Another of the morals of A Christmas Carol is how money can make you an outcast from society, and Dickens uses Scrooge as a perfect example to show the reader how egotistic the richer members of Victorian society could be. Dickens describes Scrooge as “A squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping clutching, covetous old sinner!” These past participles reveal that Dickens was trying to make Scrooge sound as tight fisted and miserly as possible. They also reveal that Scrooge never spent any money and was therefore a dreadfully rich man, with no one to share his wealth with, the pile just got bigger and bigger. Scrooge is also described as “Hard and sharp as flint…secret, and self-contained, and solitary as an oyster.” The simile “hard as flint” suggests and unfeeling lonely old man with lots of money but no real wealth in terms of friendship and love. The alliteration used in “…secret, and self-contained, and solitary as an oyster” emphasizes how lonely Scrooge really is , and the simile in that, reveals that, like an oyster, who are hard to break open, he could have a kind heart and be very generous if he wanted to. Scrooge also has a very poor clerk, who he is barely kind to, and he mistreats him, and does not pay him well at all. This is shown to the reader, by Scrooge who “…had a very small fire, but the clerks fire was so very much smaller that it looked like one coal”. Scrooge’s meanness to his clerk is heightened here, as he does not give him enough coal to make a descent fire to keep him warm in the winter months. This simile shows just how small the fire really is. Dickens uses pathetic fallacy to show the reader how the weather agrees with Scrooge and his unhappiness. The wintry imagery such as “…fog and frost so hung about the black old gateway of the house, that it seemed as if the Genius of the Weather sat in mournful meditation on the threshold.” This implies that Scrooge is so cold hearted, that he takes away any warmth there is, wherever he goes, and turns it into cold weather to freeze everyone’s breath so it is permanently cold. Scrooge is again shown to be very mean to people, even his own nephew does not escape his wraith, and he too can not change scrooge into a kind hearted person no matter how hard he tries, and no matter how any time he invites him to join him and his wife for dinner. He even thinks that you can not fall in love or be happy at Christmas. He laughs at his nephew and replies to him after hearing he fell in love, “Because you fell in love! Growled Scrooge, as if that were the only one thing in the world more ridiculous than a merry Christmas.” This reveals that Scrooge does not believe in anything now and thinks his nephew deserves to be in a mental asylum for even considering marriage. The word “growled” suggests animal imagery and vicious animal instincts take over Scrooge. Dickens then again presents Scrooge as a penny-pinching old man, for getting rid of a carol singer, who was only trying to make people a bit happier on Christmas Eve, for example, “at the first sound of “God bless you merry gentleman…” Scrooge seized the ruler with such energy of action, that the singer fled in terror…” From this, it can be seen that Scrooge wants nothing to do with Christmas, and he thinks it is waste of time and money. Scrooge is then reminded of the fiancée he once had, but he lost her when, “Another idol has displaced” her, A golden one”. From this, we can gather that Scrooge was once very happy and did believe in love, but he became too greedy and from loving his fiancée, he started loving money instead, she was replaced by “a golden one” this golden one was his money, that made him forget her and move on.
Another of the moral lessons Dickens teaches the reader in A Christmas Carol is that compassion, love of family and friends and generosity of spirit brings true pleasure, even in the face of hardship. This is taught to the reader, through the use of Scrooge’s visions and experiences with the three spirits. This is shown, when dickens writes about how “…the two young Cratchits hustled Tiny Tim, and bore him off into the wash-house, that he might hear the pudding singing in the copper.” This tells the reader, that although “Tiny Tim” cannot walk properly, the rest of the Cratchits still want to involve him in everything they do. It also shows that even the littlest things can make “…the two young Cratchits” and “Tiny Tim” very excited about Christmas albeit they are very poor, and they have to work together to make it a success. Next, Scrooge’s nephew shows Scrooge kindness, and will not have him criticized by his friends, despite Scrooge’s frostiness. This can be seen, when Scrooge’s nephew says “A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to the old man, whatever he is! ...he wouldn’t take it from me, but may he have it nevertheless. Uncle Scrooge!” From this, it can be seen that even though Scrooge is very unpleasant to his nephew, his nephew still cares for him and tries to make him a better person. Also, there are lots of poorer people than Scrooge who are having a good time over Christmas, while he is very grumpy and unsociable. Even miners who live in houses made of “…mud and stone”, you will find a more “…cheerful company assembled round a fire”. This lets the reader know, that although they are impoverished and live in a rundown house, the miners and their families are more jovial than Scrooge could be at Christmas. Finally, Dickens shows the contrast between Scrooge at the beginning, and Scrooge when the spirits come. From his earlier coldness, to his increasing enthusiasm to the Christmas spirit. At the beginning, it can be seen that Scrooge will only allow his clerk “one coal”, so he can save money. Then when he looks back on the party that Fezziwig had, he says “the happiness he gives is quite as great as if it costs a fortune.” From this, it can be seen that a change is coming over Scrooge, and he would be more willing to spend money on parties if he had friends to invite to them.
Finally, Dickens criticizes and tells off his Victorian reader all the time in A Christmas Carol, for not helping the poor and donating money towards good causes, through the lessons Scrooge is taught. In spite of this, dickens finishes off the novel with a beneficial message for his reader, that there is always still tie to change your ways no matter how bad the sin. One of the ways this is done is to show Scrooge’s newfound humility, and his desire to be educated. This can be seen, in the way Scrooge talks to the third specter. He says to the spirit, “… lead on! The night is waning fast, and it is precious time to me, I know. Lead on, Spirit!” The way in which Scrooge values his time on the earth can be seen, when he repeats the words like “Lead on” shows how impatient he is to go back and change his ways for the better. Also, the use of exclamation marks show his irritation at not moving on, showing he already regretting his past mistakes. Next, Scrooge is shown what will become of him and his belongings when he dies, if he does not change his ways for the better, and the lack of grief shown by people in London. The laundry woman is shown to go into his house, while he is on deaths door, and take his bead curtains and clothes from him. The people he used to work with sometimes also showed lack of grief at his death, and would only got to the funeral if food was served for them. Lastly, the people who owed money to him were also very happy, that he was dead, as they would not have to pay back the money that they borrowed off him. As of these revelations, Scrooge has clearly been affected in a bad way; he is shown to be distressed from his reaction to the visions. He is so scared, that he says to the Spirit, “I will honour Christmas in my heart and try to keep it all the year…The spirits of all three shall strive within me. I will not shut out the lessons that they teach. Oh tell e that I ay sponge away the writing on this stone!” From this, the reader can establish, that Scrooge at this point really is desperate to change his ways, and make a better person of himself, so he will not end up like this. Words like “I will honour” and Keep it all the year” show how determined he really is, to change. In addition, Scrooge’s change of heart is made clear by his demeanor on Christmas morning. He is shown to be extremely happy, after the visits from the three spirits. He wakes up “And the bedpost was his own. The bed was his own, the room was his own. Best and happiest of all, the time before hi was his own, to make amends in!”” This reveals straight away that he has had a change of heart, and is looking forward to making atonement for his past cruelty and heartlessness for not giving to charity. He also takes to complimenting people in his mind, like the little “delightful boy”, who was “a pleasure to talk to”. This truly shows just how much Scrooge has improved, as before he was threatening carol singers if they didn’t leave, but now he is complimenting a boy for telling him what day it is. Dickens makes it clear, how Scrooge changes his ways, and is happier for it, by saying “His own heart laughed; and that was quite enough for him.” This shows that Scrooge is having a good Christmas, and is happier for it. It also tells us that just by having fun at Christmas can change how a person views life and how much they enjoy it.
In conclusion, this novel shows how Dickens uses the novel to show all the short comings in his society. He can be seen as a social critic, who promoted more charitable behavior to his Victorian reader, who would have learned how bad life was for the poor, through Scrooge’s experiences. Dickens ends with a positive note for everyone, when he says “it was always said that he knew how to keep Christmas well, if any man alive possessed the knowledge. May that be truly said of us, and all of us!” Fro this, we can establish that Dickens really wrote this book, as a lesson to the rich in society who neglected their duty to the poor, which was to help those less fortunate than themselves.