"It is required of every man," the ghost returned, "that the spirit within him should walk abroad among his fellow-men and travel far and wide; and if that spirit goes not forth in life, it is condemned to do so after death."
Contents
(To reach a section, use the "Find" command in your Edit menu)
Characters
Plot Summary
Themes
Character Analysis
Notes and Quotes
Study Questions
Characters and Symbols
Ebenezer Scrooge, an old miser
Bob Cratchit, clerk to Ebenezer Scrooge
Peter Cratchit, his son
Tim Cratchit (Tiny Tim), a cripple and the youngest son of Bob Cratchit
Mr. Fezzywig, the kindhearted merchant; Scrooge's first boss
Fred, Scrooge's nephew
Ghost of Christmas Past, a phantom showing things of the past
Ghost of Christmas Present, a spirit of a kind and generous nature
Ghost of Jacob Marley, the spirit of Scrooge's former partner
Fan, Scrooge's sister
Belle, Scrooge's old sweetheart
Joe, a fence (sells stolen goods)
Mr. Topper, a bachelor
Dick Wikins, Scrooge's fellow apprentice
Caroline Cratchit, wife of Bob Cratchit
Belinda and Martha Cratchit, daughters of Bob and Caroline
Mrs. Dilber, a laundress
Mrs. Fezzywig, wife of the merchant
Symbols in A Christmas Carol
The title- Dickens saw his tale as one to be heard and shared, as Christmas carols spread joy and bring people together
The Staves- part of the musical imagery, each chapter is a stave
A carol is a song of joy or praise. It is often intended to teach something. In this case, the praise is of Christmas and how it is able to make people forget their troubles, and of Scrooge because he changes his ways. A stave, as for as I can remember from fundamental structures, is a section of the music where the mood is all the same. At each stave, there is a different mood. This is the case in A Christmas Carol, where each stave has a definite message and mood.
Ebenezer Scrooge- the greed of humanity. Scrooge's transformation symbolizes the agility of the human race and its possibility for hope. His name (screw + gouge) means he is hard-hearted.
The Counting House- the current lust and greed of society; Utilitarianism
Jacob Marley- his conscience, and the conscience of mankind.
His chain- how the acts of our life come back to "haunt us"
THE GHOSTS
Christmas Past- how are experiences make us who we are (that is why he is both a child and an old man- who we are and who we will be as well as who we were).
Christmas Present- many opportunities to care for others that surround us that we often miss, and how big the world is- that is why the ghost displays abundance but is also slowly dying.
Christmas Yet to Come- our fear of the future and also our control over it- the future is what we make of it, that is why you cannot see the face of the spirit and he is cloaked in black.
Ignorance and Want are man's children- they symbolize the plight of the poor and the causes of their poverty as well as mankind's obligation to them (that's why they are man's children).
Fan- the importance of caring and family and Fred symbolizes current family obligations and support, as well as her).
Scrooge's Father- regret for past misdeeds and fear of death
Belle- love and chances not taken.
Fezzywig- the power of employment and goodwill. That is why Scrooge says he has the power to make his employees happy or sad; to make their jobs easy are hard; Scrooge also says that the goodwill he creates cannot be made with money.
Bob Cratchit- the plight of the working class. He is also pure good- not hating Scrooge and toasting him for what little he has, he symbolizes gratefulness for what one has.
Tiny Tim- the trust and piety as well as the innocence of the poor, weak, incapacitated and ill.
The Weather (cold and foggy)- This could be scene as the clearing of Scrooge's mind. Notice the imagery: in the beginning of the book, Cratchit is nearly frozen and shivers constantly in the cold, but is not allowed to put more coal on the fire. Scrooge, on the other hand, does not notice that it is cold. This is a symbol of Scrooge's cold heart. The weather reiterates this point. The warming of his heart is symbolized by his allowing Cratchit to buy another coal scuttle at the end of the book, and the burning off of the fog.
Dickens uses weather and inanimate objects often to symbolize bigger ideas. Life is given to things like doorknockers, and meaning is given to weather. There is a reason for everything!
Plot Summary
Ebenezer Scrooge was a miser if ever there was one- grasping and covetous, cold and foggy as the outdoors. He kept a clerk, Bob Cratchit on a measly fifteen shillings a week with a very small fire. His only family, a nephew named Fred, tried to get him to spend Christmas with him and Scrooge's only reply was "Bah. Humbug."
The spirit of his former partner, Jacob Marley, visits Scrooge on Christmas Eve. Jacob tells him he made his chain link by link and his spirit is condemned to walk the earth desperately trying to help his fellow man to no avail. He tells Scrooge his last hope is to be visited by three ghosts- the Ghost of Christmas Past, the Ghost of Christmas Present and the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come. Scrooge dismissed his vision, saying "there's more of gravy than of grave about you, whatever you are" and going to sleep.
The Ghost of Christmas Past shows Scrooge himself as a young boy, alone in a school on Christmas. His sister Fan comes to take him home, telling him their father had a change of heart. On a later Christmas Scrooge visits himself and his old sweetheart Belle, and watches in horror and sadness and he sees himself break off their engagement. Scrooge is also shown happy times, as he sees himself apprenticed to the kind and merry merchant Fezzywig.
The Ghost of Christmas Present is full of good cheer and blessings. He shows Scrooge his fellow man, and takes him to Bob Cratchit's house and Fred's house. Scrooge cannot believe how squalidly his clerk lives, and worries about his son, Tiny Tim, who is crippled. He asks if Tim will live, and is told that he will likely die. Scrooge is then shown man's children, Ignorance and Want. He worries about them and also about the spirit, as he sees it die.
The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come is terrifying, dark and silent. He shows that Scrooge will have no one to grieve when he dies and his maid will steal from him, but there will be those to grieve for Tiny Tim.
Scrooge wakes up Christmas day and is thrilled to find that it is still Christmas. He sends a turkey anonymously to Cratchit's family and goes to dinner at Fred's. He also becomes like a second father to Tim, and a symbol of merriment in the town.
THEME
Quicklist
economic disparity, love for fellow men and charity
The central theme is that money does not make happiness, and that those that have it should give to the less fortunate.
Redemption
Scrooge is redeemed because he learns how to let his spirit walk among his fellow men. He shows this by becoming 'a better man, a better master' as the good old city ever knew, etc (last sentence). He shows his redemption slowly by his actions, reactions and emotions.
For example, when the Ghost of Christmas Past shows him his sister and remarks that she had a good heart, Scrooge feels for her and begins to show more affection for his nephew. He also remarks that Fezzywig had the power to make his apprentices happy or sad- a recognition that he returns to by treating his clerk Cratchit better.
When the Ghost of Christmas Present shows him the marketplace, Scrooge thinks about how the spirit's blessing helps those with poor meals. He aslo remarks on how all of the people he is shown- the miners, the sailors, his nephew, the Cratchits- are happy and merry even though they have no money. He worries about Tiny Tim, and asks whether he will live.
`Spirit,' said Scrooge, with an interest he had never felt before, `tell me if Tiny Tim will live.'
`I see a vacant seat,' replied the Ghost, `in the poor chimney-corner, and a crutch without an owner, carefully preserved. If these shadows remain unaltered by the Future, the child will die.'
He has up until this point shown no care for the poor, and certainly not for Cratchit. Scrooge shows real fear toward the children, Ignorance and Want, and asks if there is anyone to care for them. At this point, he realizes that he was selfish to want to send them to prisons and workhouses- he does not have the right to choose who lives or dies, and he (as the spirit says) is not fit to live. He also shows interest and sorrow when he finds that the spirit will only live a few hours.
In the Christmas Yet to Come, Scrooge asks to see sorrow in connection with a death, and is devestated by Tiny Tim's. He has undergone his transformation at this point, and feels duly sorrow that no one will be there for his death except his thieving servants. He also notes when he sees his tombstone that although there seems to be no hope for him, there is and he will change.
After Scrooge wakes, he sends a turkey to the Cratchits. This in itself would not be redemption of he didn't follow through in other ways- he pays the boy, he pays for the cab, and he delights in thinking that they will not know who it is from. He is not trying to just save himself (he would have put his name on the turkey if he was) he really wants to make a difference. He treats Cratchit kindly, and visits his nephew. In fact he becomes a good man to all of the people he has let down, and in his actions and change of heart he is redeemed.
Is A Christmas Carol A Dream?
Yes. All of Dickens's ghost stories are. In this case, the dream is psychological. Scrooge is in turmoil because deep down he does have a conscience. Awakening dreams were some of Dickens' favorite plays on psychology, and he loved to have people "wake up" to a new reality. In this case, Scrooge realizes who he has become and snaps out of it. He is skeptical at first, but has his life's journey replayed for him. He is shown his present as well, and through the spirit how fleeting it is. His fear of the future and what he knows he'll become also haunts him. So in truth, Scrooge is haunted by his own ghosts.
This book is a ghost story. Victorian authors enjoyed ghost stories where it is murky whether or not the person experiencing the visitation is "awake" or not. Victorians believed that ghosts would visit people in their dreams or while they were just waking. Thus the scenes in the novel are not flashbacks- where a character remembers- they are "glimpses", where a character is shown scenes from his life by a third party, a ghost or goblin, against his will. You'll notice that there are present and future glimpses as well.
I should qualify my second answer by saying that Dickens often wrote very similar stories and fooled around in the ghost story genre more for fun. An early short story featured in his first novel Pickwick Papers called "The Story of the Goblins Who Stole a Sexton" is wonderfully similar, but almost satirical in comparison (which is odd, since it was written first). It is also about a grumpy man who experiences glimpses, this time by goblins. Most of these stories, such as "Haunted Man" and "Cricket on the Hearth" were part of the Christmas Books, a yearly tradition in which Dickens published a Christmas story having a theme similar to Carol, often a ghost story. Thus the ghost stories and the Christmas Books are similar, but other novels for which Dickens is famous- Oliver Twist, A Tale of Two Cities, Bleak House, David Copperfield, Great Expectations and others- are nothing like this in anything but theme. Some do have similar themes.
The Ghost of Christmas Present
There is a symbol attached to each location to which Scrooge is taken and everything he is shown.
1. Crachit home
This is to show Scrooge how selfish he has been, and that love and not money is required for true happiness. Seeing Tiny Tim should give him a personal face on Crachit's troubles and show that he really needs to do more and is the cause of their suffering (because he doesn't pay them enough). Scrooge should be shocked into action.
2. The hut of the miner
Once again, to basically show Scrooge that there are people out there that are suffering, and his face-to-face meeting with them is to shock him. Once again they are happy in their little that they have, on the surface anyway.
3. The keepers of the light house
These people are also in desperate need, but they can wish each other "Merry Christmas". It is one thing that they can hold onto. It is not humbug, it is hope.
4. The ship at sea
Christmas gives the men hope- it reminds them of their family and gives them a reason, small as it may be, to be cheerful. They are nice to each other! This surprises Scrooge.
5. Scrooge's nephew's home
This shows that Scrooge is considered silly by others, but they still care about him even as badly as they treat him. They are sorry for him, which would surprise Scrooge because after all, they are poor and he is rich. But they are happy and he is alone! Scrooge is reminded by their merrymaking of how he used to be young, and he gets excited watching them play games. He starts to wish that he had paid more attention to his kind-hearted nephew. EVERYONE IS CHEERFUL! Yet they are all poor and desolate. That is the theme of this whole part.
6. Sick beds
They are cheerful, even though they are sick.
7. Foreign lands
Everyone celebrates at this time of year, and it brings people together, which it the true spirit of the holidays.
8. Almshouses, hospitals, jails
People that do not have a right to be happy are able to be so.
9. The boy "Ignorance"
These are the children of society, and they will be the result of Scrooge does not get involved. The boy is doom, meaning that ignorance is the doom of society. Scrooge wanted to send these children (i.e. the ignorant and poor of society) to workhouses and prisons. When he sees what they endure, he is horrified. By ignoring what happens, by ignoring the boy, suggests the spirit, it will be made worse.
10. The girl, "Want"
She too is suffering, and Scrooge has an obligation to help her now that he has seen her.
Charles Dickens
The author's philosophy is that people should be philanthropic and reach out to fellow man. It is pretty much summed out when the book says that if a man's spirit does not walk around the earth in life it is condemned to do so in death. This can be taken many ways, but essentially a person's memory is all that will be left behind. This book is not just about Christmas- Dickens used Christmas time to write a collection of short novels- known as the Christmas books- because Christmas is a time when, for many reasons, people are sensitive to philanthropy and generosity as themes. This is one of the reasons that the book has universal appeal- it can be read at any time by anyone, and the moral is the same. Scrooge learns in the book what it means to be a good human being, something we all can learn.
Humanity
The theme is that no person is more important than any other, and it is each person's duty to help those less fortunate.
It is required of every man,' the Ghost returned,
`that the spirit within him should walk abroad among
his fellowmen, and travel far and wide; and if that
spirit goes not forth in life, it is condemned to do so after death. It is doomed to wander through the
world -- oh, woe is me! -- and witness what it cannot
share, but might have shared on earth, and turned to
happiness!' (Stave 1)
Children
To Dickens, children always symbolized innocence and sometimes the mistreatment of others by those in power. Tiny Tim's death in A Christmas Carol, for instance, symbolizes the death of an innocent at the hands of the powerful- Scrooge. Ignorance and Want are of course symbols of man's evils. Children can also be the foundation of a catharsis, and this is the case in A Christmas Carol. It begins when Scrooge remembers himself as a child, then sees others' children, meets Ignorance and Want and witnesses Tiny Tim's death. I would focus on those three children because they are Dickens' vehicles for change in A Christmas Carol.
Character Analysis
Ebenezer Scrooge
Basically, he was a grouchy old miser. He cared for no one, did not love anyone, and lived for money. He is cold of countenance and heart. He does not care that his clerk's family and his nephew are nearly starving, as long as he is a man of business and everyone leaves him alone. When asked for contributions to a charity, he asks where the workhouses and prisons are. When told that many of the poor will not go there, and many would rather die, he suggests that if they are going to die they had better do so and decrease the surplus population! He is always cold, he goes through a journey of self-discovery and he has changed over the years due to success.
"Oh! But he was a tight-fisted hand at the grindstone, Scrooge! a squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous, old sinner! Hard and
sharp as flint, from which no steel had ever struck out generous fire; secret, and self-contained, and solitary as an oyster. The cold within him froze his old features, nipped his pointed nose, shriveled his cheek, stiffened his gait; made his eyes red, his thin lips blue; and spoke out shrewdly in his grating voice. A frosty rime was on his head, and on his eyebrows, and his wiry chin. He carried his own low temperature always about with him; he iced his office in the dogdays; and didn't thaw it one degree at Christmas. External heat and cold had little influence on Scrooge. No warmth could warm, could warm, no wintry weather chill him. No wind that blew was bitterer than he, no falling snow was more intent upon its purpose, no pelting rain less open to entreaty. Foul weather didn't know where to have him. The heaviest rain, and snow, and hail, and sleet, could boast of the advantage over him in only one respect. They often `came down' handsomely, and Scrooge never did." (Stave 1)
`Men's courses will foreshadow certain ends, to which, if persevered in, they must lead,' said Scrooge. `But if the courses be departed from, the ends will change. Say it is thus with what you show me.' (Stave 4)
"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, or any other good old city, town, or borough, in the good old world. Some people laughed to see the alteration in him, but he let them laugh, and little heeded them; for he was wise enough to know that nothing ever happened on this globe, for good, at which some people did not have their fill of laughter in the outset; and knowing that such as these would be blind anyway, he thought it quite as well that they should wrinkle up their eyes in grins, as have the malady in less attractive forms. His own heart laughed: and that was
quite enough for him.
He had no further intercourse with Spirits, but lived upon the Total Abstinence Principle, ever afterwards; and it was always said of him, that he knew how to keep Christmas well, if any man alive possessed the knowledge. May that be truly said of us, and all of us! And so, as Tiny Tim observed, God bless Us, Every One! "
(Stave 5)
Tiny Tim
Tiny Tim is remarkable only because of his famous prayer "God bless us
every one!" and because it is he who makes Scrooge rethink how he treats people. "Alas for Tiny Tim, he bore a little crutch, and had his limbs supported by an iron frame." Tiny Tim is "as good as gold" and is a little saint. His father says "he hoped the people saw him in the church, because he was a cripple, and it might be pleasant to them to remember upon Christmas Day, who made lame beggars walk, and blind men see". Tim's presence is to remind wealthy people that the most
Christian behavior can come from the poor.
The Ghost of Christmas Past
"It was a strange figure -- like a child: yet not so like a child as like an old man, viewed through some supernatural medium, which gave him the appearance of having receded from the view, and being diminished to a child's proportions. Its hair, which hung about its neck and down its back, was white as if with age; and yet the face had not a wrinkle in it, and the tenderest bloom was on the skin. The arms were very long and muscular; the hands the same, as if its hold were of uncommon strength. Its legs and feet, most delicately formed, were, like those upper members, bare. It wore a tunic
of the purest white, and round its waist was bound a lustrous belt, the sheen of which was beautiful. It held a branch of fresh green holly in its hand; and, in singular contradiction of that wintry emblem, had its dress trimmed with summer flowers. But the strangest thing about it was, that from the crown of its head there sprung a bright clear jet of light, by which all this was visible; and which was doubtless the occasion of its using, in its duller moments, a great extinguisher for a cap, which it now held under its arm. Even this, though, when Scrooge looked at it with increasing steadiness, was not its strangest quality. For as its belt sparkled and glittered now in one part and now in another, and what was light one instant, at another time was dark, so the figure itself fluctuated in its distinctness: being now a thing with one arm, now with one leg, now with twenty legs, now a pair of legs without a head, now a head without a body: of which dissolving parts, no outline would be visible in the dense gloom wherein they melted away. And in the very wonder of this, it would be itself again; distinct and
clear as ever. "
The Ghost of Christmas Present
"It was clothed in one simple green robe, or mantle, bordered with white fur. This garment hung so loosely on the figure, that its capacious breast was bare, as if disdaining to be warded or concealed by any artifice. Its feet, observable beneath the ample folds of the garment, were also bare; and on its head it wore no other
covering than a holly wreath, set here and there with shining icicles. Its dark brown curls were long and free; free as its genial face, its sparkling eye, its open hand, its cheery voice, its unconstrained demeanour, and its joyful air. Girded round its middle was an antique scabbard; but no sword was in it, and the ancient sheath was eaten up with rust."
"Think of that. Bob had but fifteen bob a-week himself; he pocketed on Saturdays but fifteen copies of his Christian name; and yet the Ghost of Christmas Present
blessed his four-roomed house."
Ignorance and Want
"They were a boy and a girl. Yellow, meagre, ragged, scowling, wolfish; but prostrate, too, in their humility. Where graceful youth should have filled their features out, and
touched them with its freshest tints, a stale and shrivelled hand, like that of age, had pinched, and twisted them, and pulled them into shreds. Where angels might have sat
enthroned, devils lurked, and glared out menacing. No change, no degradation, no perversion of humanity, in any grade, through all the mysteries of wonderful creation, has monsters half so horrible and dread."
`Spirit. are they yours.' Scrooge could say no more.
`They are Man's,' said the Spirit, looking down upon them. `And they cling to me, appealing from their fathers. This boy is Ignorance. This girl is Want. 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. Deny it.' cried the Spirit, stretching out its hand towards the city. `Slander those who tell it ye. Admit it for your factious purposes, and make it worse. And abide the end.'
The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come
"It was shrouded in a deep black garment, which concealed its head, its face, its form, and left nothing of it visible save one outstretched hand. But for this it would have been
difficult to detach its figure from the night, and separate it from the darkness by which it was surrounded. He felt that it was tall and stately when it came beside him, and that its mysterious presence filled him with a solemn dread. He knew no more, for the Spirit neither spoke nor moved."
Fan
Scrooge's little sister was loving and caring. She stayed at home, but he was sent away to school by their father. She comes to return him home, where he is apprenticed to Fezzywig. Scrooge loves her very much, so that when she dies (very young) and leaves son, Scrooge feels resentment toward the son and vows to never love anyone again.
'It opened; and a little girl, much younger than the boy, came darting in, and putting her arms about his neck, and often kissing him, addressed him as her `Dear, dear
brother.'
`I have come to bring you home, dear brother.' said the child, clapping her tiny hands, and bending down to laugh. `To bring you home, home, home.'
`Home, little Fan.' returned the boy.
`Yes.' said the child, brimful of glee. `Home, for good and all. Home, for ever and ever. Father is so much kinder than he used to be, that home's like Heaven. He spoke so
gently to me one dear night when I was going to bed, that I was not afraid to ask him once more if you might come home; and he said Yes, you should; and sent me in a coach to bring you. And you're to be a man.' said the child, opening her eyes,' and are never to come back here; but first, we're to be together all the Christmas long, and have the merriest time in all the world.'
`You are quite a woman, little Fan.' exclaimed the boy.
She clapped her hands and laughed, and tried to touch his head; but being too little, laughed again, and stood on tiptoe to embrace him. Then she began to drag him, in her childish eagerness, towards the door; and he, nothing loth to go, accompanied her."
(Stave 2)
Notes and Quotes
A Christmas Carol and Cinderella
Dickens subtitled the book something like "A Christmas Ghost Story" so it had definite gothic intentions. However I am always taken by the fact that Scrooge does not seem to think that the fact that he is visited by four ghosts who talk to him and show him glimpses is strange at all! Come to think of it (and I have not read Cinderella, I only saw the Disney version so I may be wrong) Cinderella does not seem to think it odd that a fairy shows up and changes her into the belle of the ball! If I were to say anything about the Victorian's sentiment about ghosts it would be that they did not fear them and believed them to be an extension of the living world- this seems to be the feeling about the supernatural in general!
In the case of A Christmas Carol, the ghost's position is to mitigate class barriers (by helping Scrooge realize that the poor are people too). Come to think of it, this is exactly what the fairy accomplishes in Cinderella, by pointing out that the prince likes a poor girl just the same, and she can be beautiful! In both cases it takes a near-disaster for people to realize this- the whole thing with the shoe in Cinderella and Tiny Tim in CC.
More Quotes
`Man of the worldly mind!' replied the Ghost, `do you believe in me or not?'
`I do,' said Scrooge. `I must. But why do spirits walk the earth, and why do they come to me?'
`It is required of every man,' the Ghost returned, `that the spirit within him should walk abroad among his fellowmen, and travel far and wide; and if that spirit goes not forth in life, it is condemned to do so after death. It is doomed to wander through the
world -- oh, woe is me! -- and witness what it cannot share, but might have shared on earth, and turned to happiness!'
(Stave 1)
'I wear the chain I forged in life,' replied the Ghost. `I made it link by link, and yard by yard; I girded it on of my own free will, and of my own free will I wore it. Is its pattern strange to you?'
Scrooge trembled more and more.
`Or would you know,' pursued the Ghost, `the weight and length of the strong coil you bear yourself? It was full as heavy and as long as this, seven Christmas Eves ago. You have laboured on it, since. It is a ponderous chain!'
(Stave 1)
`I am here to-night to warn you, that you have yet a chance and hope of escaping my fate. A chance and hope of my procuring, Ebenezer.'
`You were always a good friend to me,' said Scrooge. `Thank `ee!'
`You will be haunted,' resumed the Ghost, `by Three Spirits.'
(Stave 1)
Study Questions and Answers
1.) I know the main character is Scrooge and what is his development throughout the story? How does he change throughout.....his character development???
Scrooge develops from a grumpy old miser to a happy, generous person. He is shown that life is short, and that it is a person's responsibility to look after others. He comes to realize that it is possible to be happy, and happiness has nothing to do with money.
2.) What is the theme for Stave 2 and Stave 3?
The theme of Stave 2 is that we should all love, and we should pay attention to those that we love. They are the most important parts of life. This is demonstrated by Scrooge's recollections of an unhappy childhood and his true love that he left to pursue a career in business.
3.) What would be a good essay topic for this book.......has to be something about why children love it (something bout literature for children)?
For one thing, the story is simple- the lesson is to be good to people, because that is the only way to be happy. Children can relate to the metaphorical characters- the grumpy old man, the poor clerk, the joyful nephew, the saintlike little boy. The story is stark and vivid. It is easy to understand but hard to forget.
4) Trace the changes in Scrooges personality from stave 1 to stave 5
Scrooge is a miser in the beginning who has no sympathy for anyone, pays his clerk next to nothing and makes him freeze to death, and believes the poor have no right to live. After his visit from Marley he is somewhat frightened, but really not enough to change his ways- although he does show his first signs of sympathy. As he is visited by the ghost of the past he begins to let up and feel for his younger self, his sister and his fiance. When shown the present, he is overcome by pity for a few moments about Tiny Tim and Cratchit's wretched household, and awe at the people he sees that are happy even though they are poor. He begins to pity himself a little more because he sees how happy others are. He is beginning to repent, especially when he asks if Tim will live. When he is shown Ignorance and Want, he begin to realize how harsh he has been and is already beginning to change his thinking. He shows sympathy for the spirit as it dies and the children as they are, well ignorant and starving. However when the third ghost appears he makes his final transformation when he sees that Tim has died due to his neglect, and there is no one there when he dies except for those who steal from him. In Stave 5 he actually makes due on his transformation be repenting and redeems himself by his actions- he is a better uncle and a better master and a symbol of charity and good for the rest of his life.
5) Explain the causes of the changes that took place and what effect did these changes have on Scrooge and his relationships with people
See above; as a result he becomes a better master to Cratchit, a second father to Tim and a real member of the family to Fred.
6) Hypothesize what might have occurred in scrooge's life had these spirits not visited them as they did...explain thinking that has led to this hypothesis.
This is clearly shown in stave 4 when the ghost of the future comes to visit. Scrooge continues his miserly existence as he has led it his entire life and there is no one there at his deathbed or to mourn for him when he dies.
7) What is the purpose of Stave Three as it relates to the theme of the book?
Stave Three is intended to unite Scrooge with the idea that money does not make happiness, and that those in poverty can be happy and are given hope by Christmas. He is brought to his earlier statement (are there no prisons, are there no workhouses, etc) when he meets the children of Ignorance and Want.
8) Why does the spirit take Scrooge to the lighthouse, the prison, the Cratchit home, his nephew's home, the marketplace, etc.?
As disused above, to bring out the theme of the book and to make Scrooge realize it.
9) How does Scrooge react to Tiny Tim, and how does it change his feelings toward his clerk and the poor?
Scrooge pities him and realizes that he did not know Cratchit had a crippled son. He sees his lack of providing for the family as murder in the sense that if the boy dies and he has done nothing to stop it he is in part responsible. Seeing how the Cratchit's live puts a face on the poor for Scrooge and makes him realize that he has caused poverty, rather than sticking to himself (by paying Cratchit so little).
10) How does Tiny Tim's phrase "God bless us, every one" become important in everyday culture?
This expression by a little injured boy of equitable justice has lived on as an embodiment of the spirit of the season as one of thanks and forgiveness.
11) Who are Ignorance and Want and why are they important?
The boy is Ignorance and the Girl is want, beware them both but most of all beware the boy- for he wears doom on his forehead. As a man's spirit must walk upon the earth in life, it is his duty to help the ignorant and poor because they hinder the future of mankind in general. They are man's children, thus the future of our race as human beings. Without helping them we can never prosper.
12) Why does the Ghost of Christmas Present say that Scrooge does not have the right to live?
Scrooge claims that the poor are less justified in living (i.e. when the charity-seeker tells him that many would not go to the workhouses and many would rather die and he says that if they are going to die they'd better do it and decrease the surplus population). The ghost believes instead that those who never do a kind thing for others are not justified in living.
13) How does Scrooge's notice of the spirit's age change him?
Scrooge is starting to feel sentimental in relation to death, which foreshadows events in Stave Four but is a thing to think about now.
All information herein is copyrighted Literature Made Simple 2002.
Cite Literature Made Simple in MLA
Tracy, Trinity. "Notes on A Christmas Carol." Dickens Made Simple. 2002. http://www.dickensmadesimple.com (date of access).
