Born in 1812, Charles Dickens, generally, was regarded as the greatest English novelist in a very important era in the development of British civilization. He had to go through a lot of sufferings during his childhood, what is referred in many of his works. His writingns mirror the contemporary social phenomena of his time. As a part of this reflection, young boys and girls are an important part of his writings. Christmas Carol is a novella reflecting a miser who is very rich but mean and cruel to everyone, and his interaction and his purification after being visited by four spirits on Christmas Eve. The question involved is directly related to the main theme of this novella as there is no tension, conflict, plot and finally delight and teaching without the visiting of the spirits to Scrooge. Scrooge had no sympathy, kindness or love to his fellow people; he always used to think about himself and his money but his new beginning comes after he has gone through interaction with the four spirits.
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Scrooge led a life against the spirit of Christmas. There was no love in him, let alone kindness, mercy, compassion or generosity. He even did not have any justice to the men working under him. His partner, Jacob Marley who died seven years ago came as a form of a spirit and warned that his past and present was leading to a bad future. Scrooge was a workaholic; he loved the money he used to get, and did not bother sharing it with anyone, let alone the people who worked under him. He was known to have no fear at all — nothing used to scare him. But the frightening sound of the chains that were being dragged along the floor by the first spirit; his dead partner, Jacob Marley, really shook him into a understanding and brought him back to earth and into the reality of believing something he never had before. This is the first time that Scrooge became afraid and this confrontation made him, you can say, soft hearted. The spirit of Marley described his “incessant torture of remorse”.
The Ghost of Christmas past was the first of the three spirits that haunted the miser Ebenezer Scrooge in order to make him realize that he was man wihtout any remorse. He showed him scenes from his past that occurred on or around Christmas, in order to demonstrate to him the need of changing his ways, as well as to show the reader how Scrooge came to be the person he was and his particular dislike for Christmas. Most of the events which affected Scrooge occurred around the Christmas holiday season, seeing as he thinks that Christmas is a “ridiculous” excuse for a holiday. According to Dickens’ novel, the Ghost of Christmas Past appears to Scrooge as a white-robed figure of unfixed age. He carried with him a metal cap, made in the shape of a candle extinguisher.
The Ghost of Christmas Past first showed Scrooge his old boarding school where he was deserted by family and friends. Then he was shown the day when his beloved, younger sister Fan picked him up from there after repeatedly asking their father if he could come back home. Next, Scrooge was shown an episode from his time as an apprentice to Mr. Fezziwig. The spirit also showed Scrooge the day when, as a young man, he left Belle, his fiancée, as he had developed more interest in money than in her. Finally, the Ghost showed him how she married and found true happiness with another man. After this vision, Scrooge, out of anger, extinguished the Ghost of Christmas Past with his cap and found himself back in his bedroom. From this you know that this is already leading to a greedy future and that he is careless with other people and doesn’t know other people’s feeling and he relies upon his money more than his loved ones. Structurally and thematically, the visit of the first spirit is important for various reasons. Firstly, it creates tension among the minds of the readers to go forward. It is the foundation of the novella successfully structured in line with the rest of the work. It is linked to the main event, which brings some expected feeling in our mind. Secondly, without this, the character and its description remain incomplete because this Ghost of Christmas Past that tells us what type of man Scrooge was and is. His inner character is reviled and it is reflected in the mirror before him, which helps him a lot to identify him. Because of this visit, change becomes easy for him. This is a beginning to be to return to his past, his childhood, his innocence.
The Ghost of Christmas Present was the second of the three spirits that haunted the miser Ebenezer Scrooge. According to Dickens’ novel, the Ghost of Christmas Present appears to Scrooge as “a jolly giant” with dark brown curls. He wears a fur-lined green robe and on his head a holly wreath set with shining icicles. He carries a large torch, and appears accompanied by a great feast. He states that he has had “more than eighteen hundred” brothers and later reveals the ability to change his size to fit into any space. The spirit transports Scrooge around the city, showing him scenes of partying. Amongst the visitors are Scrooge’s nephew, and the family of his clerk, Bob Cratchit. The spirit also shares a vision of Tiny Tim’s crutch, carefully preserved by the fireplace. Scrooge asks if Tim will die. The Ghost first states that “If these shadows remain unaltered by the Future, the child will die” Tim’s illness is not inherently fatal, but the Cratchits lack the funds for Tim to receive proper treatment; courtesy of Scrooge’s miserliness, then, quick to use Scrooge’s past unkind comments toward two charitable solicitors against him, suggesting he “had better do it, and decrease the surplus population.” Scrooge is shocked at his own words and is concerned for Tiny Tim and his family. The spirit finally reveals to Scrooge two thin, wasted children in appearance and nasty to watch, clinging to his robes, and names the boy as Ignorance and the girl as Want.
The spirit warns Scrooge, “Beware them both, and all of their degree, but most of all beware this boy, for on his brow I see that written which is Doom, unless the writing be erased”. The spirit once again quotes Scrooge, who asks if the unknown children have “no refuge, no resource,” and the spirit says with Scrooge’s same words, “Are there no prisons, no workhouses?” filling Scrooge with hate, which he uses against himself. The Ghost of Christmas Present, having already aged, reveals that he will only exist on Earth for a single year’s Christmas holiday. He finally disappears at the stroke of midnight on Twelfth Night, and leaves Scrooge to face the Ghost of Christmas yet to come, as it approaches “like a mist along the ground”. This ghost had special impact on Scrooge; it made him realize that there were other people’s lives at stake here, if he kept on going on as he was. The ghost shows him, and he comes to realize that he can’t keep all his wealth for himself and do whatever he wants with no matter what happens, rather he comes to think that he should spend money on other people that will need it more than him, for example, Tiny Tim, and the unknown children, which he could use to build house and orphanages which will help children and decrease poverty. The Ghost of Christmas Present creates a connection to the past and present. His present inner self turns away from his previous position and with regret; his mind makes effort to be changed. It shows him his present condition and activities with the consequences for his mean, cruel and unjust dealing with people. His nature and life style not only endangers the lives of the past but also present. This creates a conflict between his sense of assistant and good quality. He feels a great regret. He wants to get rid of the whole mire.
The Ghost of the Christmas Future is the last of the three (after the visitation by Jacob Marley) that haunts the miser Ebenezer Scrooge in order to encourage him to adopt a more caring attitude in life and avoid the horrid afterlife of Marley. Scrooge finds the Ghost of Christmas yet to come the most fearsome of the spirits; he appears to Scrooge as a figure entirely covered in a black hooded robe, except for a single skeletal hand with which he points. Although the character never speaks in the story, Scrooge understands him, usually through flashbacks and confrontation from his previous experiences and rhetorical questions. The Ghost’s general appearance suggests that he may be associated with the Grim Reaper. The Ghost’s features may also have been intended to represent the uncertainty of the future. When the Ghost makes his appearance, the first thing he shows Scrooge is three wealthy gentlemen making light of a recent death, who remark that it will be a cheap funeral, and they would only go if lunch is provided. Next, Scrooge is shown the same dead person’s belongings being stolen and sold to a receiver of stolen goods called Old Joe. After pleading to the ghost to see some softness connected with death, Scrooge is shown Bob Cratchit and his family mourning the passing of Tiny Tim.
In conclusion, the visits of the three Christmas Ghosts make Scrooge a completely new man. In the prior visitations, the Ghost of Christmas Present states that Tim’s illness was not inherently fatal, but implies that the meager income Scrooge provided to Bob Cratchit did not provide funds for proper treatment. Scrooge is then taken to an unkempt graveyard, where he is shown his own grave, and realizes that the dead man of whom the others spoke ill was himself. This is the final straw. Scrooge thinks, from this day forward, he is a completely changed man, thinking of others first and of him after. He also changes the fate of Tiny Tim, giving Bob Cratchit a pay rise. He also changes his thoughts of Christmas and starts to celebrate it with others. Scrooge will never have to bear the chains of Marley again, and from now, he is a good man.