A Christmas Carol World Lit Honors Emily Pick Often, readers don’t hear their protagonist shouting phrases such as “Bah!” and “Humbug!”, yet Ebenezer Scrooge is known as the prime character in the novel A Christmas Carol written by Charles Dickens. Right off the bat, the reader can notice Scrooge is known for being bitter, self absorbed, selfish, and cruel. Over the course of the book, the reader will reevaluate the main character and notice he becomes warmer, joyous, and pleasant. Growth and prosperity have both taken place by the end of the novel. Readers can observe these traits while Scrooge’s clerk, Bob Cratchit, asked to take off Christmas with still getting paid, and he completely denied the idea. Little Scrooge had his whole life revolved around money due to his harsh past. We, as readers, can distinguish the results of this complication as the novel proceeds. Thus, creating the man he was in the introduction of the book, and constructing the image of Scrooge’s sorrow filled life. There was a great deal of development from our protagonist throughout the book. The story begins with Scrooge’s closest friend Jacob Marley, in which just passed away, and Scrooge doesn’t feel the need to pay for his casket. Money is a first priority for Scrooge, and this is easily shown multiple areas throughout the first section of the Little did Ebenezer Scrooge know, this was going to be the kickoff to a substantial journey on his night of Christmas Eve. The ghost of Christmas past had the appearance similar to a child, yet it had some characteristics comparable to a lit candle. This ghost took Scrooge to all of his most painful memories leading up to his present day position. After brief reminders of these incidents, Scrooge started to get melancholy. Events from his schooldays, his engagement, and even his happy apprenticeship with his former boss Fezziwig provided enough insight for the main character to visit his childhood. Scrooge then got an unexpected visit from the ghost of Christmas Present. He took the display of a gigantic man, dressed in a green robe. This ghost helped provide an insight for Scrooge on what his acquaintances were doing on Christmas Eve night. Bob Cratchit, had a dinner with his family and could barely afford any food due to his low wage from Scrooge. Lastly, Ebenezer received a visitation from the ghost of Christmas yet to come. The ghost was strictly straightforward with Scrooge’s future if he kept acting similar to what he did. The three ghosts provided a prolonged climax to the story, giving Ebenezer a direct turning point in his actions and beliefs. He had adjusted to not making
Dickens displays guilt as the main form of how Scrooge’s character develops into a compassionate person by the end of the novella. As Scrooge feels this quilt, it's purely based on the visions that the ghosts provide which further causes Scrooge to realise the consequences of his actions. His alienation from specific characters that he used to love such as Belle, “...has displaced me…” whom left Scrooge, due to his desire for money and wealth which grew. This desire grows with him as he is rejecting the christmas joy and spirit as he continuously states that Christmas is a “humbug,” but by stating this it provides comparison. Dickens depicts that Scrooge has become a better person because of fear but in the end he has become kinder. As the
Scrooge was and owner of a factory and made a whole bunch of money, but he did not care about anyone else. “Merry Christmas said his nephew, what right do have to be merry you are poor enough”. This shows that scrooge is mean to family and does not care about Christmas.
in a number of ways. At the start of the novel, Scrooge is a penny –
On Christmas Eve , Scrooge is gone by a progression of ghosts,starting with his old business accomplice, Jacob Marley. The three spirits follow,the Ghosts of Past , Christmas present and Christmas future ,show how his ,mean conduct has influenced everyone around him. Toward the finish of the story ,he is soothed to find that there is still time for him to change and we see him changed into a liberal and kind hearted person.
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.
Those three spirits visited each day to haunt him about his Christmas. Eventually, he traveled with two of the three spirits, but when the spirit of Christmas Future arrived, Mr. Scrooge realized that he would die in a few years. Ebenezer begged for mercy and promised to celebrate Christmas with joy and festivity. (Dickens 7-32) After the haunting with the spirits, Mr. Scrooge woke up and asked a boy what day it was. When the little boy, Adam, replied that it was Christmas, he ordered the boy to purchase the humongous bird at the poultry shop.
“hear me! I am not the man I was. I will not be the man I must have been but for this intercourse.” “I will honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year. I will live in the Past, the Present, and the Future. The Spirits of all Three shall strive within me. I will not shut out the lessons that they teach. Oh, tell me I may sponge away the writing on this stone!” (Dickens, Stave 4, Page 84) Finally, Scrooge changed for good.
On page 64, we see how Scrooge shows sympathy in the quote, “There was a boy singing a Christmas carol at my door last night. I should like to have given him something. That 's All.” After being shown a memory of himself as a boy, Scrooge regrets being harsh to the boy caroling and not giving him any money. Seeing his own sadness as a child made him realize it would have been nice to give the boy something to make him happy. He will probably do nicer things in the future because he now realizes that the boy would have been upset because of how Scrooge turned him away so harshly. He is changing his actions, and regretting bad actions in the past. He wants to fix what he did wrong, and he feels sympathy for the boy. People want to be shown compassion, so in the future if he helps people out and is kind, he will not be as isolated. Another quote to show how he becomes less detached from humanity is on pages 92-93, ‘”Spirit,” said Scrooge, “Tell me if Tiny Tim will live.” Scrooge feels sorry for Bob Cratchit because the spirit says if the future remains unaltered he will die. He feels upset that Tiny Tim will die, and sympathy for Bob because his son will probably die. He probably regrets not giving Bob more time with his son. He had made a comment earlier that if someone will die they better go and die to decrease the population, when the donation collector
Charles Dickens’s powerful novel encompasses the notion that generosity involves more than just the giving of money, it requires the giving of one's goodwill and compassion, this required for Scrooge’s own redemption as well as attempting to insinuate within the reader a reflection of their own values and behaviours. Dickens’s novella also acts to warn Scrooge and the audience of the ramifications of their actions if they do not take this into consideration, that generosity always involves more than just the giving of money, it requires the giving of one's goodwill and compassion.
Just like the play, Ebenezer Scrooge is the main character in the story. He is a mean, cold-hearted man that has no Christmas spirit whatsoever. All that Scrooge cares about and will ever care about is his wealth until he is taken on a journey. He is lead by 3 ghosts of his past, present, and future as he was in the play. These ghosts show him what Christmas spirit is and try to force it upon him. All of this finally hits him once he is taken to the future and witnesses his own grave. Scrooge pleads for a second chance to change his bad ways. Once he wakes up in his bedroom after all of this craziness, he jumps for joy and makes many new friends while mending with some old friends. He fixes many of his wrongs and lives out the rest of his life as a happier, friendlier, and a generous
In summation the Novella A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, Ebenezer Scrooge was an unhappy man who was given the chance to change. The ghost that prompted this the most was the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come. The ghosts all showed us something different about Scrooge, but the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come was literally the final nail in the coffin of Scrooge’s humbuginess! In the end Scrooge was a changed man, who was more merry than could be. He never again question the spirit of
Ebenezer Scrooge is the major character, the miserly owner of a London counting-house, a nineteenth century term for an accountant's office, in the story, A Christmas Carol written by Charles Dickens.
He is taken to the streets of his town. Scrooge sees three businessmen discussing his funeral. They say that they thought he would never die. They also say that they will only go to his funeral if there is food there, but if there is no food they don't plan on attending. Nor, do they even think that there will be a funeral because there will be no one willing to pay for it because he was such an awful person. Scrooge is unable to put two and two together to figure out that this was what was going to happen to him. He thought that they were talking about his ex business partner, James Marley. Next, Scrooge sees people discussing things that they would want to sell for money. They then begin discussing how they had taken it off dead Scrooge’s body after he had died. They explain how they had taken the very clothes he was wearing right off of his back and just left him there. They took everything they thought they could make money off of. Scrooge, while watching the scene, realizes that this is an awful thing to happen to someone, but still does not understand that it is him that they are talking about. Finally, Scrooge is taken to his grave with the Ghost Of Christmas Future. The ghost points at the grave and gestures for him to get in it. Scrooge pleads, and pleads with the spirit to allow him to live, and after a while of begging, the ghost shakes a little bit and puts his finger down. “Spirit, this is a
The ghost of christmas present, sitting on top of what seems to be either a stack of presents of a bent pine tree. Scrooge was frightened at first when the spirit had seemingly lifted the foom from the house and flown to other places around London. Stopping at his nephews house to listen in to the toast he had proposed for his uncle, Ebenezer Scrooge. He said Scrooge had paid for his feast in a more round about way and wished him good health. This seemed to hit home with Scrooge because he shed a tear when the ghost brought him to Tiny Tims house. Only to find out that Tim would not live much longer unless he
Meeting the Ghost of Christmas Past begins the first stage of Scrooge’s transformation: regretting his actions. When Scrooge is shown his younger self alone in his classroom on Christmas, he regrets chasing a Christmas caroler away from his door. The Spirit skips ahead a few years to show him a happier time. His sweet little sister Fan arrives to take him home, and this is his first Christmas in a long time that is spent with family. Unfortunately, Scrooge doesn’t see it that way; seeing this scene makes him “uneasy in his mind” as he thinks about the way he treats his nephew Fred. Instead of treating him like his only family member, Scrooge denies invitations to Christmas dinner every year and is rude whenever Fred speaks to him. He doesn’t have time to dwell on this for long, however; Scrooge has many other important things to think...