a christmas carol transformation essay

Scrooge's Transformation in Dickens' A Christmas Carol Essay Sample

Dickens uses Scrooge’s redemption as the main focus of the novella. At first, it seems that it would be impossible for Scrooge to change. In stave 1, Scrooge is portrayed negatively as a misanthropist whose dislike of other people is shown by his attitude to charity: “it’s enough for a man to understand his own business, and not to interfere with others”.  however, by the time Scrooge is visited by the last ghost, his attitude to people and charity has changed, and he is willing to change, but he’s concerned that he’s “past all hope”. Despite his concern, Scrooge keeps his promise to change for the better and will start to change and set things right in the next stave. Dickens shows the reader that even the worst of people in the society can change and find redemption. To find redemption, they must make a choice to start changing their ways – Marley admits that his chains were forged his own “free will”. 

Throughout the novella, Dickens hints that Scrooge will be redeemed. In the scrooge visions, the Ghost of Christmas Past shows the reader that Scrooge wasn’t always mean spirited. The visions show us an insight into Scrooge past. We learn that Scrooge had a close relationship with his younger sister “Fan” and his failed engagement to “Belle”. This shows the reader that Scrooge is capable of showing love and kindness and implies that Scrooge can love again. It also shows that things like love and compassion were once important to him than money, and these things may become important to him again. Another hint is the change in Scrooge’s father, this foreshadows Scrooge’s own redemption. Dickens suggest that Scrooge’s father was a harsh man that abandoned his son at a boarding school over the Christmas holidays. Yet, when Fan comes to collect Scrooge, she tells him that their father “is so much kinder than he used to be”. 

Dickens doesn’t force scrooge into this redemption ark. The spirits that initiate scrooge redemption are sent to help him. They don’t force him to change but send him visions, to push him into the right direction. It’s Scrooge himself who must take the meaning of these visions and use that to change. Scrooge is able to redeem himself because he chooses to learn from what these spirits have shown him – he's determined not to “shut out the lessons that they teach”. The lesson that Scrooge learns to help him to realise that “the Time before him was his own, to make amends in”. This shows the reader that Scrooge can us the rest of his life to make up for his previous behaviour, the fact that Scrooge’s redemption is done of his own “free will” make it more powerful. 

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Scrooge's Transformation in Dickens' A Christmas Carol Essay

Ebenezer Scrooge is the major character in the story, A Christmas Carol written by Charles Dickens. A Christmas Carol is about how a “cold-hearted, tight fisted, selfish” money grabbing man is offered an opportunity of a life time, to change his behaviour, attitude... to have a second chance in life. The theme of this novel is to look at the good you do in life and how it carries over after your death. The moral of the book is; "People can make changes in their lives whenever they really want to, even right up to the end." In this essay I am going to distinguish the personality of Scrooge also show you how he was at the beginning of the novella in the 1st Stave to how he changes at the end in the 5th Stave. The title to the novella …show more content…

Also, Dickens describes Ebenezer Scrooge as a 'cold-hearted, tight fisted, selfish man' who despises Christmas and all things that incite happiness. In addition, the words have a rhythm, they all have three syllables. The title of this book is A Christmas Carol . A Carol is a hymn, the three descriptive words is representing a carol so this refers back to the title. A quote from the book is 'The cold within him froze his old features, nipped his pointed nose, made his eyes red'. Dickens portrays Scrooge's characteristics like the wintry weather conditions. This illustrates the readers what kind of personality Scrooge has, to me it’s like Dickens is describing Scrooge like Jack Frost. He is truly mean at the beginning but at the conclusion of his experience he changes to a nice man. Although Dickens describes Scrooge as a mean, rude man, it’s like Dickens is teaching us the viewers a lesson that everyone has a different side of them it just takes hard work to transform them. 'Squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching' these words portray Scrooge and how he acts upon things and how his actions and behaviour effects people around him. The repeating, rhythmic hard consonant sounds which have a negative effect on Scrooge shows the readers that he is a vile, wealthy man. Also the words are really strong it's like a claw, he has clutched on a bad, mean area of life and he can't let go and until he lets go he is going to stay like a mean, malicious man. This

‘Scrooges decision to change his way of life is purely selfish’ Do you agree?

The vivid images of the plight of the poor that are presented to Scrooge ultimately act as a catalyst for him to change his miserly ways in order to help the destitute and the needy in society. St the beginning of the novella Scrooge states “if they would rather die…they had better do it, and decrease the surplus population”. In contrast, at the end of the novella Scrooge is depicted as a benevolent man who is “so fluttered and glowing with his good intentions”, who wished to help the lest fortunate. The personified children “Ignorance” and “Want” act as a catalyst for Scrooge to change his derisory and self-interested nature as he shows interest in the plight of the poor as he is shocked by these two “ragged, scowling” demons by saying ‘ “are there no refugee or resource?” The Ghost states that “there is no degradation, no perversion of humanity” for these “wretched, abject, frightful,” children, which makes Scrooge realise that he needs to change in order to assist them as he “hung his head, overwhelmed with penitence and grief”. This, it is illustrated in the novella that Scrooge transforms his previous, pessimistic self, into an individual who is no just self-interested, but who becomes responsible and generous to the poor by the end of the novel.

The Personality of Scrooge Essay example

Ebenezer Scrooge is the major character in the story, A Christmas Carol written by Charles Dickens. A Christmas Carol is about how a “cold-hearted, tight fisted, selfish” money grabbing man is offered an opportunity of a life time, to change his behaviour, attitude... to have a second chance in life.

The Comprehensibility of Scrooge in Charles Dickens' 'A Christmas Carol'

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens is one of the most classic stories that has been embraced by Western culture. There is a certain timelessness to the entire story, in that it demonstrates the powerful transformation of an incredibly stilted and unlikeable character to that of someone who is giving, kind and generous. The popularity and timelessness of this play is representative of how deeply human being want to believe in the possibility of change, even radical change, and that it's not too late to change one's life. However, the timelessness and popularity of this tale also reveals something else about human nature: there's a tendency such as an overwhelming whiff and desire for human beings to believe that transformation can be overnight and immediate. The reality is that most transformation and change takes years of hard work. However, change as it is presented in this play is a manifestation of the human desire to experience quick and instantaneous transformation, even with someone's character which has formed over a period of decades. In regards to the notion that "Ebenezer Scrooge is difficult to like, but easy to understand" this is generally true if an individual has had a fair amount of life experience. This paper will demonstrate that Ebenezer Scrooge is someone who has a fatal flaw, but the flaws which are demonstrated in this play, aren't as unique as some might view them. In many respects, Scrooge is

The Metamorphosis of Ebenezer Scrooge in Dickens' A Christmas Carol

In the first stave, Dickens tries to point out that Scrooge is a character that society considers negative. In the introduction,

Redemption In A Christmas Carol

Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol presents to the reader the transformation of an egotistic, miserable man, named Ebenezer Scrooge, to a compassionate and merrier elderly who finds the true perception of Christmas. Good afternoon, my name is Hayley Harris-Organ; I am here before you to address the importance of studying the humorous yet stern approach to Scrooge’s plight in the novella A Christmas Carol. This short novel acknowledges the threat of holding a selfish life. The author makes a clear reference to greed, cost on fate and redemption in the text.

“He became as good a friend, as good a master, and as good a man, as the good old city knew…” Discuss Scrooge’s transformation in A Christmas Carol.

Religion In A Christmas Carol

In A Christmas Carol, an allegory of spiritual values versus material ones, Charles Dickens shows Scrooge having to learn the lesson of the spirit of Christmas, facing the reality of his own callous attitude to others, and reforming himself as a compassionate human being. The reader is shown his harshness in the office, where he will not allow Bob Cratchit enough coal to warm his work cubicle and begrudges his employee a day off for Christmas, even claiming that his clerk is exploiting him. In the scene from the past at Fezziwig’s warehouse, Scrooge becomes aware of the actions of a conscientious, caring employer and feels his first twinge of conscience. The author suggests an origin for Scrooge’s indifference to others as Scrooge is portrayed as a neglected child, the victim of a harsh father intent on denying him a trip home for the holidays and only reluctantly relenting.

Examples Of Scrooge In A Christmas Carol

Charles Dickens wrote the inspiring novella, A Christmas Carol; an allegorical story centered around the miserly moneylender Ebenezer Scrooge, who is in need of the Christmas Spirit. He is known for his truculent ways towards humanity, including his last living family member, Fred. After an ominous visit, Scrooge receives visits from three apparitions, showing him appalling glimpses of his past, present, and future, Scrooge alters his disreputable life when he realizes his mistakes by putting aside his pride and helping the underprivileged, becoming a generous employer, and establishing a relationship with his nephew Fred, thus saving himself from a bleak fate.

How Does Scrooge Change In A Christmas Carol

Throughout the drama, “A Christmas Carol”, the playwright, Charles Dickens, tells a story of a man who is irritable and only cared about money. He realized his mistake before it was too late. The main character, Ebenezer Scrooge, is able to change his life when he meets various ghosts. Three events that caused Scrooge to change includes visits from The Ghost of Christmas Past, The Ghost of Christmas Present, and The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come.

How Does Scrooge Change In The Christmas Carol

Have you ever met someone who wouldn’t show their feelings? Well Ebenezer Scrooge is one of them. In the book “The Christmas Carol” by Charles Dickens, Ebenezer Scrooge had a horrible history when he was little. Marley and him were good friends until Marley died. Ever since Marley died Scrooge began to be cruel. He even let his first love walk out of his life. Then later on in the book he becomes more nice because he is visited by the three spirits of christmas and they all had shown him all the things he lost in life. After that he stated to become more nice and now he cares about everyone and tries to help or do things he didn’t do with them.

“No beggars implored him to bestow a trifle, no children asked him what it was o’clock, no man or woman ever once in all his life inquired the way to such and such a place, of Scrooge.” Ebenezer Scrooge was a man without warmth in his heart. He was cruel and didn’t care about anyone, but himself. In the novella, A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, the protagonist Ebenezer Scrooge goes through a significant change. The author demonstrates this change by both plot, and direct and indirect characterization. Some examples of changing in plot, direct, and indirect characterization include the two ghosts of present, and future, revealing his and other people’s lives. After the visits from the ghosts the author shows how and what Ebenezer Scrooge becomes.

A Christmas Carol Analysis

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens is a story about a man who is stingy, rude and solitary. His name is Scrooge, and he gets taught many lessons. Scrooge comes out a changed man who is optimistic and happy. The lessons he gets taught is not only for him but also for Dickens' readers. Throughout this text, there many situations where usual readers can relate to. In other parts of the text, there are moments that are rare and have a massive impact on Scrooge's life. A Christmas Carol's messages are for the readers because Scrooge is a metaphor for the wrongdoings in life, these lessons could happen to anyone and because the book was created so that no one should go through the experiences that

Change is one way to becoming a better person and influencing others to change as well. The book A Christmas Carol is an excellent book that representantes how change can be used in a very positive way and can change someone's life for the better. This book is by Charles Dickens - a British novelist, journalist, editor, illustrator and social commentator. The main characters name is Scrooge. Scrooge is a mean person who doesn’t like to share anything.

Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol is the story of a miserly old man and his encounter with three Spirits, which leads to his dramatic transformation. Ebenezer Scrooge’s only consideration is earning money, and he gives no thought to the general welfare. On Christmas Eve, Marley, his dead business partner, visits him and warns Ebenezer about his impending fate if he does not change his ways. Marley offers Scrooge hope in the form of three Spirits, and as he visits Christmas Past, Present, and Future, he experiences a change of heart. Scrooge lives an immoral life of greed and hard-heartedness until he must face the consequences of his sins of omission, leading him to become more generous and kind.

Analysis Of Ebenezer Scrooge In The Story Of A Christmas Carol

This is how Ebenezer Scrooge changed throughout the story of a Christmas Carol. The christmas carol was written by Charles Dickens in December of 1843. Mr. Scrooge starts off in the play as an angry, unkind, and ungrateful person. As the story goes on he starts to become more understanding, he was sorry for his actions, and he was regretting things from his past. Finally in the end of the he apologized to everyone that he hurt and affected, he started to give money to charities and people in need, and he also went to visit his family and loved ones.

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A Christmas Carol - Explore Scrooges Transformation from the beginning of the novel to the end.

A Christmas Carol - Explore Scrooge’s Transformation from the beginning of the novel to the end.

‘A Christmas Carol’ was written by Charles Dickens, in the 19 th  century, England.

It was written during a time of great poverty and social discrimination. The industrial revolution was at its worst. Thick smog covered every house, making it hard to see the rivers of human waste that flowed down the street, and straight into the Thames, where families collected their drinking water from. Up to thirty people shared one tiny house. Young children were being forced to work in life-threatening conditions. The working class had no fall-back options if they messed up. They were undernourished, uneducated, and spent the little money they had on getting drunk, to try and drown out the horrors of their actual lives.  Overall, London was a hell hole and it was because of the appalling conditions of the time that Charles Dickens decided it was time for a change. I think he created “A Christmas Carol” and Scrooge for several reasons. One of which, was to show the huge gap between classes, in this story, especially the middle and lower. Secondly I think he was trying to encourage the richer people to help as many of the poor as possible. Charles Dickens clearly believed all throughout the story that anyone can change for the better if they want it enough.

Scrooge’s character was a metaphor for the problems in Victorian England. At the beginning of the story, he is portrayed as a cold, uncaring man.

‘Hard and sharp as flint, from which no steel had ever struck out a generous fire; secret, and self-contained, and solitary as an oyster.’

All the words that are used to describe Scrooge are thinks that are equally as unpleasant as him. Flint is quite a violent rock, and Dicken’s is saying that even though steel is a strong object, it’s not strong enough to get through. Also, oysters live in the cold sea, at inhospitable depths.

‘No wind that blew was bitterer than he, no falling snow was more intent upon its purpose, no pelting rain less open to entreaty…’ ‘…The heaviest rain, and snow, and hail could boast of advantage over him in one respect. They often came down handsomely, and Scrooge never did.’

Dickens is comparing Scrooge to foul whether, saying that Scrooge out does it in bitterness, selfishness, and keenness to do its job it spite. The last line could be interpreted in two different ways. It could mean that they were nicer to look at, which would be true, because snow can be pretty. However, the other idea is much more important. The only thing that bad weather is better at is generosity. Rain and snow and hail would never hold back in quantity, whereas Scrooge would hold back his money even if his life depended on it.

‘The door of Scrooge’s counting-house was open so that he might keep his eye upon his clerk, who in a dismal little cell beyond, a sort of tank, was copying letters’

In this quote Scrooge’s lack of trust is shown in the way that he keeps his eye upon his clerk. It also highlights his stinginess again, with the ‘dismal little cell’.

‘Scrooge had a very small fire, but the clerk’s fire was so much very smaller that it looked like one coal…’ ‘…the clerk put on his white comforter, and tried to warm himself at the candle; in which effort, not being a man of strong imagination, he failed.’

Scrooge is so tight, that he will not even spare a few coals for his clerk, who has to work in the cold conditions all day. In the quote, it says that the clerk fails to warm himself because of his lack of imaginations. This suggests that one would need a very strong imagination to be able to warm them self at such a pathetic flame.

Dickens uses several different people to expose Scrooge’s many faults even more. One of the main people used for this task, was his nephew.

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‘He had so heated himself with the rapid walking in the fog and frost, this nephew of Scrooge’s, that he was all in a glow; his face was ruddy and handsome; his eyes sparkled, and his breath smoked again.’

Dickens uses this to highlight how different the two are. It is a comparison from the description of Scrooge’s coldness.

‘“What’s Christmas to you but a time for paying bills without money; a time for finding yourself a year older, but not an hour richer; a time for balancing your books and giving every item in ‘em through a round dozen of months presented dead against you?”’

Scrooge is clearly dead set against Christmas, he thinks nothing but bad can come of it, namely, money is wasted on it.

His nephew, however was in a totally different mind set. He thinks of Christmas as

‘a good time: a kind, forgiving, charitable, pleasant time’.

Scrooge’s nephew sees nothing but the good in Christmas, whereas Scrooge sees nothing but the bad.

Scrooge not only scorns Christmas, but also love. After his nephew explained that he got married because he fell in love, Scrooge responds;

‘“Because you fell in love?” growled Scrooge, as if that were the only thing in the world more ridiculous than a merry Christmas. “Good afternoon!”’

This shows how Scrooge seems to dislike anything happy.

Scrooge’s nephew is used to show how Scrooge treats his family, and what he thinks of Christmas.

As Scrooge’s nephew leaves, two charitable gentlemen come in. They talk to Scrooge about the Christmas season, and his dead partner, Marley, and liberality.

‘At the ominous word “liberality”, Scrooge frowned, and shook his head, and handed the credentials back.”

This shows Scrooge’s lack of generosity even more. He immediately stops what he’s doing at the mere mention of liberality, which means generosity. It’s like it scares him.

Scrooge then asks about the workhouses, and prisons, to show where he thinks poor people should be. He tells the gentlemen he supports such establishments.

‘“Many can’t go there; and many would rather die.”

“If they would rather die,” said Scrooge, “they had better do it, and decrease the surplus population.”’

Scrooge goes so far as to say he’d rather let them die than help them. He clearly is a spiteful man, to have the thoughts of these deaths on his conscious and to not care.

The gentlemen show how uncharitable Scrooge is, and how is thoughts are completely occupied with himself.

Scrooge’s clerk, Bob Cratchitt is another person used to make Scrooge’s faults stand out. Scrooge actually thinks himself  to be ill-used, for having to give Bob half-a-crown, once a year, at Christmas.

‘“A poor excuse for picking a man’s pocket every twenty-fifth of December!”

To Scrooge half-a-crown is nothing compared to his overall sum of money, but him being such a miser, he can barely part with it to Bob Cratchitt who needs it so much more.

Also, a carol singer dared to begin a carol outside Scrooge’s door, before fleeing in terror as “Scrooge seized the ruler with such energy of action”.

The ghost of Marley, Scrooge’s former partner (who was definitely of kindred spirit with Scrooge) appears to him in his house, in an attempt to prove that he must change his ways.

‘“I wear the chain I forged in life,” replied the Ghost. “I made it link by link, and yard by yard; I girded it on of my own free will, and of my own free will I wore it. Is its pattern strange to you?”’

In this quote Marley tells Scrooge of the chain he forged throughout his evil life, which he is now forced to wear in his eternal wanderings of the world. The pattern he refers to is in his description earlier.

‘The chain he drew was clasped about his middle. It was long, and wound about him like a tail; and it was made of cash-boxes, keys, padlocks, ledgers, deeds, and heavy purses wrought in steel.’

The pattern is made of things that Scrooge is defiantly well acquainted with, for they are his life. It is showing Scrooge that the very things he believes his life depends upon will later be used to chain him up, and weigh him down.

Marley’s ghost then goes on to tell Scrooge about his own chain.

‘“It was full as heavy as this, seven Christmas Eves ago. You have laboured on it, since. It is a ponderous chain!”

He tries to sway Scrooge, by describing it as ‘ponderous’, long and heavy.

Scrooge still cannot understand why this would happen to his business partner, because he was always good at his job… He voices this to Marley.

‘“Business!” cried the Ghost, wringing its hands again. “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!”

Marley is contradicting Scrooge here, because these are all the things Scrooge wants nothing to do with. Marley is trying to put the world in perspective for him, and trying to show him that money is not what matters.

Charles Dickens uses each of the three ghosts (past, present and future) to make Scrooge recognise his faults. I think it is clever how Dickens uses the ghosts to teach him a lesson.

The Ghost of Christmas past was described very vividly by Dickens, but he particularly emphasised, that

‘the strangest thing about it was, that from the crown of its head there sprung a bright clear jet of light, by which all this was visible;’ (the rest of the description) ‘and which was doubtless the occasion of its using in its duller moments, a great extinguisher for a cap, which it now held under its arm.’

Scrooge, for some reason wanted to see the spirit in his cap, and asked the spirit to put it on.

‘“What!” exclaimed the Ghost, “Would you so soon put out, with worldly hands, the light I give? Is it not enough that you are one of those whose passions made this cap, and force me through whole trains of years to wear it low upon my brow?”’

The Ghost is trying to tell Scrooge, that it is people like him that put out the light of the world with their greed and selfishness but Scrooge still denies it.

‘“No. I should like to be able to say a word or two to my clerk just now! That’s all.”’

This quote shows that Scrooge is starting to improve slightly, after seeing how his old employer Fezziwig used to treat him.

Finally, the Ghost

The Ghost is trying to teach him to learn from his past mistakes, but leave them behind as well, so he can start afresh.

The Ghost of Christmas present takes Scrooge to his own clerk’s house, where Scrooge witnesses what their Christmas is like. Seeing this, and Tiny Tim especially, who is crippled, and at risk of death.

‘“Spirit,” said Scrooge, with an interest he had never felt before, “tell me if Tiny Tim will live.”’    

This shows that Scrooge is starting to care about more people than himself, and his money. He is interested in someone else’s welfare for once, and when the Spirit predicts an empty chair if things do not change, Scrooge is quite upset.

The Ghost went on to say

‘“If he be like to die, he had better do it, and decrease the surplus population.”

Scrooge hung his head to hear his own words quoted by the Spirit, and was overcome with penitence and grief.’  

This also shows how Scrooge has changed for the better. Earlier on in the story, Scrooge had said that sentence without feeling at all guilty for it, but now he is ‘overcome with penitence and grief’.

The Ghost then takes him to Scrooge’s nephew’s house, to show him the party he is missing out on. Scrooge gets very involved in all the merriment.

‘Uncle Scrooge had imperceptibly become so gay and light of heart, that he would have pledged the unconscious company in return, and thanked them in an inaudible speech, if the Ghost had given him time.’  

This shows that Scrooge can be merry, he just doesn’t let himself, but in such wonderful company, he cannot stop his mood gradually improving.

The Ghost shows him two children; refuge and resource. They were ‘yellow, meagre, ragged, scowling, wolfish’. Scrooge was shocked.

‘“Have they no refuge or resource?” cried Scrooge.

“Are there no prisons?” said the Spirit, turning on him for the last time with his own words. “Are there no workhouses?”

Once again, the Ghost uses Scrooge’s own words against him, to make him feel guilty.                                                                              

The Ghost of Christmas present represents what Scrooge is missing, right before his own eyes. The Ghost is showing Scrooge that if people like Tiny Tim can be happy, he should be too.

The Ghost of Christmas future was very different to the other cloaks. It was dressed simply in a black cloak, and did not speak a word, which made it all the more frightful.

‘“Ghost of the future!” he exclaimed, “I fear you more than any spectre I have ever seen. But as I know your purpose is to do me good, and as I hope to be another man from what I was, I am prepared to bear your company, and do it with a thankful heart. Will you not speak to me?”

It gave him no reply.’

Even though Scrooge is very scared of the Ghost, he says that he will go where it will take him, so that he can improve. He is admitting that what he was like before was wrong, and he wants to change. He is also putting other people’s discomfort above his own, because he is scared by the ghost, but for everyone else’s sake he realises he needs to change.

The Ghost then shows him people’s response to someone’s death.

There are many ways in which Scrooge’s actions show he has transformed for the better.

Scrooge sends a boy off to buy him the prize turkey in the window of the Poulterer’s. He delights in the idea of sending it to Bob Cratchit. Also, the fact that Scrooge gave the poor boy his money shows that he has trust. He trusts that the boy will bring the turkey back to him, and not just run off with the money.

‘The chuckle with which he said this and his chuckle as he paid for the turkey and the chuckle with which he paid for the cab and the chuckle that he recomposed the boy.’

Charles Dickens repetitively uses the word chuckle to emphasise how happy Scrooge is.

As Scrooge walks through the streets he sees many people.

‘Scrooge regarded every one with a delighted smile. He looked so irresistibly pleasant, in a word, that three or four good-humoured fellows said, “Good morning, sir! A merry Christmas to you!”’

Scrooge is finally acknowledging people’s good points rather than just the bad. Previously, he would’ve been scowling at all the people he walked past, or he just wouldn’t be in public at all. Not only that, but he looked pleasant, which is a huge change than how people would’ve normally described him.

He goes to his nephew’s house, and surprises him with his presence.

‘“It’s I. Your uncle Scrooge. I have come to dinner. Will you let me in, Fred?”’

He is finally accepting Fred as family, my calling himself Fred’s uncle. He never used to even talk to Fred, especially not to admit he was family.

The next morning Scrooge waits for Bob to come in, late. He attempts to act like his former self, by having a go at him for being late.

‘“It’s only once a year, sir,” pleaded Bob, appearing from the Tank. “it shall not be repeated. I was making rather merry yesterday, sir”

“Now, I’ll tell you what, my friend,” said Scrooge, “I am not going to stand this sort of thing any longer. And therefore,” he continued, leaping from his stall and giving Bob such a dig in the waistcoat that he staggered back into the Tank again: “and therefore I am about to raise your salary!”

Scrooge has changed so much, that he finds it hard to even imitate his former self. He calls Bob his friend, which he would never have done before.

At the very end of the story, it says

‘Scrooge was better than his word. He did it all, and infinitely more; and to Tiny Tim, who did not die, he was a second father.’

In some ways, it was thanks to Tiny Tim that Scrooge changed so well. After seeing Tiny Tim with such hope, even though his outlook was so grim, Scrooge was already prepared to change.

I think a lot can be learnt from this novel.

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A Summary and Analysis of Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol

By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)

Charles Dickens wrote A Christmas Carol  in six weeks during October and November 1843, and the novella (technically, it is not counted among his novels) appeared just in time for Christmas, on 19 December. The book’s effect was immediate.

The Scottish historian Thomas Carlyle went straight out and bought himself a turkey after reading  A Christmas Carol, and the novelist Margaret Oliphant said that it ‘moved us all in those days as if it had been a new gospel’. Even Dickens’s rival, William Makepeace Thackeray, called the book ‘a national benefit’.

Both ‘Scrooge’ and ‘Bah! Humbug’ are known to people who have never read Dickens’s book, or even seen one of the countless film, TV, and theatre adaptations. But what is A Christmas Carol really about, and is there more to this tale of charity and goodwill than meets the eye? Before we offer an analysis of A Christmas Carol , it might be worth briefly summarising the plot of the novella.

The novella is divided into five chapters or ‘staves’. In the first stave, the miserly Ebenezer Scrooge rejects his nephew Fred’s invitation to dine with him and his family for Christmas. He reluctantly allows his clerk, Bob Cratchit, to have Christmas Day off work. On Christmas night, Scrooge is visited by the ghost of his former business partner, Jacob Marley.

Marley, bound in chains, warns Scrooge that a similar fate awaits him when he dies unless he mends his ways; he also tells Scrooge that he will be visited by three spirits.

The second, third, and fourth staves of A Christmas Carol are devoted to each of the three spirits of Christmas. First, the Ghost of Christmas Past visits Scrooge and reminds him of his lonely childhood at boarding school, and the kindness shown to the young Scrooge by his first employer, Mr Fezziwig (whom we see at a Christmas ball).

Scrooge is also shown a vision recalling his relationship with Belle, a young woman who broke off their engagement because of the young Scrooge’s love of money. The Ghost of Christmas Past then shows Scrooge that Belle subsequently married another man and raised a family with him.

The third stave details the visit from the second spirit: the Ghost of Christmas Present. This spirit shows Scrooge his nephew Fred’s Christmas party as well as Christmas Day at the Cratchits. Bob Cratchit’s youngest son, Tiny Tim, is severely ill, and the Ghost tells Scrooge that the boy will die if things don’t change. He then shows Scrooge two poor, starving children, named Ignorance and Want.

The fourth stave features the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come, who shows Scrooge his own funeral taking place in the future. It is sparsely attended by a few of Scrooge’s fellow businessmen only. The only two people who express any emotion over Scrooge’s passing are a young couple who owed him money, and who are happy that he’s dead.

Scrooge is then shown a very different scene: Bob Cratchit and his family mourning Tiny Tim’s death. Scrooge is shown his own neglected gravestone, and vows to mend his ways.

The fifth and final stave sees Scrooge waking on Christmas morning a changed man. He sends Bob Cratchit a large turkey for Christmas dinner, and goes to his nephew’s house that afternoon to spend Christmas with Fred’s family. The next day he gives Bob Cratchit a pay rise, and generally treats everyone with kindness and generosity.

A Christmas Carol wasn’t the first Christmas ghost story Dickens wrote. He’d already written ‘ The Story of the Goblins Who Stole a Sexton ’, featuring the miserly Gabriel Grub. This was featured as an inset tale in Dickens’s first ever published novel,  The Pickwick Papers (1836-7).

The tale shares many of the narrative features which would turn up a few years later in  A Christmas Carol : the misanthropic villain, the Christmas Eve setting, the presence of the supernatural (goblins/ghosts), the use of visions which the main character is forced to witness, the focus on poverty and family, and, most importantly, the reforming of the villain into a better person at the close of the story.

But the fact that Dickens had already developed the loose ‘formula’ for the story that would become, in many ways, his best-known work does nothing to detract from its power as a piece of storytelling.

Like a handful of other books of the nineteenth century – Frankenstein and Jekyll and Hyde spring to mind – A Christmas Carol has attained the force of a modern myth, an archetypal tale about the value of helping those in need, in the name of Christian charity and general human altruism. Oliphant’s description of the novella as like a new gospel neatly captures both its Christian flavour (though its message is far broader in its applications than this) and its mythic qualities.

But there is also something of the fairy tale – another form that was attaining new-found popularity in 1840s Britain thanks to the vogue for pantomimes based upon old French tales and the appearance of Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tales in English – in the story’s patterning of three (three spirits visiting Scrooges), its supernatural elements, and the (spiritual or moral) transformation of its central character.

Indeed, it has almost become something of an origin-myth for many Christmas traditions and associations, and was published at a time when many things now considered typically Christmassy were coming into vogue: Prince Albert’s championing of Christmas trees at the royal court, for instance, and even the practice of sending Christmas cards (the first one was sent in 1843, the same year that A Christmas Carol was published). No wonder many people, when they hear talk of ‘the spirit of Christmas’, tend to think of goodwill to all men, charity, and benevolence.

Dickens invented none of these associations, but his novella helped to cement them in the popular consciousness for good. Even the association of Christmas with snowy weather may have partly been down to Dickens: there are a dozen references to snow in A Christmas Carol , and it’s been argued that Dickens associated snow with Christmas time because of a series of white Christmases in the 1810s, when he was a small child: memories which stayed with him into adulthood.

As with his previous novels, especially Oliver Twist , one of Dickens’s chief aims in A Christmas Carol , along with entertaining his readers, is to highlight to his predominantly middle-class readers the state of poverty and ‘want’ that afflicted millions of their fellow Britons. One of the most telling details in the novella is the revelation, following Scrooge’s conversion, that he will take on the role of father figure to Tiny Tim.

Since Tiny Tim already has a father, the point is perhaps not as clear to modern readers as it would have been to Dickens’s contemporaries: namely that the children of the poor were the responsibility of all of Britain, and if their own parents could not provide for them, then charity and generosity from the well-off was required.

Scrooge ensures this not only by improving Bob Cratchit’s financial situation (giving him a pay rise) but by becoming a friend to the family: money is needed to help fix the problem, Dickens argues, but it’s more valuable if accompanied by genuine companionship and communion between rich and poor, haves and have-nots, and if society works together to help each other.

On a stylistic note, the remarkable thing about A Christmas Carol is that it is entirely representative of Dickens’s work, even while it lacks many of the qualities that make him so popular.

In reflecting Dickens’s strong social conscience and his exposure of the plight of the poor and the callousness of those who refuse to play their part in making things better, it is emblematic of Dickens’s work as a champion of the poor. Its focus on money – and the dangers to those who place too much faith in money and not enough in their fellow human beings – it is also a wholly representative work.

But there are none of the wonderfully drawn comic characters at which he excelled and which, arguably, make his work so distinctively ‘Dickensian’. As a rule, the shorter the Dickens book, the less Dickensian it is, at least in this sense: Hard Times , A Tale of Two Cities , and the five Christmas books all lack those supporting comic characters which make his large, sprawling novels, whatever their shortcomings in plot structure, his most successful books.

But what it lacks in Fat Boys, Sam Wellers, Major Bagstocks, or Mr Micawbers, it more than makes up for in its concentrated plot structure and heart-warming portrayal of a man who learns to use his wealth, but also his sense of social duty, to help those who need it most.

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Model Grade 9 ‘ACC’ essay: Christmas as a Joyful Time

Starting with this extract, explore how far Dickens presents Christmas as a joyful time. (30 marks)

Throughout Dickens’ allegorical novella, his aim is to passionately highlight how such a joyful season can create positive role models for Scrooge. The constant succession of images relating to joy around Christmas may well have been utilised to demonstrate how readers too can learn and improve from the inspirational characters during the novella.

Primarily, within stave 1 of the novella, Dickens utilises the characterisation of Fred as the embodiment of the Christmas spirit with all the positive virtues associated with Christmas. This is evidenced when Fred is described as coming in ‘all in a glow’ with ‘his face ruddy and handsome; his eyes sparkled.’ Here the use of the noun ‘glow’ connotes light and warmth which is strongly linked to hope and purity. This highlights the contrast between Fred and his uncle Scrooge, who was described as ‘hard and sharp as flint.’ Structurally, introducing Fred immediately after Scrooge focuses the reader’s attention on the clear variation between the two and all of the positive qualities that Scrooge lacks. Furthermore, Fred highlights the belief that Christmas is a time for unity within the social hierarchy although it ‘never puts a scrap of gold or silver’ in his pocket and he frowns upon his uncle, completely consumed in the greed for money. Dickens may have done this to foreshadow Scrooge’s transformation into a better man as a result of the inspirational role models around him during the novella. Alternatively, Dickens may have used Fred and Scrooge together to challenge the situation in Victorian Britain during the Industrial Revolution. Scrooge highlights all of the negative traits of upper class men during this time and Fred is a caring and benevolent character, who cares for people lower down on the social hierarchy.

Secondly, within the extract, Dickens utilises the characterisation of Fezziwig to suggest a clear contrast in the two employers. This is evidenced when Fezziwig ‘laughed all over himself, from his shoes to his organ of benevolence.’ The use of the abstract noun ‘benevolence’ suggests the joy and love Fezziwig has for Christmas time. Fezziwig’s kind, caring personality is another role model and catalyst for Scrooge’s transformation. Furthermore, Dickens presents Christmas as a joyful time through Fezziwig’s Christmas party. ‘Fuel was heaped upon the fire’ and the warehouse was transformed into a ‘snug, and warm’ ballroom filled with light. The use of the adjective ‘warm’ connotes kindness and comfort. The detail here in Fezziwig’s scene overwhelms the senses; his generosity is physical, emotional and palpable. As an employer he is the foil of Scrooge and presents all of the positive virtues that Scrooge lacks. Dickens may have done this to highlight a different side to capitalism. Alternatively, presenting Fezziwig as the embodiment of Christmas suggests the importance of Christmas and all of its positive qualities on everyone in society.

Thirdly, within the novella, Dickens utilises the Ghost of Christmas Present to personify Christmas itself. When the ghost appears it has set up an impressive feast of lights and food. This is evidenced when Scrooge’s room is filled with ‘the crisp leaves of holly, mistletoe and ivy reflected back the light, as if so many little mirrors had been scattered there, and such a mighty blaze went roaring up the chimney.’ The scene is hyperbolic and creates a clear contrast with the frugal state of Scrooge’s past Christmases. The use of the light imagery here provides a clear and undeniable tableau of the joyful Christmases Scrooge can afford but chooses to shun. Dickens may have done this to portray Christmas as a bright and familiar celebration which everyone should celebrate in harmony. A modern reader may feel hope that Scrooge will use his wealth to celebrate Christmas with all of the festivities that Christmas should include and celebrate it with the people that care for him, like his nephew Fred.

Finally, in ‘A Christmas Carol’ Dickens reinforces the theme of Christmas spirit through the Cratchit family. Dickens utilises Bob Cratchit to symbolise the true spirit of Christmas and the importance of family. This is evidenced at the Cratchit’s dinner where nobody remarked that it was ‘a small pudding for a large family’. The adjective ‘small’ emphasises the Cratchit’s lack of luxury and yet their enthusiasm in the scene is palpable. This highlights that this ‘small’ pudding was seen as an indulgence to them which is something Scrooge takes for granted. Furthermore, the Cratchit’s ‘four roomed house’ is filled with an overwhelming sense of energy and excitement, which exists as an antithesis of Scrooge’s ‘old…dreary’ abode. This is evidenced as the youngest Cratchit children ‘danced about the table’ this suggests the sense of energy despite their lowly status in society on this festive day. Dickens may have done this to suggest the importance of Christmas to all members of society. Although the Cratchit family are less fortunate than Scrooge or Fred their Christmas is filled with the love they have for each other. A reader may feel delighted to see this family enjoying Christmas day, contented with what they own and hope that Scrooge will see this family as a role model for his transformation.

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A Christmas Carol by Dickens Essay

A Christmas Carol by Dickens was first published on December 19, 1843. Since its publication, this book, arguably one of his most famous works, has made its mark on American culture and literature. It is difficult to underestimate the significance of A Christmas Carol , which was made into numerous TV and stage versions. Some would even argue that this Dickens’s work invented or rather reinvented Christmas, while others underline the importance of his work for the development of the new forms of literature. This essay aims to discuss the theme and the characters of the book. It starts with a summary of the plot, then examines the main characters and the themes and concludes with the personal opinion on the novella.

Dickens offers a story of Ebenezer Scrooge, a greedy and selfish older man living alone in his London house, whose only concern is money. Scrooge hates Christmas and is indifferent to other people’s suffering, including his workers. However, on Christmas Eve, he is visited by the ghost of his business partner and by the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Christmas Present and Christmas Future. The first ghost takes him on a journey through his past Christmases: one of a miserable and lonely little boy and others of a young man, more interested in gold than in his fiancé. The Ghost of Christmas Present shows Scrooge his clerk’s family Christmas, a Christmas evening of a poor, but loving family, and his nephew’s celebrations, where guests mock him for his unfriendliness and greediness. Finally, the Ghost of Christmas Future shows him his own death, which would bring more joy to people who knew him than grief. The terror of this night magically transforms Ebenezer Scrooge into a generous and good-hearted man, kind to his neighbors and eager to help those in need.

The main hero of the book, Ebenezer Scrooge, is characterized mainly by his greediness and by the fear that he creates among people who know him. Charles Dickens describes (1843, 4) him as such: “No beggars implored him to bestow a trifle, no children asked him what it was o’clock, no man […] inquired the way to such and such a place, of Scrooge”. Even his clerk is terrified of him and barely dares to speak in his presence.

According to Thompson (2017, 269), the descriptions of Scrooge’s personality allude to the Old Testament figure of King Belshazzar, the ruler who loves wealth and who is punished by God for his greed and pride. However, unlike Belshazzar, Scrooge takes advantage of the warning delivered by the Christmas ghosts and changes, fearing the dreadful end that is awaiting him. He accepts to change and declares: “I will not shut out the lessons that they [the Spirits of the Past, the Present and the Future] teach” (Dickens 1843, 57). Thus, he is a sinner, but the night that he goes through makes hem find the strength to change. This magical and radical overnight transformation becomes central to the figure of Ebenezer Scrooge.

Other central figures are the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Christmas Present and Christmas Yet to Come. The Ghost of Christmas Past is the first ghost to visit Scrooge; he is quite and rather compassionate towards Scrooge, to whom he shows the pictures of his childhood. The Ghost of Christmas Present is a joyful and vibrant character, wearing a green robe and symbolizing joy and happiness. The third Ghost is the most fearsome one; he wears a black cloak and remains silent during their journey. Although the ghosts have distinct personalities, their common characteristic is their role as the messengers. Their figures also reflect Dickens’ interest in “the narrative possibilities of the communication between the living and the dead” (Wood 2018, 412). Dickens’s interest in the supernatural urges him to experiment with the forms of expression and create the figures of these Spirits to deliver the message to Scrooge.

Another prominent figure is Tiny Tim, who is the most significant figure of childhood in the book. He is a son of Bob Cratchit, Scrooge’s clerk. He has a disability, but is full of cheer and love and brings a lot of joy to his family. His words – “God bless us every one!” – mark the end of the novella (Dickens 1843, 92). The figure of Tiny Tim reflects the conception of childhood as the stage of innocence, although it is not the only way children are represented in the novella (Robinson 2016, 8). For instance, the readers observe frightening figures of children clinging to the clothes of the Ghost of Christmas Present. Contrary to this image of “figures which are a product of a fallen world (Robinson 2016, 2), Tim is a constant reminder to everyone of the courage in the face of difficulties.

The characters of A Christmas Carol serve to express Dickens’s Christian humanistic views and attitudes. According to Newey (2016, 12), A Christmas Carol is one of the most important works of Charles Dickens in a sense that it “brings into focus many of Dickens’s core concerns and attitudes of mind.” Dickens demonstrates the transformation of a greedy lender with no sympathy to others, which symbolizes capitalist and rationalist values, into the embodiment of Christianity and humanism.

The contrast between Dickens’s characters furthers strengthens the differences between two ideologies, the humanistic and the capitalist one. The family of Bob Cratchit, Scrooge’s clerk, is a model of a loving family, poor in money but rich in heart, while Scrooge himself reflects utilitarian, purely rationalist values. The values of family loyalty, humanism, kindness, are confronted with the rationalism and greediness of the protagonist.

Another theme of the novella is the relationship between the supernatural and the living. As stated above, Dickens’s works have significantly contributed to the development of the Victorian ghost story. His fascination with the supernatural makes him create the powerful figures of the Ghost of Christmas Past, Christmas Present and Christmas Future, who communicate with the protagonist and act as the messengers of the divine. This communication between the living and the supernatural is central to the plot. This theme reoccurs in Dickens’s works, for instance, in “The Signalman,” although in total, it is present in about 18 Dickens’s stories. The critical result of the supernatural intervention is that it leads to change and transforms the protagonist.

Although often presented as a children’s story, Dickens’s novella A Christmas Carol tells a reader a lot about Dickens’s attitudes and views about the world. This novella promotes the humanistic ideology based on Christian values: love, empathy, and generosity. Moreover, the author experiments with literary forms and contributes to the development of the ghost story. The supernatural plays a central role in the transformation of the main hero. However, the idea that the protagonist needs supernatural intervention in order to change might be problematic for the humanistic perspective that is centered on the agency of human beings. The humanistic perspective stresses the inherently good qualities of human nature, which is contradictory to the idea that supernatural intervention is necessary in order to bring change.

Newey, Vincent. 2016. The Scriptures of Charles Dickens: Novels of Ideology, Novels of the Self. New York: Routledge.

Robinson, David E. 2016. “Redemption and the Imagination of Childhood: Dickens’s Representation of Children in A Christmas Carol.” Literator 37 (1): 1-8. Web.

Thompson, Terry W. 2017. “The Belshazzar Allusion in Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol.” The Explicator 75 (4): 268-270. Web.

Wood, Claire. 2018. “Playful Spirits: Charles Dickens and the Ghost Story.” In The Routledge Handbook to the Ghost Story, edited by Scott Brewster and Luke Thurston, 87-96. New York: Routledge.

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Other Literary Devices

The novella, whose original title was A Christmas Carol. In Prose. Being a Ghost Story of Christmas , is a ghost story. It can also be characterized as an allegory and as an example of Victorian gothic.

The tone of the novella shifts frequently. Since the story is an allegory, the tone is often moralizing. The narrator is critical of Scrooge and his indifference to the poor and mocks his lack of self-awareness, but the tone changes to sincere, mournful, celebratory, and even joyous on the subject of the Cratchits, for instance, or Christmas in general.

Setting (Time & Place)

A Christmas Carol is set in the early Victorian era (likely the 1840s) and is set in London.

Protagonist

The protagonist of the novella is Ebenezer Scrooge.

Major Conflict

Scrooge must traverse his past, present, and future to undergo a radical transformation and avoid the fate of which Marley’s ghost has warned him.

Rising Action

Scrooge is visited by three spirits who show him the consequences of his greed, forcing him to reconcile the boy he used to be with the man he is now.

The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come solidifies Scrooge’s change of heart by revealing that, should he continue down this path, no one will mourn him when he dies. Scrooge understands the impact his actions have had on others and begs the spirit for another chance, promising he’s no longer the person he once was.

Falling Action

His journey now complete, Scrooge wakes up in his bed on Christmas morning, ready to face the world with a new lease on life. He spreads Christmas cheer, shares his wealth, and befriends the Cratchits.

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Home — Essay Samples — Literature — A Christmas Carol — Comparing and Contrasting “A Christmas Carol” Book and Movie Adaptation

Comparing and Contrasting "A Christmas Carol" Book and Movie Adaptation

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