In the beginning of the book, “A Christmas Carol” by Charles Dickens, Ebenezer Scrooge is a cold, selfish and greedy man. He owns a business and is rich, but never does anything good with his money and keeps it to himself. He thinks of Christmas as a useless holiday and does not care to talk or smile to anybody he sees. However, as the spirits of the past, present and future visit him, Scrooge becomes much kinder and wants to become a better person. He learns to care for others and becomes more engaged in his community.
During Scrooge’s encounter with the Ghost of Christmas Past, Scrooge personality improves tremendously. Before Scrooge’s encounter with the first ghost, Scrooge was cold and untrustworthy. This is portrayed in the second stave on page 31, when Scrooge triumphantly states, “The hour itself, and nothing else,” after hearing from Marley that the spirits would haunt him at 1:00. Scrooge did not trust his own recollection or Marley’s warning. However, later in the stave on page 49, after the spirit showed Scrooge a poor decision that he made when he was younger, Scrooge tells the spirit, “Spirit, show me no more. Conduct me home…” He understands that the spirit has control over him, and trusts the spirit to bring him home.
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As a result of Scrooge’ encounter with the Ghost of Christmas Past Scrooge finally trusted others, but he still did not fully realize that others had negative views had of him. However, during the stave, he sees what others like Mrs. Cratchit and Fred think of him. When Scrooge saw how poorly they viewed him, he learned that acting the way he does causes people not to like him, and he starts to want to change. This is shown after Scrooge’s encounter with the ghost on page 85 when Scrooge states, “Forgive me if I am not justified to ask…,” displaying that Scrooge sees how poorly others think of him and wants to improve his
Dickens uses the supernatural as a method of holding a mirror up to Scrooge who is forced to confront the error of his ways. Dickens shows us that if Scrooge fails to do this it will result in him having a similar fate to Marley. Dickens uses the ghost to emphasize that there is a chance of redemption for Scrooge “that you have yet a chance and hope of escaping my fate”. Dickens’ use of the supernatural continues throughout the story as a means of arousing nostalgia, thought, fear and action by Scrooge. All of these emotions, which Dickens shows us Scrooge is feeling, demonstrate the gradual change in Scrooge throughout the book, and as these changes take place, our thoughts and feelings towards the relationship we have with Scrooge also changes; we begin to understand him and see under his hard outer shell.
In Scrooge’s past and present, his actions had not been admirable. In reaction to this, Scrooge had closed himself off and become cold and impenetrable by any kindness. He had no empathy for others. The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come changed this mindset by showing Scrooge the most severe consequences of his cold hearted actions. In
Ebenezer Scrooge is a miserable and greedy old man, who focuses mainly on his business and continues with his greedy ways on Christmas Eve. He is always grumpy and yells at his employees, and most of all at Bob Cratchit. Scrooge’s desire is to be by himself on Christmas Eve, and rejects his nephew Fred’s, invitation for dinner. One night, the ghost of Jacob Marley, a former colleague of Scrooge, who has passed away seven years ago, visits the old man. Marley reminds Scrooge of his cruel lifestyle and encourages him to change it before it is too late. He tells Scrooge that three spirits will visit him. When Scrooge falls asleep, The Ghost of Christmas Past visits him first. The Ghost shows him scenes from the past the reveal Scrooges’ live; from a lonesome young boy to a man who has allowed greed to overcome his life, a man who does not know love and compassion. Scrooge is touched by what he has seen and even allows emotions to overcome his stone-cold heart. Secondly, the Ghost of Christmas Present visits Scrooge. The Ghost takes Scrooge to several Christmas celebrations, including the party at Fred’s house. Also the Ghost takes Scrooge to the Crachit’s house, and warns him that unless the future is changed the crippled young son of Bob, Tiny Tim will die. The ghost warns Scrooge to be carful of his ignorance. Lastly the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come visits Scrooge. The old man becomes aware that several people discuses the death of someone. At last, he learns that this is
Scrooge began his transformation into a good man when the Ghost of Christmas present shows him the Cratchit household. Scrooge throughout this scene is presented with the consequences of his actions and how they affect those who are less fortunate than he. “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
During his encounters with the Ghost of Christmas Past, he had seen his relationship and mood change. When he was a little boy in school, Scrooge was more concentrated on his schoolwork. He shut himself out at the early age, and was alone for most of his childhood, leading to his misunderstanding of compassion. When he was older, he had stayed at the schoolhouse for most of his childhood, until he went home with his sister. Because of this, the years to come were Scrooge’s most cheerful years, in which he is apprenticed by a good man. In the final years of his prime, he had relationship troubles and was losing his nobler aspirations. When his love had left him, he probably became the Scrooge we find in the beginning of the story. The Ghost of Christmas Past’s actions left Scrooge scared, yet curious to see what the Ghost of Christmas Present will show to him.
The first ghost came when the clock pounded one. A horrid fusion among a child and an old man the ghost opens the Scrooge's bed curtains. According to the text the spirit is very vivid and bright. So the ghost takes Scrooge to his old school. According to the text Scrooge actually starts to laugh for the first time at the appearance of him reading fantasy books. Consequently he wasn't outdoors, playing with the other kids. The second place the ghost took Scrooge was where he and his sister were talking about their father being sent away. From the reading of the first spirit Scrooge really likes the first spirit for being very generous and thoughtful for taking Scrooge and showing him motivational parts in his life. The ghost of Christmas past helped Scrooge learn that there is more in life other than being morose all the time, there is amusement, family, bliss, and ambitious life to live.
Scrooge lost his companionship with other humans. Through all of the struggles that these people are faced with on a day to day biases, at the end of the day, they have each other. Companionship helps these people cope with the pain of everyday life and its struggles. The miners, lighthouse keepers, sailors, and to an end, a great percentage of the population, understand that Christmas is a time for joy, happiness, and love. Christmas is a time in which people come together despite their own personal problems to bring happiness and joy to each other through companionship. With all of Scrooges wealth and security, he has lost all companionship with others; furthermore, losing a part of his humanity. At the beginning of “A Christmas Carol”, Scrooges
Scrooge struggles to learn a lesson and insists the ghost to tell him who the dead man was and becomes horrified when he realizes it is himself and asks for redemption as he 'will not be the man [he] must have been for this intercourse', thus realizing that he still has a chance to change his fate.
Using the first spirit, Scrooge was forced to face the fact that people viewed him as greedy and selfish, and began to open him up to the fact that he needs to change. The second spirit, The Ghost of Christmas Present, arrived and took Scrooge to the home of a worker of his, Bob Cratchit. It showed the family content, despite barely getting by. When Scrooge saw Bob’s sick son, he began to show worry that he would not survive. When the spirit told him that the son would not make it to next Christmas, this made Scrooge want to help him. This kind of emotion was unlike him, showing that he was changing (CC40). The spirit then took him to several other Christmas gatherings, where he enjoyed himself and played many games, even though he was merely in a dream. This spirit was used to open up Scrooge and showed his inner want to be around people. These thoughts for Scrooge were different than his from the beginning of the novel, showing that the spirits were being used to teach valuable lessons to Scrooge. The final spirit arrived, but would not answer when asked if he was the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come. Scrooge plead with the ghost to share his lesson with him, fearful of becoming like Marley (CC51). The silent spirit took Scrooge to a series of strange places, showing people discussing the death of a dead rich man. He then began to understand the
The ghost of christmas past showed Scrooge multiple scenes showing how he treated people in the past and how he was wrong. One scene is where Past takes him back to his hometown where he sees everyone being happy and jolly and hearing the beautiful sing of christmas carolers. Past shows him that christmas isn't that bad and it never did anything to him. Past takes him back to when scrooge and his sister were back in school and how lonely they were but they still had each other. Scrooge rememberers how
Ebenezer Scrooge is the major character in the story, A Christmas Carol written by Charles Dickens. A Christmas Carol is about how a “cold-hearted, tight fisted, selfish” money grabbing man is offered an opportunity of a life time, to change his behaviour, attitude... to have a second chance in life.
In Stave III of A Christmas Carol, Scrooge confronts the Ghost of Christmas Present for supposedly wanting businesses closed on the Sabbath. As a result, the text shifts from its secularized nature into a more religious tone. This change signifies that another transformation is taking place; Scrooge’s attitude and presence is becoming more ideal to the other individuals in the text. However, in Dickens’s efforts of implying that Scrooge is improving his holiday spirit, the text also implies that Scrooge is not a spiritual individual towards the beginning of the story. On the other hand, Scrooge agrees to remember the Ghost of Christmas Present’s statement, which represents Scrooge giving himself to a higher power. Dickens protest of the Anglican
money to the poor. He thinks of them as idle and he states that if
To begin, with the result of the past showing him as a young Scrooge has made him become loving.The ghost of Christmas past showed him as a young apprentice wanting to become like his master, a loving person who he worked for.The memory from act one scene five caused change for Scrooge because the memory showed his younger self that wanted to treat his apprentices well but he didn't in the present.As
Imagine that the cruelest person in the world suddenly becoming the kindest. This is what happens in "A Christmas Carol", a play written by Charles Dickens and dramatized by Frederick Gaines. After Ebenezer Scrooge is taken by three spirits on a remarkable journey through time, he realizes his mistakes and starts changing his personality and life style. Throughout "A Christmas Carol", Ebenezer Scrooge changes from being a greedy grouch to a generous man, and experiences forgiveness from the people he loves.