Dickens also uses the contrast with the character Fred (Scrooge’s nephew) to show Scrooge’s personality. For example, when Fred says to Scrooge, “Christmas a humbug, uncle! … You don't mean that, I am sure?" it shows that he is friendly and cheerful. The exclamation mark emphasises Fred’s surprise that someone thinks Christmas is a “humbug”. However, when Scrooge replies, saying, " What right have you to be merry? What reason have you to be merry? You're poor enough.” it shows he is selfish, greedy and doesn’t like having fun. The dialogue shows the very different opinions Scrooge and Fred have, not only about Christmas, but about life, which are at opposite ends of the scale. Scrooge’s attitude towards Christmas is also shown in this dialogue. Scrooge thinks Christmas is an unnecessary expense.
Scrooge’s attitude toward charity is revealed when he refuses to give money to a man collecting for the poor. For instance, Scrooge says “I don't make merry myself at Christmas and I can't afford to make idle people merry” which shows that Scrooge thinks poor people are “idle” and that it is their choice to be poor. He has no sympathy for poor people he only helps to support “prisons”, “workhouses”, “The Treadmill” and “the Poor Law” by paying his taxes.
The description of Scrooge’s house emphasises that Scrooge is isolated from society, he is miserable and he never spends money on himself. For example, “They were a gloomy suite of rooms, in a lowering pile of building up a yard, where it had so little business to be”. Dickens uses personification here to make the description of Scrooges more unsettling. It emphasises the fact that it is isolated and doesn’t fit in. This shows that he doesn’t get any pleasure from the money he has. He says he won’t give money away because he doesn’t use it for his own enjoyment and it is proved in the description of his house.
At the beginning of the story, the reader’s overall opinion of Scrooge is that he is a grumpy businessman who is stingy with money. The reader feels no sympathy for him. Dickens is trying to convey the message that if Scrooge can change then anyone can change.
Scrooge is then visited by the ghost of his old business partner, Jacob Marley. Dickens has made the ghost of Marley a conventional ghost which is there to scare the reader. Marley’s ghost is being punished after death because he treated people badly in his life. Marley’s ghost says that he “ is doomed to wander through the world… … …and witness what it cannot share, but might have shared on earth, and turned to happiness!" He has come to tell Scrooge that the same fate is awaiting him if he does not change. Scrooge doesn’t understand that Marley has done anything wrong and he thinks that if you are a good businessman then you are good person. Marley’s ghost replies saying how helping others should have been his business. He says, “Mankind was my business. The common welfare was my business; charity, mercy, forbearance, and benevolence, were, all, my business. The dealings of my trade were but a drop of water in the comprehensive ocean of my business”. He explains to Scrooge that being kind to others should be more important to him than making money and his business. He then explains to Scrooge that three spirits will visit him over the next three nights. Dickens chooses to use the ghost of Marley to visits Scrooge because in life Marley was very similar to the way Scrooge is now. He was also not charitable and only cared about money. In using Marley, Scrooge is able to see that the same fate will definitely happen to him if he does not change.
The first of the three spirits is described “like a child: yet not so like a child as like an old man, viewed through some supernatural medium, which gave him the appearance of having receded from the view, and being diminished to a child's proportions.” The language used intrigues and interests the reader because it is unusual for something to be young and old, wise and child like at the same time. The ghost is portrayed like this because it is created from both Scrooge’s youth and old age. The Ghost of Christmas Past is brought to Scrooge in order for him to realise what his life used to be like.
Scrooge is reminded of the good things in life when he sees himself as a boy. However, although Scrooge had some good times, even as a young boy he was left out and rejected by his friends. This makes the reader feel sorry for Scrooge as a boy as they begin to understand why Scrooge isolates himself from society. It is different from our previous feelings towards Scrooge because at the beginning of the book we had no sympathy for him.
After Scrooge saw what he was like as a boy, the reader can tell that it moved Scrooge by his reactions to it. At first he pitied his former self by saying “Poor boy!” He then already begins to regret things he has recently done. For example, Scrooge says “There was a boy singing a Christmas Carol at my door last night. I should like to have given him something”. This shows the reader that Scrooge starts to realise that he needs to change. In writing about how Scrooge now wants to give to others, Dickens is trying to change the attitudes of the reader to be more generous towards their fellow human beings.
The ghost then shows Scrooge himself when he was older and working as an apprentice for his employer called Fezziwig. The ghost shows Scrooge a Christmas party that Fezziwig had arranged. Scrooge remembers how much he enjoyed the party and appreciated Fezziwig’s kindness, even though it did not cost much money. Scrooge says, “The happiness he gives, is quite as great as if it cost a fortune.” This shows Scrooge how he and Fezziwig are very different employers. Scrooge begins to wish that he is more like Fezziwig. He regrets the way he has treated his clerk and he says, “I should like to be able to say a word or two to my clerk just now.” Dickens is trying to show to the reader through Scrooge’s experience that being kind towards your employees is more rewarding than saving a bit more money.
The second spirit (Christmas present) is showing different examples of people celebrating Christmas. The ghost shows Scrooge Christmas Day at the home of Bob Cratchit, Scrooge’s clerk. Although the family does not have much money, they still enjoy a great day. The Christmas goose was admired for “Its tenderness and flavour, size and cheapness”. Dickens is trying to communicate the message to the reader that even the worst off people still celebrate and share Christmas. You don’t have to be rich in order to enjoy Christmas. The ghost shows Scrooge how everyone, wherever they live and however poor they are, still celebrate Christmas.
The ghost also concerns Scrooge that if nothing is done to help Tiny Tim in the future then he will die.
The ghost shows Scrooge a boy and girl who are suffering from neglect. The boy represents “Ignorance” and the girl represents “Want”. The ghost tells Scrooge to “Beware them”. Dickens chose for the ghost to warn Scrooge of ignorance and want because he believes that they were the main reasons why there was such a big divide between rich and poor. Scrooge is appalled by what he sees and asks the ghost if there is anywhere that the children could go and be safe. The ghost replies by repeating the words Scrooge had previously said to a man collecting money for the poor. He said, “Are there no prisons?” “Are there no workhouses?” This makes Scrooge feel bad for his previous ignorance and makes him regret not giving any money to the poor. Dickens is telling the reader that if they don’t want to see people suffering, then they need to change conditions in their society.
The third spirit is the Ghost of Christmas Future. The ghost is more sinister and Scrooge fears it the most. The spirit is “shrouded in a deep black garment, which concealed its head, its face, its form, and left nothing of it visible save one outstretched hand”. The ghost is dark and sinister because we all fear the future because it is uncertain. The ghost shows Scrooge people talking about someone who has died. The people don’t care about him and aren’t at all sorry that he has died. People are selling his personal belongings, even his best shirt they were going to bury him in. They aren’t bothered at all about stealing from him. One of them says, “He frightened every one away from him when he was alive, to profit us when he was dead! Ha, ha, ha!” This highlights that no one liked the dead person when he was alive and they aren’t sorry when he is dead.
The ghost then takes him to a family who are relieved when they find out the person is dead because they owe him money. They are relived because the new person taking over the debt would not be “so merciless a creditor”. The ghost could not find Scrooge anyone who felt sad about this person’s death, “The only emotion that the Ghost could show him, caused by the event, was one of pleasure.” This emphasises that the person must have been very mean during life to have no one caring about him in death.
The spirit also shows Scrooge the Cratchit family who are mourning over the death of Tiny Tim. Dickens has included this to show the very contrasting ways in which people have reacted to the two different people’s deaths. People don’t really care about the man who died, however Tiny Tim has all of his family around who are very upset about his death.
The stave ends when it is then revealed to Scrooge that the man the spirit has shown him is himself. Scrooge discovers this when he sees his own name on the gravestone. Scrooge is horrified at first, but he is then comforted slightly by the thought that if he changes, then the future that he has seen will also change. Scrooge says, “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.” This convinces the reader that Scrooge really will change and it makes them want to read on to see what he does to make amends.
After the three spirits have visited, Scrooge wakes up and realises that he can change his future. This is shown when Scrooge is happy that “the Time before him was his own, to make amends in!” This tells the audience that Scrooge really has changed and it makes them interested to find out how Scrooge is going to put things right.
Scrooge’s actions in the final stave show the reader that Scrooge has changed. For example he buys the Cratchits a large turkey. When he pays for the turkey Dickens has repeated the word ”chuckle” many times in the same paragraph. This emphasises the pleasure Scrooge is getting from giving the turkey away to the Cratchits.
Dickens also shows that Scrooge has changed by the way he makes up with his nephew Fred, he gives Bob Cratchit a raise, helps look after Tiny Tim and he does many other things. Dickens also shows the way in which Scrooge has become a lot happier from helping other people. Dickens does this to change the elitist beliefs of the Victorian people that everyone is an island and you only take care of yourself. Dickens wants them to have the socialist belief that we are responsible for the community around us. Dickens makes the Victorians think that if they help others around them then they will become happy like Scrooge is at the end of the book.
The message Dickens is giving the reader is that he is telling us to be the same as Scrooge is at the end of the book. For example, towards the end of the book it says, “May that be truly said of us, and all of us!” This quote is referring to Scrooge’s actions in the last stave as it tells us to act in the same way as Scrooge.
In conclusion, in writing the book “A Christmas Carol”, through Scrooge’s experiences, Dickens has encouraged his readers to alter their moral and social conscience towards the poor to become more charitable and caring. Dickens has ensured that this story has a strong impact on his readers by making the character Scrooge change from one extreme of being mean and stingy with money to the other extreme where he is charitable and kind. When Scrooge goes through his experiences the reader also feels the same experiences. At the end of the book when Scrooge is happy and becomes very generous towards the poor, the reader also wants to be generous towards the poor. Dickens is so effective in creating a strong impact on the reader in the book that “A Christmas Carol” is still popular today.