Scrooge’s house is also very cold and dark, and the reader notices this when Scrooge puts on his fire. It is described as, “A very low fire indeed,” showing how Scrooge doesn’t feel the cold as much because of the cold and bitterness inside him. This cold image of Scrooge is contrasted with the people outside, “Warming their hands and blinking their eyes before the blaze,” this shows that everyone else is helping each other stay warm in the cold. Everyone is huddling together, whereas Scrooge is all alone in his house with nothing except a small fire to keep him warm.
The weather in ‘A Christmas Carol’ reflects Scrooges mind and feelings. In the first Stave, the weather is described as, “foggy withal,” and it describes the fog as “obscuring everything,” and, “Fog came pouring in at every chink and hole”. The meaning of this is that Scrooge is morally lost and he doesn’t know which way he should turn, and he can’t see what is around him or what is happening to him. When he changes his ways, however, the weather is altogether different. It is, “Jovial, stirring,” and, “Cold, piping for the blood to dance to,” and there is, “Golden sunlight,” showing there is no fog any more and this shows Scrooge now has a clear view of the way he should behave.
A recurrent symbol throughout the novel is the three ghosts. Scrooge first learns he will be visited when his old friend, Marley (who is dead), visits him to announce their coming. When Scrooge walks to his door, he sees “Not the knocker, but Marley’s face.” The knocker turns into Marley’s face because he is ‘knocking’ into Scrooge’s consciousness. When Scrooge goes upstairs into his room, thinking nothing of the ghostly face, Marley comes up, and his arrival is marked by the sound of dragging chains. This is because he is wearing, “cash-boxes, keys, padlocks, ledgers, deeds, and heavy purses wrought in steel,” and the chains he is wearing are the ones he made himself when he was alive. His love of money and greed made the shackles he will wear for the rest of eternity and he has come to warn Scrooge to change his ways so he will not have the same fate. He wants Scrooge to see that you don’t need money to be happy like Bob Cratchit, who makes the most of things. The reader can see this when the family say, “God bless us, every one!” despite having a small house and not much money to spare. Scrooge can’t see that money is a useless virtue, and he doesn’t use his money to do good, he just keeps it for himself.
After this, the Ghost of Christmas Past arrives to show Scrooge his past. First he takes him to see his life when he was at school. The Ghost shows him, “A solitary child, neglected by his friends,” and Scrooge sobs. Scrooge’s unhappy childhood may be one of the factors why he turned into an unhappy miser, and when he is reminded of this, he “sobbed” about his lost childhood. He is then taken to the same school some years later, where his sister, Fan, comes to collect him to bring him home. Whilst watching the scene, the Ghost talks to Scrooge about his sister. Scrooge loved his sister, and the Ghost reminds him that, “[She] had, as I think, children,” and this is to try to get Scrooge to think about his nephew as the son of his beloved sister, and to get him to treat him better. After this, the Ghost takes him to his old workplace, at Fezziwig’s. Scrooge remembers Fezziwig as a very good employer. He says, “The happiness he gives, is quite as great as if it cost a fortune,” and this is where he starts to realise that you don’t need to spend money to give happiness, you need to be kind. He then thinks about his clerk, and says, “I would like to be able to say a word or two to [him] just now,” because he is starting to realise how badly he treats people, and this is what Marley set out to do. Then they go on to a park bench, where Scrooge sees himself sitting next to his old girlfriend, Belle. She tells Scrooge, “An idol has displaced me,” and then when Scrooge inquires which, she replies, “A golden one” which means that Scrooge loves money more than her. They engaged when they were both poor, but now that Scrooge is rich, she says, “Would you seek me out … now? Ah, no!” meaning that now he is rich, Scrooge would never dream of marrying a poor woman. This scene causes Scrooge to think of how his love and desire for money has ruined his life and turned him into what he is now. Then, the Ghost takes him to Belle again, but later on. She is happily living at home with children and a husband. Her husband says that he saw Scrooge in his window and he was “Quite alone in the world,” and it is at this point that Scrooge can’t listen anymore as he realises what he missed. He goes back to his bedroom to await the next ghost.
In contrast to the Ghost of Christmas Past, the Ghost of Christmas Present is very jolly and colourful. His very name implies positive images of gifts. He is dressed in, “One simple green robe,” which was, in the Victorian era, the image of Father Christmas, a person who is kind and giving, and this further adds to the positive image of the Ghost. He also has a, “Capacious breast,” meaning that he has a big chest for a big heart. There is a description of many different foods, “Turkeys, geese, game, poultry, brawn,” which shows abundance and wealth, but also greed. The Ghost then takes him around the city, to show him how other people are celebrating Christmas. He takes him to Bob Cratchit’s house, where the family are having their Christmas meal. Even though they are poor, they are making the most of Christmas, and the reader sees the happiness of the family when Martha “ran into [Bob’s] arms,” because this is the one day of the year when the family can all be together. Then the ghost takes Scrooge over to a place where the miners live. It is a desolate area, but Scrooge can hear a “Christmas song,” showing that Christmas is far-reaching and anyone in any area can enjoy Christmas, and this is the same for men sailing on a ship that the Ghost shows Scrooge. He can see them wishing “each other Merry Christmas in their can of grog.” Then they go to his nephew’s house, where he is having a party. They are discussing Scrooge’s absence, and he says, “Who suffers by his ill whims! Himself, always,” meaning that by not being kind to anyone and being by himself, he is only making himself suffer. Then the guests start playing party games, and Scrooge wants to stay and watch even though he can’t join in. He is starting to realise what he misses by keeping away from other people. The ghost then takes children out from under his robe. He says, “This boy is Ignorance. This girl is Want.” and then, “Most of all beware the boy, for on his brow I see that written which is Doom.” Here he is telling Scrooge that if there is want in the world, and ignorance to this want, there will be doom. People should help people in need, and show compassion, unlike Scrooge who wants nothing to do with the poor. Children are also seen as the future, so if Scrooge doesn’t change his ways, his future will be doomed.
After this second visitation, the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come appears before Scrooge. It is, “shrouded in a deep, black garment, which concealed its head, its face, its form,” and this is like the image of the Grim Reaper, or Death. Scrooge can’t see its proper form, because the future is cloudy and people can’t see what will come. In this Stave, there are no adjectives for colour, and black is another symbol for death. This Stave contrasts greatly with the colours of Stave III and the Ghost of Christmas Present, and has a much darker message for Scrooge. The ghost shows him some businessmen talking about someone’s funeral. They say, “Suppose we make up a party and volunteer?” because otherwise the dead man wouldn’t have anyone at his funeral. Then they go to Old Joe’s shop, where some people have brought in goods to sell. They have no respect for the dead man at all, because of the way he treated people, and unbeknownst to Scrooge, it is his things that they have stolen to sell. One woman even stole blankets, and his bed-curtains, “Rings and all with him lying there,” and also the shirt he was dressed in for burial. Scrooge realises it is his death when he is taken to his room where there are no bed-curtains, and no-one is there. He asks the ghost to show him, “anyone in this town who feels emotion caused by this man’s death,” and so the ghost takes him to a house where a couple who were in debt to Scrooge learn of his death. The man says, “We may be able to sleep to-night with light hearts, Caroline,” because the payments will be delayed because of Scrooges death, and the only emotion felt by people after Scrooges death is happiness. After this, the ghost takes Scrooge to the Cratchit’s house. They are mourning the death of Tiny Tim, and Bob, “Broke down all at once,” and Tim’s death is partly Scrooge’s fault, because Tiny Tim needs Scrooge’s help like we all need each others compassion. Scrooge is then taken to a graveyard, where he sees his grave. Scrooge is distraught and says, “Assure me that I yet may change these shadows,” because he has realised his fate if he doesn’t change his ways. He then says, “The Spirits of all Three shall strive within me. After this, Scrooge wakes up on Christmas morning a changed man. The atmosphere in this final stave contrasts with the gloomy atmosphere of stave IV, and shows Scrooge’s change of heart.
Scrooge learns that he is doomed unless he shows more generosity and compassion, which is what Christmas itself is a metaphor for. At Christmas people feel compassion more, as it is a time where want is most keenly felt.
In conclusion, without allegory, the meaning and atmosphere of the story wouldn’t have the same effect on the reader. The symbolism in ‘A Christmas Carol’ is a vital part of the novel, which gives it a greater meaning and, in its time, raised issues about poverty, injustice and greed that were problems of society.
