Christmas Carol

SMARTER BETTER FASTER

TM

A Christmas CarolCharles Dickens

Contributors: Brian Phillips, Jeremy Zorn, Julie Blattberg

Copyright (c) 2002 by SparkNotes LLC

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CONTENTS

SUMMARY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4CONTEXT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6CHARACTERS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7ANALYSIS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9SUMMARY AND ANALYSIS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10

Stave One: Marley’s Ghost . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10Stave Two: The First of the Three Spirits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12Stave Three: The Second of the Three Spirits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14Stave Four: The Last of the Spirits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16Stave Five: The End of It . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17

STUDY QUESTIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19REVIEW AND RESOURCES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21

Quiz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21

Summary 4





SUMMARY

A mean-spirited, miserly old man named Ebenezer Scrooge sits in his counting-house ona frigid Christmas Eve. His clerk, Bob Cratchit, shivers in the anteroom because Scroogerefuses to spend money on heating coals for a fire. Scrooge’s nephew, Fred, pays his uncle avisit and invites him to his annual Christmas party. Two portly gentlemen also drop by andask Scrooge for a contribution to their charity. Scrooge reacts to the holiday visitors withbitterness and venom, spitting out an angry "Bah! Humbug!" in response to his nephew’s"Merry Christmas!"

Later that evening, after returning to his dark, cold apartment, Scrooge receives a chillingvisitation from the ghost of his dead partner, Jacob Marley. Marley, looking haggard andpallid, relates his unfortunate story. As punishment for his greedy and self-serving life hisspirit has been condemned to wander the Earth weighted down with heavy chains. Marleyhopes to save Scrooge from sharing the same fate. Marley informs Scrooge that three spiritswill visit him during each of the next three nights. After the wraith disappears, Scroogecollapses into a deep sleep.

He wakes moments before the arrival of the Ghost of Christmas Past, a strange childlikephantom with a brightly glowing head. The spirit escorts Scrooge on a journey into the pastto previous Christmases from the curmudgeon’s earlier years. Invisible to those he watches,Scrooge revisits his childhood school days, his apprenticeship with a jolly merchant namedFezziwig, and his engagement to Belle, a woman who leaves Scrooge because his lust formoney eclipses his ability to love another. Scrooge, deeply moved, sheds tears of regretbefore the phantom returns him to his bed.

The Ghost of Christmas Present, a majestic giant clad in a green fur robe, takes Scroogethrough London to unveil Christmas as it will happen that year. Scrooge watches the large,bustling Cratchit family prepare a miniature feast in its meager home. He discovers BobCratchit’s crippled son, Tiny Tim, a courageous boy whose kindness and humility warmsScrooge’s heart. The specter then zips Scrooge to his nephew’s to witness the Christmasparty. Scrooge finds the jovial gathering delightful and pleads with the spirit to stay untilthe very end of the festivities. As the day passes, the spirit ages, becoming noticeably older.Toward the end of the day, he shows Scrooge two starved children, Ignorance and Want,living under his coat. He vanishes instantly as Scrooge notices a dark, hooded figure comingtoward him.

The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come leads Scrooge through a sequence of mysteriousscenes relating to an unnamed man’s recent death. Scrooge sees businessmen discussingthe dead man’s riches, some vagabonds trading his personal effects for cash, and a poorcouple expressing relief at the death of their unforgiving creditor. Scrooge, anxious to learnthe lesson of his latest visitor, begs to know the name of the dead man. After pleading with

Summary 5





the ghost, Scrooge finds himself in a churchyard, the spirit pointing to a grave. Scroogelooks at the headstone and is shocked to read his own name. He desperately implores thespirit to alter his fate, promising to renounce his insensitive, avaricious ways and to honorChristmas with all his heart. Whoosh! He suddenly finds himself safely tucked in his bed.

Overwhelmed with joy by the chance to redeem himself and grateful that he has beenreturned to Christmas Day, Scrooge rushes out onto the street hoping to share his newfoundChristmas spirit. He sends a giant Christmas turkey to the Cratchit house and attends Fred’sparty, to the stifled surprise of the other guests. As the years go by, he holds true to hispromise and honors Christmas with all his heart: he treats Tiny Tim as if he were his ownchild, provides lavish gifts for the poor, and treats his fellow human beings with kindness,generosity, and warmth.

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CONTEXT

Charles Dickens was born on February 7, 1812, and spent the first nine years of his lifeliving in the coastal regions of Kent, a county in southeast England. Dickens’ father, John,was a kind and likable man, but he was financially irresponsible, piling up tremendousdebts throughout his life. When Dickens was nine, his family moved to London. At twelve,his father was arrested and sent to debtors’ prison. Dickens’ mother moved seven of theirchildren into prison with their father but arranged for Cha rles to live alone outside theprison, working with other child laborers at a hellish job pasting labels on bottles in ablacking warehouse.

The three months Charles spent apart from his family were severely traumatic. Heviewed his job as a miserable trap–he considered himself too good for it, stirring the contemptof his worker-companions. After his father was released from prison, Dickens returned toschool, eventually becoming a law clerk. He went on to serve as a court reporter beforetaking his place as one of the most popular English novelists of his time. At age 25, Dickenscompleted his first novel,The Pickwick Papers,which met with great success. This startedhis career as an English literary celebrity, during which he produced such masterpiecesasGreat Expectations, David Copperfield,andA Tale of Two Cities.

Dickens’ beloved novellaA Christmas Carolwas written in 1843, with the intention ofdrawing readers’ attention to the plight of England’s poor. (Social criticism, a recurringtheme in Dickens’ work, resounds most strongly in his novelHard Times.) In the tale,Dickens stealthily combines a somewhat indirect description of hardships faced by thepoor with a heart-rending, sentimental celebration of the Christmas season. The callousedcharacter of the apathetic penny-pinching Ebenezer Scrooge, who opens his heart after beingconfronted by three spirits, remains one of Dickens’ most widely recognized and popularcreations.

A Christmas Caroltakes the form of a relatively simplistic allegory–it is seldom con-sidered one of Dickens’ important literary contributions. The novella’s emotional depth,brilliant narration, and endearing characters, however, offer plenty of rewards for literaturestudents, Dickensian fans, and Grinches alike. LikeA Tale of Two Cities, A Christmas Carolhas won much appreciation among general readers despite being dismissed by scholarlycritics of Dickens’ work.

Characters 7





CHARACTERS

Ebenezer Scrooge —The miserly owner of a London counting-house, a nineteenth centuryterm for an accountant’s office. The three spirits of Christmas visit the stodgy bean-counterin hopes of reversing Scrooge’s greedy, cold-hearted approach to life.

Bob Cratchit — Scrooge’s clerk, a kind, mild, and very poor man with a large family.Though treated harshly by his boss, Cratchit remains a humble and dedicated employee.

Tiny Tim — Bob Cratchit’s young son, crippled from birth. Tiny Tim is a highly sentimen-talized character who Dickens uses to highlight the tribulations of England’s poor and toelicit sympathy from his middle and upper class readership.

Jacob Marley —In the living world, Ebenezer Scrooge’s equally greedy partner. Marleydied seven years before the narrative opens. He appears to Scrooge as a ghost condemnedto wander the world bound in heavy chains. Marley hopes to save his old partner from suffering a similar fate.

The Ghost of Christmas Past —The first spirit to visit Scrooge, a curiously childlikeapparition with a glowing head. He takes Scrooge on a tour of Christmases in his past. Thespirit uses a cap to dampen the light emanating from his head.

The Ghost of Christmas Present —The second spirit to visit Scrooge, a majestic giantclad in a green robe. His lifespan is restricted to Christmas Day. He escorts Scrooge on atour of his contemporaries’ Holiday celebrations.

The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come —The third and final spirit to visit Scrooge, a silentphantom clad in a hooded black robe. He presents Scrooge with an ominous view of hislonely death.

Fred— Scrooge’s nephew, a genial man who loves Christmas. He invites Scrooge to hisChristmas party each and every year, only to be refused by his grumpy uncle.

Fezziwig —The jovial merchant with whom the young Scrooge apprenticed. Fezziwig wasrenowned for his wonderful Christmas parties.

Belle —A beautiful woman who Scrooge loved deeply when he was a young man. Bellebroke off their engagement after Scrooge became consumed with greed and the lust forwealth. She later married another man.

Peter Cratchit — Bob’s oldest son, who inherits his father’s stiff-collared shirt for Christmas.

Martha Cratchit — Bob’s oldest daughter, who works in a milliner’s shop. (A milliner is aperson who designs, produces, and sells hats.)

Fan— Scrooge’s sister; Fred’s mother. In Scrooge’s vision of Christmases past, he remem-bers Fan picking him up from school and walking him home.

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The Portly Gentlemen —Two gentlemen who visit Scrooge at the beginning of the taleseeking charitable contributions. Scrooge promptly throws them out of his office. Uponmeeting one of them on the street after his visitations, he promises to make lavish donationsto help the poor.

Mrs. Cratchit — Bob’s wife, a kind and loving woman.

Analysis 9





ANALYSIS

A Christmas Carolis a fairly straightforward allegory built on an episodic narrative structurein which each of the main passages has a fixed, obvious symbolic meaning. The book isdivided into five sections (Dickens labels them Staves in reference to the musical notationstaff–a Christmas carol, after all, is a song), with each of the middle three Staves revolvingaround a visitation by one of the three famous spirits. The three spirit-guides, along with eachof their tales, carry out a thematic function–the Ghost of Christmas Past, with his glowinghead, represents memory; the Ghost of Christmas Present represents charity, empathy, andthe Christmas spirit; and the reaper-like Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come represents the fearof death. Scrooge, with his Bah! Humbug! attitude, embodies all that dampens Christmasspirit–greed, selfishness, indifference, and a lack of consideration for one’s fellow man.

WithA Christmas Carol,Dickens hopes to illustrate how self-serving, insensitive peoplecan be converted into charitable, caring, and socially conscious members of society throughthe intercession of moralizing quasi-religious lessons. Warmth, generosity, and overallgoodwill, overcome Scrooge’s bitter apathy as he encounters and learns from his memory,the ability to empathize, and his fear of death. Memory serves to remind Scrooge of a timewhen he still felt emotionally connected to other people, before he closed himself off in anaustere state of alienation. Empathy enables Scrooge to sympathize with and understandthose less fortunate than himself, people like Tiny Tim and Bob Cratchit. The fear of deathhints at imminent moral reckoning–the promise of punishment and reward.

With each Ghost’s tale functioning as a parable,A Christmas Caroladvances the Christianmoral ideals associated with Christmas–generosity, kindness, and universal love for yourcommunity–and of Victorian England in general. The book also offers a distinctly modernview of Christmas, less concerned with solemn religious ceremony and defined by morejoyous traditions–the sharing of gifts, festive celebrations, displays of prosperity. Thebook also contains a political edge, most evident in Dickens’ development of the bustling,struggling Cratchit family, who are a compelling, if one-dimensional, representation of theplight of the poor. Dickens, with every intention of tugging on your heartstrings, paintsthe Cratchits as a destitute family that finds a way to express profound gratitude for itsemotional riches. Dickens carries this sentiment even further with the tragic figure of thepure-hearted, crippled Cratchit son, Tiny Tim. Scrooge’s emotive connection to Tiny Timdramatically underscores his revelatory acceptance of the Christmas ideal. Scrooge beginsto break through his emotional barricade in Stave Three as he expresses pity for Tiny Tim.The reader, upon hearing the usually uncaring miser inquire into Tim’s fate, begins tobelieve Scrooge has a chance at salvation. Scrooge’s path to redemption culminates withhis figurative "adoption" of Tiny Tim, acting as "a second father" to the little boy.

Summary and Analysis 10





SUMMARY AND ANALYSIS

Stave One: Marley’s Ghost

SummaryOn a frigid, foggy Christmas Eve in London, a shrewd, mean-spirited cheapskate namedEbenezer Scrooge works meticulously in his counting-house. Outside the office creaks alittle sign reading "Scrooge and Marley"– Jacob Marley, Scrooge’s business partner, has diedseven years previous. Inside the office, Scrooge watches over his clerk, a poor diminutiveman named Bob Cratchit. The smoldering ashes in the fireplace provide little heat even forBob’s tiny room. Despite the harsh weather Scrooge refuses to pay for another lump of coalto warm the office.

Suddenly, a ruddy-faced young man bursts into the office offering holiday greetingsand an exclamatory, "Merry Christmas!" The young man is Scrooge’s jovial nephew Fredwho has stopped by to invite Scrooge to Christmas dinner. The grumpy Scrooge respondswith a "Bah! Humbug!" refusing to share in Fred’s Christmas cheer. After Fred departs, apair of portly gentlemen enters the office to ask Scrooge for a charitable donation to helpthe poor. Scrooge angrily replies that prisons and workhouses are the only charities he iswilling to support and the gentlemen leave empty-handed. Scrooge confronts Bob Cratchit,complaining about Bob’s wish to take a day off for the holiday. "What good is Christmas,"Scrooge snipes, "that it should shut down bus iness?" He begrudgingly agrees to give Boba day off but insists that he arrive at the office all the earlier the next day.

Scrooge follows the same old routine, taking dinner in his usual tavern and returninghome through the dismal, fog-blanketed London streets. Just before entering his house, thedoorknocker on his front door, the same door he has passed through twice a d ay for his manyyears, catches his attention. A ghostly image in the curves of the knocker gives the old mana momentary shock: It is the peering face of Jacob Marley. When Scrooge takes a secondre-focused look, he sees nothing but a doorknocker. With a disgusted "Pooh-pooh," Scroogeopens the door and trudges into his bleak quarters. He makes little effort to brighten hishome: "darkness is cheap, and Scrooge liked it." As he plods up the wide staircase, Scrooge,in utter disbelief, sees a locomotive hearse climbing the stairs beside him.

After rushing to his room, Scrooge locks the door behind him and puts on his dressinggown. As he eats his gruel before the fire, the carvings on his mantelpiece suddenly transforminto images of Jacob Marley’s face. Scrooge, determined to dismiss the strange visions,blurts out "Humbug!" All the bells in the room fly up from the tables and begin to ring






sharply. Scrooge hears footsteps thumping up the stairs. A ghostly figure floats through theclosed door–Jacob Marley, transparent and bound in chains.

Scrooge shouts in disbelief, refusing to admit that he sees Marley’s ghost–a strangecase of food poisoning, he claims. The ghost begins to murmur: He has spent seven yearswandering the Earth in his heavy chains as punishment for his sins. Scrooge loo ks closelyat the chains and realizes that the links are forged of cashboxes, padlocks, ledgers, andsteel purses. The wraith tells Scrooge that he has come from beyond the grave to save himfrom this very fate. He says that Scrooge will be visited by three spirits over the next threenights–the first two appearing at one o’clock in the morning and the final spirit arrivingat the last stoke of midnight. He rises and backs toward the window, which opens almostmagically, leaving a trembling Scrooge white with fear. The ghost gestures to Scrooge tolook out the window, and Scrooge complies. He sees a throng of spirits, each bound inchains. They wail about their failure to lead honorable, caring lives and their inability toreach out to others in need as they and Marley disappear into the mist. Scrooge stumbles tohis bed and falls instantly asleep.

CommentaryThe opening Stave ofA Christmas Carolsets the mood, describes the setting, and intro-duces many of the principal characters. It also establishes the novel’s allegorical structure.(Allegory, a type of narrative in which characters and events represent particular ideas orthemes, relies heavily on symbolism. In this case, Scrooge represents greed, apathy, andall that stands in opposition to the Christmas spirit. Bob personifies those who suffer underthe "Scrooges" of the world–the English poor. Fred serves to remind readers of the joyand good cheer of the Christmas holiday.) The opening section also highlights the novel’snarrative style–a peculiar and highly Dickensian blend of wild comedy (note the descriptionof Hamlet, a passage that foreshadows the entrance of the ghosts) and atmospheric horror(the throng of spirits eerily drifting through the fog just outside Scrooge’s window).

The allegorical nature ofA Christmas Carolleads to relatively simplistic symbolismand a linear plot. The latter is divided into five Staves, each containing a distinct episodein Scrooge’s spiritual re-education. The first Stave centers on the visitation from Marley’sghost, the middle three present the tales of the three Christmas spirits, and the last concludesthe story, showing how Scrooge has changed from an inflexible curmudgeon to a warm andjoyful benefactor. Underlying the narrative and paralleling the more ostensible theme ofmoral redemption, lies an incisive political diatribe. Dickens takes aim at the Poor Laws thengoverning the underclass of Victorian England. He exposes the flaws of the unfair systemof government that essentially restricts the underclass to life in prison or in a workhouse.(Dickens’ own father served time in debtor’s prison.) Dickens’ sympathetic portrayal ofBob Cratchit and his family puts a human face on the lower classes. Through Scrooge’simplic it defense of the Poor Laws (his argument that prisons are the only "charity" he cares






to support), Dickens dismisses the excuses of the indifferent upper class as an irresponsible,selfish, and cruel defense.

Stave Two: The First of the Three Spirits

SummaryScrooge awakes at midnight, which leaves him baffled–it was well after two a.m. whenhe went to bed. Initially, he thinks he has slept through an entire day or that it’s actuallynoon and the sun has merely gone under some sort of cover. He suddenly reme mbers thewords of Marley’s ghost. The first of the three spirits will arrive at one o’clock. Frightened,Scrooge decides to wait for his supernatural visitor.

At one o’clock, the curtains of Scrooge’s bed are blown aside by a strange, childlikefigure emanating an aura of wisdom and a richness of experience. The spirit uses a cap tocover the light that glows from its head. The specter softly informs Scroog e that he is theGhost of Christmas Past and orders the mesmerized man to rise and walk with him. Thespirit touches Scrooge’s heart, granting him the ability to fly. The pair exits through thewindow.

The ghost transports Scrooge to the countryside where he was raised. He sees hisold school, his childhood mates, and familiar landmarks of his youth. Touched by thesememories, Scrooge begins to sob. The ghost takes the weeping man into the school wherea solitary boy–a young Ebenezer Scrooge–passes the Christmas holiday all alone. Theghost takes Scrooge on a depressing tour of more Christmases of the past–the boy in theschoolhouse grows older. At last, a little girl, Scrooge’s sister Fan, runs into the room, andannounces that she has come to take Ebenezer home. Their father is much kinder, she says.He has given his consent to Ebenezer’s return. The young Scrooge, delighted to see hissister, embraces her joyfully. The aged Scrooge regretfully tells the ghost that Fan diedmany years ago and is the mother of his nephew Fred.

The ghost escorts Scrooge to more Christmases of the past including a merry party thrownby Fezziwig, the merchant with whom Scrooge apprenticed as a young man. Scrooge latersees a slightly older yet still boyish version of himself in conversation with a lovely youngwoman named Belle. She is breaking off their engagement crying that greed has corruptedthe love that used to impassion Scrooge’s heart. The spirit takes Scrooge to a more recentChristmas scene where a middle-aged Belle remini sces with her husband about her formerfiance, Scrooge. The husband says that Scrooge is now "quite alone in the world." Theolder Scrooge can no longer bear the gripping visions. He begs the Ghost of ChristmasPast to take him back, back to his home. Tormented and full of despair, Scrooge seizesthe ghost’s hat and pulls it firmly over top of the mystical child’s head, dimming the light.






As the inextinguishable, luminous rays flood downward onto the ground, Scrooge findshimself zipped back in his b edroom, where he stumbles to bed yet again and falls asleepimmediately.

CommentaryIn the allegory ofA Christmas Carol,the Ghost of Christmas Past represents memory. Theaged appearance of the childlike figure touches on the role of memory as a force that connectsthe different stages of a person’s life. His glowing head suggests the illuminating power ofthe mind. The ghost initiates Scrooge’s conversion from anti-Christmas grinch to a posterboy for the holiday season. Each episode in the montage of scenes shows a younger Scroogewho still possesses the ability to love, a person who is still in touch with his fellow humanbeings. As the visions pass before him, Scrooge watches himself become ever more coldand greedy until the ultimate scenes. His all-consuming lust for money destro ys his lovefor Belle and completes his reversion to a niggardly venomous recluse. The tour through hismemories forces Scrooge to recall the emotional episodes of his past. This dreamlike seriesof hallucinatory home movies brings the otherwise hardened man to tears. This breakdownand the reconnection with his feeling self initiates the process of melting away Scrooge’scold bah-humbug exterior.

An important aspect ofA Christmas Carol(which is probably today’s most popularChristmas tale, save for the seminal holiday story of Christ’s birth) is its modern view ofChristmas as a joyous holiday rather than as a solemn holy day. Eschewing the religiousideals of asceticism and austerity, the story promotes the more earthly values of universalbrotherhood, communal good spirit, and prosperous celebration. It is not immoral to possessriches or to throw lavish Christmas party or to enjoy a great feast, precisely because thesethings have the potential to spread joy and happiness–the purpose of the holiday season.One violates the Christmas spirit of goodwill when his desire for material pleasure–money,luxuries, sex–prevents them him from sharing himself with others. Dickens first sketches thisperspective on moral standards with the Christmas party at Fezziwig’s shop, which includesan exhilarating dance that bears little relation to the Birth of Christ or the Christian tradition.The religious underpinnings of Christmas are always present in the story’s backdrop–likethe church clock that keeps time throughout the tale–but, in general, Dickens uses them torefine and reflect his more contemporary conception of the holiday and his commentary onthe plight of the poor.






Stave Three: The Second of the Three Spirits

SummaryThe church clock strikes one, startling Scrooge, who awakes in mid-snore. Glad to beawake, he hopes to confront the second spirit just as it arrives. The echoes of the church bellfade, however, and no ghost appears. Somewhat disappointed, Scrooge waits for 15 minutesafter which a bright light begins to stream down upon him. Curious and a bit befuddled,Scrooge pads into the other room where he finds the second spirit waiting for him.

The figure, a majestic giant clad in green robes, sits atop a throne made of a gourmetfeast. In a booming voice, the spirit announces himself as the Ghost of Christmas Present.He tells Scrooge that he has more than 1800 brothers and his lifespan is a mere single day.The spirit orders Scrooge to touch his robe. Upon doing so, the feast and the room vanishinstantly and Scrooge finds himself alongside the spirit in the midst of the bustling cityon Christmas morning. Blissful passersby take pleasure in the wondrous sights and smellsabounding through the shop doors. People merrily shovel snow, tote bags of presents, andgreet one another with a cheery "Merry Christmas!"

The spirit then takes Scrooge to the meager home of Bob Cratchit, where Mrs. Cratchitand her children prepare a Christmas goose and savor the few Christmas treats they canafford. The oldest daughter, Martha, returns from her job at a milliner’s. The oldest son,Peter, wears a stiff-collared shirt, a hand-me-down from his father. Bob comes in carryingthe crippled young tyke, Tiny Tim, on his shoulders. The family is more than content despiteits skimpy Christmas feast. Scrooge begs to know whether Tiny Tim will survive. The spiritreplies that given the current conditions in the Cratchit house, there will inevitably be anempty chair at next year’s Christmas dinner.

The spirit takes Scrooge to a number of other Christmas gatherings, including the fes-tivities of an isolated community of miners and a party aboard a ship. He also takes Scroogeto Fred’s Christmas party, where Scrooge looses himself in the numerous party games andhas a wildly entertaining time, though none of the party guests can actually see him. Asthe night unfolds, the ghost grows older. At last, Scrooge and the ghost come to a vast anddesolate expanse. Here, the ghost shows Scrooge a pair of starving children who travel withhim beneath his robes–their names are Ignorance and Want. Scrooge inquires if nothingcan be done to help them. Mockingly, the ghost quotes Scrooge’s earlier retort, "Are thereno prisons? Are there no workhouses ?"

The spirit disappears as the clock strikes midnight and Scrooge eyes a hooded phantomcoming toward him.






CommentaryThe Ghost of Christmas Present serves as the central symbol of the Christmas ideal–generosity, goodwill, and celebration. Appearing on a throne made of food, the spiritevokes thoughts of prosperity, satiety, and merriment. Similarly, the moral outlook ofAChristmas Carolhas little to do with the solemnity of a religious occasion. Christmas, inDickens’ mind, should not bring about self-denial, renunciation, or emotional withdrawal.Christmas is a time of sharing one’s riches–emotional, spiritual, monetary, etc.–with thecommunity of man. A feast is a wonderful thing but only if one has loved ones with whomto share it. In this sense, the Ghost of Christmas Present also represents empathy enabl ingScrooge to not only see the Cratchits but to feel the sorrow and hardships of their daily toil.In essence, the celebratory aspects of Christmas that Dickens promotes are grounded in thisempathetic generosity. Christmas should stimulate within people a concern for the wantsand needs of ot hers and a euphoric joy in fulfilling these desires.

The scene at Bob Cratchit’s unassuming little abode is pivotal to the development ofthe novella. Dickens uses the opportunity to put forth a poignant criticism of the unfeelingmembers of a disconnected upper class and to present a highly sentimentalize d portrait of thelower classes. This picture is designed to address and undermine Victorian class prejudiceand awaken Dickens’ readers to the harsh realities of poverty. In 1843, whenA ChristmasCarolwas written, England had particularly stringent laws in governing the payment of debtsand the condition of penury. These draconian rules forced many poor people into prisonsand provisional workhouses. At the same time, many prominent politicians and theoristswere attempting to justify th ese conditions with arguments designed to de-legitimize therights of the underclass, a move that further hindered the ability of the poor to affect thegoverning of their own society.

Dickens was particularly disgusted with the writings of an economist named ThomasRobert Malthus, a wealthy man, who argued in hisEssay on the Principle of Population(1798) that population growth would always outpace food supply resulting in unavoidableand catastrophic poverty and starvation. (His equations, long sin ce debunked, postulatethat population growth will occur according to a geometric sequence, while food supply willgrow according to an arithmetic sequence.) In his pamphlet "The Crisis," Malthus supportedthe Poor Laws and the workhouses, arguing that a ny man unable to sustain himself hadno right to live, much less participate in the development of society. Dickens alludes toMalthus in Stave One, when Scrooge echoes the economist’s views on overpopulation inhis rebuke of the portly gentlemen. T he Cratchits are Dickens’ defense against this large-scale, purely economic, almost inhuman mode of thought–a reminder that England’s poorare all individuals, living beings with families and lives who could not and should not beswept behind a math equa tion like some numerical discrepancy.






Stave Four: The Last of the Spirits

SummaryThe phantom, a menacing figure clad in a black hooded robe, approaches Scrooge. Scroogeinvoluntarily kneels before him and asks if he is the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come. Thephantom does not answer, and Scrooge squirms in terror. Still reeling from the revelatoryexperiences with the last two spirits, Scrooge pleads with the ghost to share his lesson,hopeful that he may avoid the fate of his deceased partner.

The ghost takes Scrooge to a series of strange places: the London Stock Exchange, wherea group of businessmen discuss the death of a rich man; a dingy pawn shop in a Londonslum, where a group of vagabonds and shady characters sell some personal effects stolenfrom a dead man; the dinner table of a poor family, where a husba nd and wife express reliefat the death of an unforgiving man to whom they owed money; and the Cratchit household,where the family struggles to cope with the death of Tiny Tim. Scrooge begs to know theidentity of the dead man, exasperated in his attempts to understand the lesson of the silentghost. Suddenly, he finds himself in a churchyard where the spirit points him toward afreshly dug grave. Scrooge approaches the grave and reads the inscription on the headstone:EBENEZER SCROOGE.

Appalled, Scrooge clutches at the spirit and begs him to undo the events of his night-marish vision. He promises to honor Christmas from deep within his heart and to live bythe moralizing lessons of Past, Present, and Future. The spirit’s hand begins to tremble,and, as Scrooge continues to cry out for mercy, the phantom’s robe shrinks and collapses.Scrooge, again, finds himself returned to the relative safety of his own bed.

CommentaryWithin the allegory, the silent, reaper-like figure of the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Comerepresents the fear of death, which refracts Scrooge’s lessons about memory, empathy, andgenerosity, insuring his reversion to an open, loving human being. InA Christmas Carol,thefear of death connotes the anticipation of moral reckoning and the inevitable dispensation ofpunishment and reward–literally the split between heaven and hell. In this way, the Ghostof Christmas Yet to Come briefly interjects a more somber, strictly Christian perspectiveinto the secularized tale. This serves to remind Scrooge of Jacob Marley’s fate, the horrificconsequences of greed and selfishness–a fate that will doom Scrooge, as well, unless he canchange his ways.






Stave Five: The End of It

SummaryScrooge, grateful for a second chance at his life, sings the praises of the spirits and ofJacob Marley. Upon realizing he has been returned to Christmas morning, Scrooge beginsshouting "Merry Christmas!" at the top of his lungs. Genuinely over joyed and bubblingwith excitement, Scrooge barely takes time to dress and dances while he shaves. In a blur,Scrooge runs into the street and offers to pay the first boy he meets a huge sum to delivera great Christmas turkey to Bob Cratchit’s. He meets one of the portly gentlemen whoearlier sought charity for the poor and apologizes for his previous rudeness, promising todonate huge sums of money to the poor. He attends Fred’s Christmas party and radiatessuch heartfelt bliss that the other guests can hardly manage to swallow their shock at hissurprising behavior.

The following morning, Scrooge arrives at the office early and assumes a very sternexpression when Bob Cratchit enters eighteen and a half minutes late. Scrooge, feigningdisgust, begins to scold Bob, before suddenly announcing his plans to give Cratchi t a largeraise and assist his troubled family. Bob is stunned, but Scrooge promises to stay true to hisword.

As time passes, Scroogeis as good as his word: He helps the Cratchits and becomesa second father to Tiny Tim who does not die as predicted in the ghost’s ominous vision.Many people in London are puzzled by Scrooge’s behavior, but Scrooge merely laughs offtheir suspicions and doubts. Scrooge brings a little of the Christmas spirit into every day,respecting the lessons of Christmas more than any man alive. The narrator concludes thestory by saying that Scrooge’s words and thoughts should be shared by of all of us ... "andso, as Tiny Tim observed, God bless us, Every one!"

CommentaryThis short closing Stave provides an optimistic and upbeat conclusion to the story, showingthe new Ebenezer Scrooge starting off his new life with a comic display of happiness andChristmas cheer. It also rounds out the symmetrical structure of the novella, as Scroogeencounters, in sequence, the same people he treated with cruelty in Stave One. Only thistime, the newly reborn Scrooge sheds his grumpy bah humbugs in favor of warm holidaygreetings. He sends a turkey to the Cratchits and gives Bob a raise, atoning for his previousbitterness toward his clerk in Stave One. Scrooge also asks Bob to order more heating coalswhere previously, in Stave One, he forced Bob to suffer in the cold. He apologizes to theportly gentleman he meets on the street and pledges lavish contributions for his charity,where in Stave One he threw him out of his counting-house. Scrooge also happily attends






Fred’s party, where, before the ghostly visits, he had told Fred that he would see him in hellbefore coming to the party.

The last comment holds a great deal of significance in Stave Five, as Scrooge has quiteliterallyescapedhell by going to the party–or rather, by experiencing the moral conversionthat compels him to look fondly on the holiday gathering. He is quite literally a saved manand the story of his redemptions ends with a note of extraordinary optimism. The famouslast words of the novel–"God bless us, Every one!"–conveys perfectly the fellow feelingand good cheer to which Scrooge awakens as his story unfolds and thatA Christmas Carolso vehemently celebrates.

Study Questions 19





STUDY QUESTIONS

1. In what way isA Christmas Carol an allegory? What are the symbolic meaningsof the main characters?

A Christmas Carolis an allegory in that it features events and characters with a clear, fixedsymbolic meaning. In the novella, Scrooge represents all the values that are opposed to theidea of Christmas–greed, selfishness, and a lack of goodwill toward one’s fellow man. TheGhost of Christmas Past, with his glowing head symbolizing the mind, represents memory;the Ghost of Christmas Present represents generosity, empathy, and the Chri stmas spirit;and the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come represents the fear of death and moral reckoning.The Cratchits represent the poor, whom Dickens portrays with warmth and sympathy whileseeking to draw attention to their plight.

2. How does the time scheme of A Christmas Carol function? Why might Dickenshave chosen to structure his book in this way?

Time is very important inA Christmas Carol,which is structurally centered around distinctelements of Past, Present, and Future. But, the time scheme of the story itself seems to makelittle sense. On Christmas Eve, Jacob Marley’s ghost tells Scrooge that he will be visitedby three ghosts on three successive nights. On Christmas morning, Scrooge awakes, havingalready been visited by all three ghosts. The three nights seem to be compressed into asingle night. The presence of the spirits apparently bends the normal flow of time. A viewfurther supported b y the fact that Scrooge goes to bed at two o’clock in the morning afterMarley’s visitation and awakes at midnight the same night–two hours after he fell asleep.Dickens uses the tem poral inconsistencies to emphasize the supernatural powers of thespirits–when they are around, normal earthly standards, including the flow of time, have noeffect.

3. What role does social criticism play inA Christmas Carol? To what extent is thestory a social commentary?

Social Commentary–particularly those statements directed at the Poor Laws governing thelower classes during Dickens’ time–plays an important but not a central role inA ChristmasCarol. Dickens often uses Scrooge as a mouthpiece to express the more callous justificationsand excuses used to defend the harsh treatment of the poor. Malthus’ theory that anyone whocould not support himself did not have a right to live is a good example of these outrageousclaims. Asked whether he wishes to sup port a charity, Scrooge replies that he does supportcharities–prisons and workhouses, which are all the charity the poor need. Dickens harshlycriticizes these attitudes and presents a highly sympathetic view of the poor through his

Study Questions 20





depiction of the C ratchits. On the whole, however, the numerous messages ofA ChristmasCarol expand far beyond this narrow political critique of Victorian society.

4. How is the holiday of Christmas portrayed in the story? (Think of the moral, social,aesthetic, and religious aspects of the holiday.) In what way doesA Christmas Carolhelp to define the modern idea of Christmas?

5. Compare and contrast the three spirits who visit Scrooge. What are their mainsimilarities? What are their main differences? Do their differences have any the-matic significance? (Why, for instance, do they look and dress so differently?)

6. Think about the story’s narrator and about the way Dickens chooses to tell histale. What role does humor play in the narration? How do the comic aspects of AChristmas Carol interact with and support the moral and ghost-story aspects? Howdoes Dickens blend comedy and horror?

7. How is wealth treated in the story? Is it a sign of moral corruption and greed, ordoes Dickens offer a more complex assessment?

Review and Resources 21





REVIEW AND RESOURCES

Quiz

1. Which of the spirits does not speak to Scrooge?A. The Ghost of Christmas Yet to ComeB. The Ghost of Christmas PastC. The Ghost of Christmas PresentD. All the spirits speak to Scrooge.

2. What is Jacob Marley forced to drag about as a result of his sinful life?A. A huge safe full of leadB. An ox cart piled with goldC. Heavy chains forged from ledgers and lockboxesD. A cross made of gold

3. Why does Scrooge like darkness?A. It helps him sleep.B. It helps him to forget his past.C. It hides the ghosts from his eyes.D. It is cheap.

4. Where does Martha work?A. At a seamstress’B. At a laundress’C. At a blacksmith’sD. At a milliner’s

5. Who is in the grave in Stave Four?A. Ebenezer ScroogeB. Jacob MarleyC. Bob CratchitD. Tiny Tim






6. In what year wasA Christmas Carol written?A. 1830B. 1837C. 1843D. 1846

7. Which character is Fred’s mother?A. Mrs. CratchitB. FanC. BelleD. Fezziwig

8. Why does Belle end her engagement to Scrooge?A. Because she falls in love with FredB. Because she falls in love with PeterC. Because Scrooge is too poor for herD. Because Scrooge is consumed by greed

9. What is the Ghost of Christmas Present’s throne made of?A. FoodB. GoldC. Pine needlesD. Fur

10. To whom does Scrooge send the Christmas turkey?A. FredB. BelleC. The CratchitsD. Jacob Marley

11. Who brings Scrooge home from school?A. BelleB. FanC. FezziwigD. The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come






12. Which one of the spirits has a glowing head?A. The Ghost of Christmas PresentB. Jacob MarleyC. The Ghost of Christmas Yet to ComeD. The Ghost of Christmas Past

13. Who appears in Scrooge’s door-knocker?A. Jacob Marley’s ghostB. Fan’s ghostC. DeathD. The Ghost of Christmas Past

14. How does Fezziwig die?A. He falls ill with pneumonia.B. He is struck in the head by a horse’s hoof.C. Fezziwig does not die in the novel.D. Fezziwig does die in the novel, but the manner of his death is unspecified.

15. Which spirit takes Scrooge to a ship at sea?A. The Ghost of Christmas PastB. The Ghost of Christmas PresentC. The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come

16. Who inherits Bob Cratchit’s shirt?A. Tiny TimB. ScroogeC. FredD. Peter

17. Who asks Scrooge for a charitable contribution?A. Two merry gentlemenB. Two portly gentlemenC. Two obsequious gentlemenD. Two angry gentlemen






18. What is Scrooge’s typical response to "Merry Christmas"?A. "Bah! Nonsense!"B. "Pah! Life’s too short!"C. "Bah! Humbug!"D. "Oh, fiddlesticks!"

19. Which character utters the famous words, "God bless us, Every one"?A. Tiny TimB. Bob CratchitC. ScroogeD. The Ghost of Christmas Present






Answer Key:

1: A

2: C

3: D

4: D

5: A

6: C

7: B

8: D

9: A

10: C

11: B

12: D

13: A

14: C

15: B

16: D

17: B

18: C

19: A

Documents

Christmas Carol