How Dickens Conveys Moral Lessons in a Christmas Carol Essay

Dickens also uses his characters to endorse other lessons that he believed were essential in keeping Christmas ‘well’. Scrooge’s behavior in Stave 1 towards the two portly gentlemen and his rudeness displayed towards his ‘ruddy’ nephew Fred, encapsulates all the attitudes

In the novel “A Christmas Carol” by Charles Dickens, a scene occurs in which the Ghost of Christmas Present takes Scrooge to visit miners, lighthouse keepers, and sailors to witness how they celebrate the day of Christmas. This scene contributes to the overall theme and message of “A Christmas Carol” by reinforcing the notion of companionship over isolation. The miners, lighthouse keepers, and sailors all embody companionship, something Scrooge is lacking at the beginning of this journey. The Ghost of Christmas Present takes scrooge to these locations to demonstrate all that is missing from his life due to living in isolation.

A classic holiday story known to many is A Christmas Carol. Written by Charles Dickens, countless people are familiar with the story of Ebeneezer Scrooge. How the visitings of three ghosts, representing the Past, Present, and Future, show him how he has impacted society and how it has (and will) affect him. They emphasized Marley’s message of change; that if Scrooge did not alter how he acted, he would end up bearing his bad deeds in the afterlife. The thought of such horrible things, seeing what fate had in store for him, caused Scrooge to have a change of heart. As soon as he comes back from his adventures, he exclaims that he will be a different man. Scrooge defies the fate that had been laid out in front of him. He cleared the chains that would hold him down in the afterlife. “‘I will honor Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year. I will live in the Past, the Present, and the Future. The Spirits of all three shall strive within me. I will not shut out the lessons that they teach. Oh, tell me I may sponge away the writing on this stone!’ In his agony, he caught the spectral hand. It sought to free itself,

The author illustrates that Scrooge who is depicted as "hard and sharp as a flint" is a greedy miser whom is so old and coldhearted that nothing other than his profits will phase him. Dickens uses the scene when the ghost of Christmas past, "a child-like old man" uses flashbacks to show Scrooge of the memories he once made to show the nature of the much younger character. This is evident when Fan "a little girl much younger than Scrooge" had brought out the affection of her older brother as they planned "to be together all the Christmas long, and have the merriest time in all the world." What is important about this example is not just that it shows the compassion Scrooge once felt but also that Scrooge is not truly crooked and horrible to the core establishing the uplifting and inspiring feeling to readers.

Charles Dickens weaves the theme of family, and all of its aspects, throughout his novel titled A Christmas Carol to create a compelling reminder of the value of perspective. The book’s main character, Scrooge, finds himself on a journey guided by three spirits, a journey which eventually serves to forever change his perspective on life. Dickens skillfully incorporates various pictures of family dynamics through all three of his “spirits”: The Ghost of Christmas Past, the Ghost of Christmas present, and the Ghost of Christmas yet to Come, evoking sentimental feelings in both the main character, Scrooge, and the reader. This story communicates the simple yet profound message that family, love, and kindness (all of which are commonly

Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol takes the reader on a journey to find out how the main character, Scrooge, transforms from a life of anger and cruelty to a life of love and kindness. Throughout the novel Scrooge saw himself in the past, present and future. These aberrations touched him deeply and forced him to undergo change for the good of himself and others. Because Scrooge was able to experience the company of the ghosts of christmas past, present and future he positively changed his attitude and his outlook on life.

The spirit takes him on a trip down Memory Lane to remember a few moments in Scrooge’s past when he appreciated a few gestures other people did for him or with him. He realizes that, after seeing himself reading in a room with objects he remembers, he says, “‘There was a boy singing a Christmas Carol at my door last night. I should like to have given him something.’” Then, after seeing himself when he was an apprentice and watching how well his boss treated him, he explicitly states in the text, “‘I would like to say a word or two to my clerk right now.’” This shows a change in Scrooge. Back in the First Stave, he gets mad at his clerk for wanting to take Christmas off, but now he’d like to go back and speak to him. Maybe to

The vivid images of the plight of the poor that are presented to Scrooge ultimately act as a catalyst for him to change his miserly ways in order to help the destitute and the needy in society. St the beginning of the novella Scrooge states “if they would rather die…they had better do it, and decrease the surplus population”. In contrast, at the end of the novella Scrooge is depicted as a benevolent man who is “so fluttered and glowing with his good intentions”, who wished to help the lest fortunate. The personified children “Ignorance” and “Want” act as a catalyst for Scrooge to change his derisory and self-interested nature as he shows interest in the plight of the poor as he is shocked by these two “ragged, scowling” demons by saying ‘ “are there no refugee or resource?” The Ghost states that “there is no degradation, no perversion of humanity” for these “wretched, abject, frightful,” children, which makes Scrooge realise that he needs to change in order to assist them as he “hung his head, overwhelmed with penitence and grief”. This, it is illustrated in the novella that Scrooge transforms his previous, pessimistic self, into an individual who is no just self-interested, but who becomes responsible and generous to the poor by the end of the novel.

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

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

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.

Charles Dickens, renowned social critic and celebrated author of the Victorian Era. In his most cherished yuletide novella, Dickens’ explores the idea of transformation and man’s ability to redeem himself. By observing Scrooge’s conversion from misanthrope to humanitarian, the reader can understand that Scrooge is only able to transform because of the ghost’s intervention. Each spirit’s visit secures a part of Scrooge’s developing social conscience. As the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come exits the narrative, the initial antagonist of the novella, Ebenezer Scrooge, does transform into “as good

A Christmas Carol, by Charles Dickens, is a story of Christmas spirit and repentance. Ebenezer Scrooge is a hard-hearted businessman who thinks that the less attention he pays to mankind’s problems the better. He is cruel to his clerk, feared by almost all, and repulses the friendly advances of his nephew. However, on Christmas Eve, Scrooge gets a start that begins to jolt him into seeing the errors of his ways. He sees the ghost of his old partner Jacob Marley, who is doomed to walk the earth in a chain that he made in his unkind dealings with mankind, and who tells Scrooge that, in order to have hope of avoiding this, he will be visited by three spirits. The Ghost of Christmas Past shows him memories of the man he used

Dickens’ ‘A Christmas Carol’ presents a warning to society through the representation of characters and the journey and transformation of the notorious miser, Ebenezer Scrooge. Dickens warns society of the grim future that awaits humanity if people fail to respond to the plight of the poor. Finally, if Dickens intentions weren’t made clear enough through these examples, his preface says it all. “I have endeavoured in this ghostly little book, to raise the ghost of an idea…May it haunt their houses pleasantly, and

In 'A Christmas Carol', Dickens represents Scrooge as a 'squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous old sinner' who is against Christmas and happiness and values money, yet given a chance to redeem his fate. Marley's Ghost has come to warn Scrooge to change