even to bring up there family. Millions of workers lived in slums or in vacated old decaying upper class houses. The occupants of slums had no sanitation, no water supply, no paved streets, no schools, no law or order, no decent food or new clothing. Many now had to walk miles to mill or factory work, whereas before they had frequently lived in the house or near land where they did their work. Their hours of work began at 5.30.a.m.and were never less than ten.
Marley is the deceased business partner of Ebenezer Scrooge. He became to realize how wrong he had been in life. He also saw that Scrooge, his only friend in the world, was following the same path. Marley was able to procure a chance to help Scrooge avoid this fate by arranging the visitations of the of , , and . Marley appeared to Scrooge and told him of the forthcoming visits by the three spirits of Christmas. These spirits, Marley told Scrooge, were the only chance Scrooge had for redemption. The ghosts represent light and goodness. Light is repeated many times in Stave 2 referring to the Ghost. “Would you so soon put out, with the worldly hands, the light I give? Is it not enough that you are one of those whose passions made this cap and forced me through whole trains of years to wear it low upon my brow.”
The Ghost of Christmas Past was the first of the three spirits (after the visitation by ) that haunted the miser in order to prompt him to repent. It showed him scenes from his youth, that occurred on or around Christmas, in order to demonstrate to him the necessity of changing his ways, as well as to show the reader how Scrooge came to be the person he would become. The Ghost of Christmas Past appears to Scrooge as a white-robed figure of indeterminate age. It had on its head a blazing light, reminiscent of a flame. It carried with it a metal cap, made in the shape of a extinguisher. Scrooge is reminded by his sister and her goodness towards him. This links back to Stave 1 when Scrooge rejected his nephew’s invitation. But she still has love towards Scrooge, “dear, dear” is also used as repetition. Scrooge is also told that the party organized by Fezziwig did not cost a great deal of money. But Scrooge finds out that money is not the important thing from this experience. There is also a discussion about Scrooge’s break up with his fiancé Belle. We find out that Scrooges focused too much on money. She releases their contract as it is an old one. “It was made when we were both poor and content to be so, until, in good season, we could improve our worldly fortune by our patient industry. You are changed. When it was made, you were another man.” Overall the purpose for the ghost is to warn Scrooge of his cruel ways and to correct these mistakes. The Ghost is showing Scrooge instances of the Past which journey into some of the happiest and saddest moments of his life. Some of these include: the mistreatment of Scrooge by his uncaring father (who did not allow his son to return home from , not even at Christmas), the loss of a great love sacrificed for his devotion to business and the death of his sister, the only other person who ever showed love and compassion for him. Unable to stand these painful memories and his growing regret of them, Scrooge covers the spirit with the large it carries and he is returned to his room, where he falls asleep.
The second spirit is the Ghost of Christmas Present. He is dressed in a green robe and surrounded by piles of food. This spirit shows Scrooge how Christmas is celebrated by his clerk's family, by strangers near and far, and by his nephew, Fred. The spirit carries a torch and everywhere it goes this torch sprinkles incense or water on people and makes them become compassionate towards each other. Scrooge has never been to Bob Cratchitts house. Here he sees how the Cratchitts, despite being very poor, can be very happy at Christmas. Bob and Mrs. Crachitt struggle dearly as their family is considerably large: there are six children (including one child name Tiny Tim.) Scrooge is shown how frail Tiny Tim is, and questions the Spirit if he will live. The ghost tells him that unless something changes in the future, the child will die. When Scrooge protests he is reminded of his words earlier, "If he be like to die he had better do it and decrease the surplus population".
The ghost takes Scrooge to places outside London: he sees a family of miners in a hut on a barren moor, two lighthouse keepers and sailors on a ship: all know what day it is and they celebrate it as far as they can. All of them are made more aware of other people and feel more kindly towards them because it is Christmas. Fred (Scrooge's nephew) is having a party, and Scrooge is brought by the spirit to see and hear it. Scrooge's nephew explains that Scrooge is to be pitied, not despised. He is rich but his money does him no good, and, as Fred says, “his offences carry their own punishment”. The guests play a guessing game, to find the identity of a thing, in which questions can be answered only with Yes and No. Everyone is amused when Fred's wife's sister guesses that the mystery object is Scrooge. The chapter has a strange ending. The spirit ages and shrinks as midnight draws near (because he lives for, and represents, one year only - he has had more than eighteen hundred brothers). Now Scrooge sees, under its robe, two horribly dirty and ugly children. The ghost tells him that they are not his but “man’s” and that “This boy is Ignorance this girl is Want”. Scrooge is told to beware of them both. When he asks if nothing can be done to help them the ghost again quotes his earlier words: “Are there no prisons? Are there no work-houses”. The impression we are given the way people live are that they are very poor and have little money. They live in small houses and children mostly sent away to boarding schools where it is very restricted in what you do. Work is completed late and workers never get any days off.
The ambiance in Stave 4 is very overwrought and is bounded in mystery. The final and third Ghost visits Scrooge that night, we are told “It was shrouded in a deep black garment, which concealed its head, its face, its form, and left nothing visible save one outstretched hand”. We can see from that quotation that this Ghost is a dark and somewhat of a phantom. The darkness could be a clue that something bad is going to happen. We are puzzled by a group of wealthy men, discussing someone who has died. This person seems very unpopular. In another poor and squalid part of London a pawn-broker, Old Joe, buys stolen property from three people: a laundrywoman a charwoman and an undertaker's assistant. All these poor people have taken things from the dead man - even the curtains from his bed and the shirt off his back. Scrooge asks to see some "emotion caused by this man's death". He sees two scenes. First, a young couple who owed the man money. The wife fears they are ruined but her husband says there is hope now their creditor is dead. The debt will be transferred to someone else, but no-one else could be as merciless as the man who has died. Next Scrooge returns with the ghost to the Cratchitts' home. They too are talking about death and preparing for a funeral. They all try hard to comfort and support each other. It becomes clear that they are grieving for Tiny Tim, who has died. He is to be buried in a beautiful green churchyard. Bob comes home from work and goes to sit with his son, who has obviously only just died. Scrooge is horrified but still has to learn the identity of the mysterious dead man. He is shown to an ugly churchyard “overrun by grass and weeds” in the town, and here sees on the gravestone his own name. He realizes that he is the man about whom the others were talking about. The main theme that is being explored are in Stave 4 is ‘Death’. Firstly the reader should notice the description of the third Ghost, it is said how dark this creature is, and it never shows its face at any time. Another time this shown is when Tiny Tim has passed away, death playing a part once again. Overall Stave 4 explores the final straw for Scrooge; it is showing how his future is going to be set out. But at the same time he can still change it. The four ghosts are all described differently. They all help to change Scrooge into a nicer person. The ghosts all act disparately and look disparately.
Scrooge has a different effect on each one of the ghosts, two of the ghosts he
likes and one of the ghosts he dislikes. Scrooge is also treated dissimilar, some ghosts care for him, and others are forceful.
Scrooge changes his life enormously by reverting to generosity. He turns back to the kind-hearted soul he was in his youth before the death of his sister. Though the first two spirits tell Scrooge some information about himself, he sees most for himself. His own statements and feelings are the biggest clue to his changing attitude. He also has the unusual experience of seeing himself as others see him. He repeatedly makes connections. Seeing himself as a small boy he thinks of the carol singer outside his door. When he sees his sister, Fan, he thinks of how harsh he has been to her son. But most of all he is affected by the sight of the person he is most able to help, Tiny Tim. Until the visit of the second spirit, Scrooge has not even known of the child's existence.
I feel the purpose of the book was to try and change Victorian society and to make people realise these attitudes. Dickens did not try and lecture Victorian society but wanted to raise within society a new level of consciousness. The use of ghosts was idyllic for Dickens to try and change this society. He used different times and places to pin-point out what was wrong with the society and how people should try and change it. An ingenious method for an ingenious writer, Charles Dickens has a very wide knowledge of how to make the reader realise the problems of daily lives in there society. Overall the book has been a fantastic one to read, everyone has enjoyed it to an extent.
