Ebenezer Scrooge is a miserly protagonist in Charles Dickens’ Christmas Carol. He hates Christmas and is a terrible employer. Through visits from “ghosts,” he sees his past and future, leading to a transformation and empathy for others. The story remains popular due to its emotional journey.
Ebenezer Scrooge is the miserly protagonist of Charles Dickens’ Christmas Carol first published in 1843. He is probably one of the best known misers in the history of literature, and has become, over time, a symbol of transformation of the spirit.
Scrooge’s profession in business is a little unclear. Some people think he’s a moneylender, while others think he’s a banker or some sort of property owner. At the beginning of the novel, we find him dwelling on the memory of his deceased partner Jacob Marley. It is clear that Scrooge clearly hates Christmas with a great passion and any kind of merriment or gaiety associated with the Christmas spirit.
Scrooge’s nephew visits him in the first section of the novel, and the miser is soon seen to be also scornful of love and deliberately mean to all who might celebrate Christmas. Scrooge is also portrayed as a terrible and demanding employer who pays his employee Bob Cratchitt very little and does not even allow the employee much access to the heat of a fire.
As the novella progresses, Dickens uses the invention of Christmas “ghosts” or “spirits” to clarify Scrooge’s past and his future should he continue in his evil ways. One Spirit shows him a past that reminds him of his loneliness as a child, his abiding love for his sister, the kindness of his first employer, and then the breaking up of his relationship with a young woman.
All these visions begin to work powerfully on the miser. In fact, he cries seeing himself alone and abandoned in a school. His next vision of the Christmas present helps Scrooge grasp the importance of the holiday. Most essential is his visit to his employee’s home, where we meet the employee’s son Tiny Tim. The Spirit of the Christmas Present’s prediction that Tiny Tim will die without good food and medical care is clearly a moment of conversion for him.
He gladly embraces the Spirit by showing his future, but is terrified of his fate, of dying alone and the butt of jokes from old business associates. Scrooge is given the option to change and responds accordingly, keeping “Christmas in his heart” forever.
Scrooge’s transformation is interesting to witness. Also, while his character is initially obnoxious, he quickly becomes both funny and likable. Dickens’ method of delving into the character’s past is an interesting psychological statement that is consistent today. Many psychologists believe that misbehavior is a reflection of pain felt deep in childhood. That’s the case with Scrooge.
When Scrooge learns to pity himself, he can empathize with others. It’s easy for him to suddenly empathize with Tiny Tim, whom he would have previously dismissed as one of the “excess population”. Scrooge’s complete reversal is sentimental but believable because Dickens was sure to write the emotional journey he takes to reform. Though sentimental, the change of heart is beautiful to witness and keeps people drawn to the popular book and its many adaptations into plays and films.
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