Examples Of Evil In A Christmas Carol

In a world of 7.125 billion people, it would very well be impossible for every person to be a good individual. We like to think of ourselves as inherently good, but during the coarse of our life things happen that mold us into who we are today, either good or evil. During the novel, A Christmas Carol written by Charles Dickens, we are able to see humanity’s capacity for good and evil through three main characters that are a practical representation of these attitudes. Even though Scrooge is depicted as an insensitive, tight-fisted grumpy gentleman, Charles Dickens revels the personalities of Bob Cratchit and Fred, to create a contrast in people and show that not everyone follows in this brash mans footsteps.

Charles Dickens creates a very

bold minded character, Ebenezer Scrooge, by using descriptive language to represent him as a cold-hearted man overcome with greed and selfishness. In order to get the full effect of his evil being, Dickens describes Scrooge throughout many stages of his life. As we look deeper into his character, we can notice that he, just like everyone else, has the ability to be nice but something inside him restricts it from happening. The Ghost of Christmas Past takes us on a journey to a time when Scrooge was a joy to be around; he was kind and loving, being the fact that he had a fiancé. Over the coarse of time, people’s personality and attitude toward certain situations change, and in Scrooge’s case, it was for the worse. "If I could work my will," said Scrooge indignantly, "every idiot who goes about with 'Merry Christmas' on his lips should be boiled with his own pudding, and buried with a stake of holly through his heart. He should!" (Stave One, page 9). Christmas, a time of celebration, is now a time where he goes to his big empty house and sit alone miserably. Scrooge currently despises this time of year, but as we traveled back in time, we saw him dancing and celebrating among the rest of the festive people. This just proves that people can flip-flop between being good and evil without a though of hesitation.
On the other end of the spectrum, Dickens introduces quite a few more characters that are selfless, caring beings that make the best out of bad situations, such as Bob Cratchit and his poor life.

Bob Cratchit is a very unique individual. Working for Ebenezer Scrooge as his clerk, he barley makes any money to support his family; it is just enough to get by for now. He lives in a small house with his wife and six children. On Christmas day, Mrs. Cratchit cooks a small goose for dinner, not sufficient enough to feed eight people, but that is all they could afford. Bob Cratchit is a very respectable man due to his manors and positive outlook on everything. At his Christmas dinner, he could be angry with Scrooge and how he gets treated, but instead Mr. Cratchit raises his glass to him: "Mr. Scrooge!" said Bob; "I'll give you Mr. Scrooge, the Founder of the feast!" (Stave Three, page 28), showing how thankful he is for what the family does actually have. Clearly the Cratchit family isn’t the wealthiest of them all, but what makes them better than the rest is the fact that they make the best out of what they have, and don’t mourn over what they don’t, showing their capacity for

good.
Along with Bob Cratchit, Fred, Scrooge’s nephew is a delightful person to be around because of his cheerful attitude and positive point of view on life, keeping his spirits high even when around the lowest attitudes.

When someone gets knocked down, it is not easy to get back up and try again. With Fred, this statement is not true. Every year his goes to his uncle’s office wishing him a merry Christmas and invites him over for a Christmas celebration, and unfortunately gets the same response every time, “Bah, humbug!” After stating how great of a holiday Christmas is, Fred says to Scrooge, “Don’t be angry, uncle. Come! Dine with us tomorrow” (Stave One, page 10). Despite the fact that Fred already knows the answer, he continues to ask every year, hoping that one time he will change his mind and decide to join the party. Usually when someone repeatedly gets told to go away and turns you down time after time, they would give up trying, but that is not like Fred. He is a perfect example of someone trying to spread happiness wherever he can, keeping his head high when getting knocked down. Fred is filled with goodness inside his heart, which someday it will soon pay

off.
As it had been noted, the author of A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens, composed multiple characters whose personalities vary due to their inclination to be good or spiteful. Ebenezer Scrooge, Bob Cratchit and Fred represent the characters in the novel that range in personalities. Not only in the book, but these types of situations appear in real life as well. One can compare the lives of good verse evil and develop a moral that can be considered useful in everyday life. Good will always persevere, as evil will be punished.