What is the meaning of life for Scrooge at the beginning of the novel, what is the meaning of life for the Bob Cratchit family, what makes them happy; What seems to be Marley's message about freedom, what ways was Scrooge free, was there a progression, what message does this novel have about personal freedom of choice; what is Scrooges' moral character
Introduction:
‘A Christmas Carol’ is perhaps the best known novel by Charles Dickens and is full of incredible comparisons and motifs which permeate it and fill it with a great beauty. The redemption of Scrooge and the comparison with Tiny Tim is one of the most moving moments in literature focusing primarily on the power of conviction. The progression of Scrooge from tight fisted miser to generous philantrophist is one of the most moving episodes in literature.
The meaning of life
In the beginning Scrooge is a hard hearted and cruel character who is completely possessed by money. He does not even want to grant his faithful and ill-used clerk Bob Cratchit a day off on Christmas Day and bawls about Christmas being a ‘humbug’. On the contrary, Bob Cratchit is happy with his lot even though he is desperately poor and without any hope of improving his situation under the iron first of his master, Scrooge.
One cannot indeed say that Scrooge was happy even when he encountered those who were attempting to make life easier for the poor. He dismisses them by telling them that ‘he wants to be put down for nothing’ and that ‘they leave him to celebrate Christmas in his own way’. It appears that he is not too popular amongst his peers and elders even in the opening description:
“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” (p 1).
The novel’s themes are redemption and remorse which is experienced on several levels by Scrooge as he is made to recall his past, assess his present and contemplate his future. His late partner Jacob Marley was also a terribly tight fisted man and when he visited him in the dead of night, Scrooge attempted to make merry and joke with him but the heavy paced ghost was having none of this and begins stamping around in a rage.
Scrooge is an old miser and the views of Christmas past bring back terrible memories for him. He reviews his childhood where he ended up alone in class with his dear sister coming for him and taking him home. This appears to be one of the main sorrowful points of his life as is the situation when his girlfriend leaves him as he has become too atavistic and materialist.
Scrooge is very happy when he works under Fezziwig who was a kind and gentle friend apart from being his master. Here one can view the complete contrast with the way Scrooge treats his clerk, Bob Cratchit who is kept ‘in a sort of tank’ while he freezes without having any heating in the office and writes away furiously. In fact, remorse immediately strikes Scrooge when he views the spirits attempting to intervene but ‘they have lost this power for ever’.
On the contrary, Bob Cratchit attempts to make merry out of every situation even though he is poor. The charity embodied by the two persons cannot be more different, Scrooge is hard fisted mean old miser while Cratchit is a penniless clerk with a large brood of children to his name. Yet despite the fact that the Cratchit’s are almost penniless they find something joyful about almost everything, not least in the way that they prepare for the Christmas festivities. And then there is Tiny Tim, the frail child who is a cripple but how is also cheerful and observant of the world especially when he quotes the scriptures and observes that Jesus made blind men see and lame beggars walk.
In a sense, the Cratchit family is a mirror image of the family life that Dickens wanted for himself but could never achieve even when he had wealth, fame and fortune. The fact that he was sent to a blacking factory at the early age of twelve rankled inside him for a long time and the avid description of Cratchit’s working conditions is perhaps a mirror image of this life.
The description offered by the Ghost of Christmas Present also demonstrates that Scrooge is actually a good hearted man since he begins to see himself for what he really is. His observance of his nephew Fred as he celebrates Christmas with his friends continues to affect him deeply and he desperately wishes to join in the happiness of the festivities. The dark cloud of death hangs over Scrooge once again when the spirit tells him, ‘I see an empty chair at the table and a crutch without an owner in the corner’ – a bleak yet direct reference to Tiny Tim’s impending demise. However the most powerful scene is at the end of the spirit’s visit when he shows him two children, a boy called Ignorance and a girl called Want. When Scrooge asks if they had any refuge or resource the spirit answers coldly with Scrooge’s own words, ‘Are there no Prisons.are there no Workhouses’ making the money lender hang his head in shame and remorse. Here one begins to sense that Scrooge is slowly transforming himself.
The visit of the third and final spirit is perhaps the one which is the most eye opening of the three. This spirit does not talk but merely points in different directions. The description of Scrooge’s death is very realistic and one can observe the depths to which he had descended when the char lady and undertaker fight over themselves to sell his possessions. Here Scrooge realises that his life was not worth living in the current situation and has already began making plans inside himself to change. Another powerful scene shows the joy imbued in that young couple who were about to be thrown out of their abode when the man discovers that Scrooge is dead and will not leave them homeless after all. And finally when Scrooge falls into his own grave, he wakes up to find that the grave was a lamppost and it was all just a dream.
The comparisons between Scrooge and the Cratchit family are a consistent leitmotif of the novel which culminates in joy and happiness as Scrooge becomes a generous and heartful man. The transformation is one of the most beautiful moments in literature especially when he goes to his nephew Fred and asks if he would have him, with Fred cheerfully and heartily stating that of course he would. Here one can observe that Scrooge’s moral character is good indeed for although he was completely overwhelmed by avarice and money, he definitely changed and became a far better person overnight. This meant that in his heart of hearts he was certainly not a bad person at all but was just enveloped in misery and self-thought. His preoccupation with money vanished overnight and he definitely heeded Marley’s warning.
However the transformation is complete when Scrooge feigns being angry at Bob Cratchit after the latter had made merry on Christmas day. Scrooge could not keep up with his acting and burst out in joy and generosity;
'A merry Christmas, Bob!' said Scrooge, with an earnestness that could not be mistaken, as he claped him on the back. 'A merrier Christmas, Bob, my good fellow, than I have given you for many a year! I'll raise your salary, and endeavour to assist your struggling family, and we will discuss your affairs this very afternoon, over a Christmas bowl of smoking bishop, Bob! Make up the fires, and buy another coal-scuttle before you dot another i, Bob Cratchit!' (p 55)
The masterpiece that is a Christmas Carol is reflected in the manner with which Dickens skilfully conveys a scene where happiness and remorse are intermingled with each other. Scrooge is finally free when he manages to unshackle himself from the chains of selfishness and avarice and finds true happiness when he is with others as well as being a father to Tiny Tim. It is perhaps the greatest story of Christmas and is so replete with wonderful messages and events that we seem to be in a trance when reading it. The element of progression is there all the time for us to see and we can only feel that life has a meaning which is conveyed through Christmas.
References:
Dickens, Charles; Douglas-Fairhurst, Robert (ed.) (2006), A Christmas Carol and other Christmas Books, Oxford: Oxford University Press
Dickens, Charles; Glancy, Ruth (1998) [1988], Christmas Books, Oxford World Classics, Oxford: Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0-19-283435-5
