A Christmas Carol

By Charles Dickens
The life of Charles Dickens
Charles Dickens, considered as the most popular writer of the Victorian
age, was born near Portsmouth, England, in 1812 and died in Kent in 1870.
When his father was thrown into debtors prison, young Charles was taken
out of school and forced to work in a shoe-polish factory, which may help
explain the presence of so many abandoned and victimized children in his
novels.
After his father was released from prison, Dickens returned to school,
eventually becoming a law clerk. He went on to serve as a court reporter
before taking his place as one of the most popular English novelists of his
time. At the age of 25, Dickens completed his first novel, The Pickwick
Papers, met with great success. This started his career as an English literary
celebrity, during which he produced such masterpieces as Great
Expectations, David Copperfield, A Tale of Two Cities, and A Christmas Carol.
A hilarious comedy and a scathing criticism of the inhuman features of
Victorian industrial society are combined cleverly to make his writing both
funny and moral.
Some background information
A Christmas Carol is a long story of the kind sometimes called a
novella (big for a story but too short to be a novel). Charles Dickens wrote it
in 1843 - the first of a series of what he called Christmas Books. It quickly
became popular and influenced the way people in Britain think of Christmas.
Dickens divides the book into five chapters, which he labels "staves",
that is, song stanzas or verses, in keeping with the title of the book. The book
has a very forthright structure - the first stave is the exposition of the novel,
setting the stage; the next three staves correspond with the three spirits that
visit Scrooge; and the last stave is the conclusion.
Plot
A Christmas Carol is a morality tale which centres on Ebenezer Scrooge

- a miserly old man who doesn't believe in all of the good cheer and charity that the
season promotes but believes that Christmas is just an excuse for people to miss
work and for idle people to expect hand-outs.

The night of Christmas Eve, Scrooge is visited by the ghost of his former
business partner, Jacob Marley - a man who was as greedy and cold as
Scrooge is. Marley warns Scrooge that if he continues to live so selfishly, he
will spend eternity wearing the chains that his greed has built. He also tells
Scrooge that he will be haunted by three more spirits.
Three ghosts visit Scrooge successively: the Ghost of Christmas Past,
the Ghost of Christmas Present, and the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come.

Through reflecting on his past, understanding things about his present, and
looking into his dark future if he stays on his current path, Scrooge repents
his sins and promise to change his ways. And he really did.

Setting
Like many of Dickens' novels, this one is set mainly in London some time
in the middle of the 19th century. Because the story is relatively short, the
locations are only sketched.

Characters
Ebenezer Scrooge a man who lives on his own and is not willing to

communicate or share his life with others; who is only interested in money in
amassing a fortune, but still being unfortunate. However, with the help of the three
spirits he truly understands his error in valuing money over people. Awaking on
Christmas morning, Scrooge is indeed a new man - he becomes giving, loving, jolly
and charitable, carrying the spirit of Christmas with him all the year round.
Fred Scrooge's nephew, the son of his beloved but now dead sister, is his
only living relative, and also the only person who wants to pull him out of isolation
and back into the world. Fred embodies the jollity and sharing of Christmas. He
refuses to let Scrooge's "Bah! Humbug!" attitude bring him down, and is overjoyed
when his uncle finally attends his party.

Bob Cratchit - Scrooge's clerk. He is a kind and poor man with a large
family. Though treated harshly by his boss, Cratchit remains a humble and
dedicated employee.
Tiny Tim - He is a minor character, the young son of Bob Cratchit, and is
seen only briefly, but serves as an important symbol of the consequences of
the Scrooges choices and actions being underpaid, Bob Cratchit does not
have enough money to take care of his child.
The Ghost of Christmas Past This is the first spirit to visit Scrooge. He
resembles a child; he is gentile and soft, with very strange clothing and a
glowing head. He takes Scrooge on a tour of Christmases in his past. This
helps Scrooge to see what kind of person he has been before and compare it
to what he is now - how the greed for money has changed his life and made
him miserable.
The Ghost of Christmas Present - The second spirit to visit Scrooge, a
majestic giant clad in a green robe. His lifespan is restricted to Christmas
Day. He takes Scrooge to the houses of his nephew and his clerk men who
are poor but still much happier than Scrooge. They celebrate the holiday with
joy and happiness, being grateful for what they have.

The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come - The third and final spirit to visit
Scrooge, a silent phantom clad in a hooded black robe. He presents Scrooge
the ominous view of his lonely death. That view finally makes Scrooge to
regret for what hes become and promise to change.

Themes:
- The Christmas spirit - Above all, A Christmas Carol is a celebration of
Christmas and the good it inspires. At Christmas time, people forget their
petty quotidian disputes, selfish tendencies, and workaholic schedules in
favour of friendship, charity, and celebration.
- Actions and Consequences The important and lasting consequences
that result from our actions is a key theme of the novel. For Jacob Marley, the
actions that he carried out in life had eternal consequences. Marley also
refers to the chain that Scrooge is forging, one that is bigger and longer than
Marleys. The actions that Scrooge had chosen in his past show the person
hes become in the present. The consequences that Scrooge sees through
The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come are a result of the actions that he is
choosing in the present.
- Compassion and Forgiveness This theme is represented by the
contrast between those people who are willing to feel pity towards Scrooge
(his ex-fiance, his nephew, his clerk) and those who coldly dismiss him as
he does them (fellow business people, his servants) and of course, by
Scrooge himself when he transforms to a good, charitable man.
- The Possibility of Change There is always a chance for everyone to
change and to start his life in a better way. Every single man creates his life
by himself, by the choices he makes and actions he takes.
- The Right and the Wrong Ways to Use Money It is quite well shown
that money itself does not bring any happiness. It is your relationship with
others, the generosity and love between you that brings it. Money could
bring you happiness only if you use it to bring others happiness.
- Critique of Victorian society - Dickens blames the huge class
stratification of Victorian England on the selfishness of the rich and,
implicitly, on the Poor Laws that keep down the underclass. Scrooge is the
obvious symbol of the greedy Victorian rich, while the Cratchits represent the
working poor.
Language
In one word, the language is complex, definitely not the way it is in the
tales for children. The novel is also full of detailed descriptions, vivid
metaphors and comparisons.
Symbols
Marleys chains There are two important things about it. They are
made of cash-boxes, keys, padlocks, ledgers, deeds, and heavy purses
wrought in steel and as Marley says: "I wear the chain I forged in life. I made

it link by link, and yard by yard. That is to say that these are the chains that
his greed has built.
At the end of Stave 3, Scrooge sees under the robe of the Ghost of
Christmas Present, two children, whose names show that they are symbols:
Ignorance and Want. They are wretched, frightful, hideous, miserable
yellow, meagre, ragged, scowling, wolfish. The spirit warns Scrooge to
beware them and especially the Ignorance - because it is exactly the
ignorance that stops someone from caring and helping others.
The Ghost of Christmas Past represents memory.
Ghost of Christmas Present represents celebration and charity.
Ghost of Christmas Yet To Come represents death, but also the
possibility that the future is not determined, but open to the free will of
humans.
Also, as its been said above, Scrooge is the symbol of the greedy
Victorian rich, while the Cratchits represent the working poor, generally seen
as good.
Besides, Tiny Tim serves as an important symbol of the consequences of
the Scrooges choices and actions being underpaid, Bob Cratchit does not
have money to take a better care of his child. So it is not by chance that in
the end of the novel one thing describing the changes in Scrooges life is the
figurative "adoption" of Tiny Tim 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. He became as good a friend, as good a master, and as good a man,
as the good old city knew.
Message
The message of A Christmas Carol is: We must be interested and value
our relationships with others - our family, our beloved, people around us rather than money. That is the way to be happy and to make the world a
better place to live in for everyone.

Kaloyan Totev