London, England —December 1843
Yesterday, upon a crisp December morn, the esteemed author, Mr. Charles Dickens, Esq., graced our humble publication with his presence. A man esteemed for his social conscience and literary prowess, Mr. Dickens regaled us with a tale that could only be described as a marvel as if from one of his own stories – A Christmas Carol, one might dare say!
Our eager reporter, ever curious, inquired about Mr. Dickens’ acquaintance with a certain Mr. Ebenezer Scrooge, a name synonymous with avarice in our fair city.
“Alas, young sir,” Mr. Dickens declared with a twinkle in his eye, “my connection with Mr. Scrooge is but slight. However, his reputation precedes him! A man of flint, they say, with a heart as cold and unyielding as a winter’s stone. Secretive and solitary as a hermit crab, with a miserly disposition that chills one to the very bone. The last time I glimpsed this grasping curmudgeon, his very features seemed frozen in a perpetual grimace, his nose like a sharpened icicle, and his lips pursed tight as a purse string. Yet, through it all, his voice, grating as a rusty hinge, speaks volumes of his cunning and lack of Christian charity. Does this paint a sufficient picture, dear sir?”
Flustered yet determined, the young reporter stammered, “Well, sir, perhaps we could focus on the matter at hand—these ghostly apparitions you mentioned.”
“Alas, young sir,” Mr. Dickens declared with a twinkle in his eye, “my connection with Mr. Scrooge is but slight. However, his reputation precedes him! A man of flint, they say, with a heart as cold and unyielding as a winter’s stone. Secretive and solitary as a hermit crab, with a miserly disposition that chills one to the very bone. The last time I glimpsed this grasping curmudgeon, his very features seemed frozen in a perpetual grimace, his nose like a sharpened icicle, and his lips pursed tight as a purse string. Yet, through it all, his voice, grating as a rusty hinge, speaks volumes of his cunning and lack of Christian charity. Does this paint a sufficient picture, dear sir?”
“Indeed, sir, a most vivid image,” our reporter conceded. “But what of these spectres? Do they hold the key to this potential Christmas miracle?”
“Patience, young sir!” Mr. Dickens chuckled. “We must first establish the depths of Mr Scrooge’s penny-pinching. Only yesterday, the poor man harshly evicted a friend of mine from his very counting house—a kind soul collecting for the Hospital for Sick Children, no less! An institution I myself hold dear. What would it have inconvenienced this miserly old sinner to part with a few of his shillings for those innocent souls?”
Mr. Dickens’ voice rose with indignation, his words painting a vivid picture of a man consumed by greed. It was clear that the transformation of Ebenezer Scrooge if it were to occur, would be a most extraordinary tale indeed. And our reporter, with bated breath, awaited the continuation of this fantastical yarn….
A moral fairy tale, complete with Ghosts and emotive Christmas imagery
If, like me (until last week), you haven’t read or seen A Christmas Carol for years, here’s a quick recap. The story begins with Ebenezer Scrooge, a cold-hearted financier, rejecting the festive cheer of his nephew Fred and refusing to donate to charity. His solitary existence is interrupted on Christmas Eve by the ghost of his former partner, Jacob Marley, who warns him of a bleak future if he doesn’t change his ways. Jacob is weighed down by a chain made of “cashboxes, keys, padlocks, ledgers, deeds, and heavy purses wrought in steel”. Marley frightens Scrooge by telling him he’s working hard to make his own chain.
Scrooge is then taken on a journey through time by the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Yet to Come.
The Ghost of Christmas Past shows him moments of joy and regret from his life, including his lost love and youthful innocence. The Ghost of Christmas Present reveals the hardships faced by the poor, including the family of his clerk, Bob Cratchit. Finally, the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come terrifies Scrooge a grim vision of his lonely death, mourned by no one.
Horrified by what he sees, Scrooge awakens with an almost reckless embrace of the Christmas spirit, donating giddily to charity and finding joy in giving to needy friends and family. At its heart, the story is about freedom brought through generosity. Understanding the downward trajectory of his life reforms Scrooge and liberates him from the prospect of a lonely death. The chains fall away and he leaves his miserly ways behind.
An unsurpassed lens into the lives of the Victorian urban poor
Dickens wrote about issues like the lives of the extreme poor that many other authors (before and since) have shied away from. His vivid characters, intricate plots and social commentary about the human condition are timeless. Many people find his writing style tedious or unreadable these days. Nonetheless, Dickens’ books continue to offer a profound and unsurpassed lens into his world.
In the class-ridden Victorian society, the line between extreme poverty and destitution was a fine one. Despite an explosion in charitable activity during the era, too many families faced the awful conditions of workhouses and brutal penal institutions. The central message of A Christmas Carol was that wealthy Victorians could do more to improve society through philanthropy and action.
Bah humbug! Why does Dickens’s A Christmas Carol continue to have such influence?
Nearly two hundred years after its publication, this story remains part of the fabric of Christmas because it’s a joyous story. It was an instant hit for Dickens and has never lost its place in our hearts—the second most popular Christmas story. For a book written in a few days, which only takes a couple of hours to read, it’s captivating. And who doesn’t love a good ghost story?
The gorgeous sketches of Victorian Christmas scenes make the book worth reading, whatever else you take away from it. But I found A Christmas Carol pulling at my heartstrings as I joined Scrooge in seeing the scenes of his life flash by. I teared up as he relived the events that slowly transformed him into a miserable and uncharitable old man who wasn’t even kind to himself.
The people Scrooge’s life offer a simple message that still resonates about the importance of generosity and compassion. Scrooge’s clerk, Bob Cratchit, may be poor, but he finds the happiness that eludes his wealthy employer through his kind nature and loving family. By refusing to let Scrooge’s miserly attitude dampen his spirits and continuing to invite his uncle to share his family Christmas every year, Scrooge’s nephew Fred shows the beauty of forgiveness. Tiny Tim, the youngest Cratchit, despite his disabilities, joins wholeheartedly in the celebrations with his family and friends and is warm and kind.
Dickens own rags-to-riches story
Dickens’s writing draws deeply on, as we now say, his ‘lived experience’. He started school at nine, but his world shifted on its axis when his father was imprisoned for bad debt to a baker and incarcerated in the notorious Marshalsea Prison. (Over half of England’s prisoners in the 18th century were in jail because of debt). Like a character in his books, sent to the city to earn his keep, the twelve-year-old Charles worked in a boot-blackening factory just off The Strand, where he pasted labels onto bottles for six shillings a week. He lived a bleak, lonely life in wretched lodgings.
Ultimately, his father worked his way out, and after three years, Dickens could return to school. Dickens based several of his characters on this experience, most notably Amy Dorrit, in Little Dorrit, whose father is a debtor in The Marshalsea.
The man who invented Christmas
Dickens was a lifelong social crusader known to have supported 43 charities, including the Poor Man’s Guardian Society, the Birmingham and Midland Institute, the Metropolitan Sanitary Association, the Orphan Workers School and the London Hospital for Sick Children.
He gave generously to his friends and family and pushed more powerful and wealthy people to contribute. He also wrote impassioned articles supporting his causes and became actively involved with some, such as the Field Lane Ragged School, which educated destitute children. In 1846, he was instrumental in the foundation of a college providing housing and support for unmarried mothers, “fallen women” in the parlance of the times. He helped secure the location, co-designed the structure and interviewed potential staff.
Dickens changed how we viewed Christmas by writing A Christmas Carol and highlighting the importance of caring for others and the happiness it brings. He died at 58 and was intered in Poet’s Corner in Westminster Abbey alongside other literary greats, including Shakespeare, Geoffrey Chaucer, and Samuel Johnson.
Who is the best Scrooge?
At least twenty-five film adaptations and innumerable TV, radio and audio versions testify to the work’s enduring popularity. Actors such as Albert Finney, Jack Palance, Patrick Stewart, Jim Carey, Derek Jacobi, and Guy Pears have brought the unforgettable Ebenezer Scrooge memorably to our stages and screens. Even The Muppets got in on the seasonal act courtesy of Disney. The hilarious Muppet Christmas Carolwith Michael Cane as Scrooge and Kermit the Frog as Cratchit. Pundits often rate the 1951 portrayal by Alistair Sim as top Scrooge. Who would you choose?
Scrooge’s Inspirational Pledge
Despite Scrooge’s redemption in the story, it’s ironic that his name has entered the vernacular, meaning a greedy, miserly type, not the gleeful philanthropist at the end of the story. Calling someone a Scrooge is no compliment. Perhaps Good King Wenceslas cornered the Christmas generosity market. But, in our rich-get-richer world, Scrooge’s redemptive pledge is as relevant now as it was in Dicken’s day.
I will honour Christmas in my heart and try to keep it all year. I will live in the Past, the Present and the Future. The Spirits of all Three shall strive within me.
Its power is the commitment to being better all year round, not just at Christmas, something Dickens believed and lived. The transformed Scrooge “found that anything could yield him pleasure”. Starting immediately, he raises the salary of the near-destitute Bob Cratchit and provides support that ultimately saves the life of the crippled Tiny Tim. Scrooge astonishes the fundraiser he’s been so dismissive of by making a generous donation. Then, he pitches up at his nephew’s Christmas Day party and thanks them for their kindness and welcome.
A Merry Christmas to one and all
Like most of us, I’d read Dickens at school and, with my family, avidly watched the TV and film adaptations. But I didn’t know much about the man himself before writing this piece. I’m inspired, humbled and moved by what I’ve found out. Dickens believed “No one is useless in the world who lightens the burdens of another”. He famously wrote, “Have a heart that never hardens, a temper that never tires, and a touch that never hurts”.
His characters epitomise what this extraordinary man experienced and saw with eyes wide open everywhere around him. Rather than getting disillusioned by the enormity of the problems, Dickens never stopped trying. “I cannot stop some dreadful things I try to stop, but I go on in the hope and trust the time will come”. That’s all anyone can do.
And so, in the words of the Carol cast, “A merry Christmas to us all, my dears. God bless us, everyone.”
Continue the Christmas theme by reading my other Christmas blog posts.
All I want for Christmas — get into the holiday spirit with this amusing tale of a birthday just before Christmas and the mishaps that occur when it comes to finding the perfect presents.