Compare And Contrast A Christmas Carol And Scrooge

How do we know when or how to change ourselves as people? Sometimes, we all need a shove from something or someone to help us better ourselves. The most dominant factors are kindness, fear, and regret. These three things can make us willing to go through the hassle and hard work of breaking out of a habit, whether it be putting your feet on the couch, or your attitude.

Kindness can really make a difference in a person's attitude. In “A Christmas Carol”, the Cratchits and Scrooge's nephew Fred show kindness to Scrooge, even though Scrooge showed quite the opposite to them. Or in “Thank you M’am”, when Ms. Jones makes Roger food and gives him money to buy his shoes, instead of reporting him to the police. Even in “Little Things Are Big”, when Jesus decides to help people even if he has to face prejudism. These stories all show turning points, and these examples show

how kindness had changed these characters/people. A real life example would be when I was a toddler, and I would sometimes throw temper tantrums. Of course, my mom would discipline me, but sometimes she would be kind to me and guided me to become calmer. That has shaped my behaviour nowadays, and makes me understand that kindness can change the little or big things.

Fear will either do two things; make you break, or make you change.

Of course, the most dominant example of fear was when Scrooge met The Ghost of Christmas Future, and saw his fate. Scrooge saw that people wouldn’t show up to his funeral, and saw that some thieves even stole from his room whilst his corpse was still resting in his bed. It made Scrooge want to become a better person, and have a better legacy when he died. In “Thank You M’am”, Roger was scared that Ms. Jones would report him to the police or kidnap him. When Ms. Jones shut the door on him, he was scared straight to knowing that stealing was wrong, and that the next time he steals somebody won’t be as generous as the lady. In my small group learning, Jesus was too scared about being faced with prejudice to help the lady with the valise and the kids. He hated that he was scared, so he decided to change himself to be helpful, even if he may be shunned by the way he looked. If somebody is about to lose their job, they change to focus more and learn how to do their job better. We all do have fear, but in some situations fear can be

good.

And lastly, we come to regret. We all have regrets, maybe about what you said to your parents five years ago, or what you ate yesterday. But sometimes our regrets can be bigger than that, a force that also weaves into fear. The Ghost of Christmas Past showed our dearest Ebenezer his past, how he was always alone, his sister, his ex lover. This made Scrooge realize his faults, and made him regret how he treated others. Ms. Jones talked about how she too had done things she regretted, and that’s why she changed and related to Roger enough to help him. Jesus regretted how he never helped the lady based on his own fear, and decided enough was enough, and he always will be the better person. Regret is many people's insecurities, it’s what can make people dwell on the past instead of moving forwards. But, regretting what you did one time or said one time can help you change your actions.

Change is something that is very hard to do. We are so numb to our ways, we forget that we can be affecting others opinions of us. But as kindness, fear, and regret slither into our lives, we remember that sometimes we need to go through the hassle of breaking a habit to better ourselves.