A Christmas Carol
This weeks book is a Christmas Classic, and I needed a little reminder of solid holiday traditions, making this weeks book of the week Charles Dicken’s A Christmas Carol.
I think most people are familiar with A Christmas Carol, being the story of stingy old Ebenezer Scrooge, who is visited first by the ghost of his deceased business partner, then by the ghosts of Christmas past, present, and yet to come. And these visits effect a change in him, taking him from stingy old man, whose name 100 years later is synonymous with greed, to someone who represents the soul of generosity. Except most people miss that was the end result.
Except maybe for whoever made this meme/tweet:
But for those not familiar, here’s the story. Ebenezer Scrooge is essentially a bean counter, some form of accountant or market man, like stock broker. And he’s quite good at it, having become quite wealthy as a result of his business. But all he does is hoard is wealth, and I don’t necessarily even mean like Bezos or Zuckerberg, Gates. I mean, those guys are absurdly wealthy, but they at least enjoy their wealth, and do, in fact, feed it back into the world by buying huge houses, and yachts, and private planes, which are all, yes, more than the vast majority of us will ever be able to buy, but, when they buy these things, they actually create work for others. The tradesmen who build the yacht, the house, the plane, the staff to man all of the above, they all benefit from the obscene wealth of the Gates and Bezos’s of the world.
Scrooge did none of those things. He literally hoarded his wealth, like a medieval dragon, not even benefiting himself with luxuries, choosing instead to live a solitary, lonely life, where he barely heats his office in the dead of a London winter…this in a time before central heating or even water radiators were available, meaning he has the money to stock the coal bin, but declines to see to his own comfort, or that of his ONE clerk, Bob Cratchit, who is grossly underpaid, but with tough times in 19th century London, is glad for the work.
So Cratchit is shivering over low burning coal, when Scrooge’s nephew comes to visit and ask Scrooge to spend Christmas with Fred, the nephew, and his wife. And Scrooge famously says that Christmas is a humbug, that it’s all pomp and circumstance. And Fred gives a beautifully worded speech about the importance of Christmas and what it means to most people, to which Scrooge repeats his infamous words of “Bah, Humbug!”
And shortly after Fred leaves, some solicitors looking for charitable donations come in, and the dialogue is exactly like this:
So, those words are important, because the ghost of Christmas Present uses them to brutal effect to bring about the biggest changes in Scrooge. But before we get there, Scrooge is home, enjoying his bowl of gruel, because he would not spend money on better food even for himself, and his barely heated room, when the ghost of his former partner Jacob Marley visits him.
And Marley is a dreadful vision, weighted down with heavy chains, that he reveals he forged himself while he was living, by being as stingy and tightfisted as ever Scrooge was. And he advises Scrooge that Scrooge’s own chains are longer still, having had seven additional years since Marley’s own passing to keep forging them. And the reason the chains exist is that Marley, in life, and Scrooge even now, has forgotten the meaning of life. It is not money for money’s sake, it is to forge a connection with your fellow human beings, to help raise each other up, and find solace in others and provide solace where one can. And because a single ghostly visitor could, to a rational man, be dismissed as a result of bad food, or as Scrooge says “there’s more of gravey than of grave about you,” Marley promises him the three ghosts will visit.
First up is, of course, the ghost of Christmas Past. And this spirit shows Scrooge his own lonely childhood. And you sort of start to get a feel for why Scrooge ends up the way he did. He was basically sent away to boarding school at a very young age and left there on his own during the holidays, so while the other boys went home, he was left to read by himself, so that his companions were Robinson Crusoe, and Ali Baba and his Forty thieves, rather than any family. And he did have family, a sister, who is the mother to the nephew Fred. Eventually, he is brought home by his father, only to be immediately apprenticed out to Fezziwig.
Now, Fezziwig was a good boss, he enjoyed the holidays, and encouraged Scrooge to make merry at Christmas, and it was here that Scrooge met his almost wife. I say almost, because while they were engaged, eventually Scrooge’s love of money for money’s sake chased her away, and the next thing the spirit shows Scrooge is his former fiancée, now married with a bunch of children, discussing with her husband Scrooge’s solitary existence of seven years prior, where he’s working alone on Christmas, while his partner Marley lies dying. And here, Scrooge decides he’s had enough, and pushes the spirit away, only to come to in his bed.
Deciding it was a dream, he goes back to sleep, only to wake just before the chiming that betokens the visit of the next spirit, the Ghost of Christmas Present, who takes Scrooge to visit his nephews residence, where he learns he is the source of much humor, while they all laugh at him saying “bah, humbug.” And to Bob Cratchit’s home, where he sees the merry chaos that is the Cratchit household, where they may be dirt poor, but are rich in love and family, a lesson that is sadly missing in todays consumer driven world. And we see Cratchit’s son, Tiny Tim. And in the book Scrooge does ask if Tim will live. And the spirit responds:
Ok, so, seriously, this version of A Christmas Carol is by far the best adaptation I have ever seen. Like, they just took the book, and made a movie, with no major changes or dialogue fuck ups. It was quite well done.
But this, coupled with seeing how some of the truly, desperately poor live…like poorer even than the Cratchit’s, does more to sway Scrooge away from his curmudgeonly ways. But the most terrifying is, of course, the Ghost of Christmas yet to be. Who never speaks a word, merely points. And of course Scrooge sees his own dark death, unattended and unloved, where no one mourns him. The only emotion at his death is the peels of laughter from the scavengers who robbed his rooms afterwards. The only sadness he sees in this future is that of the Crachit’s, where the Ghost of Christmas Present’s prediction came true, and Tiny Tim has died, leaving the family bereft of this small spot of pure goodness in their midst.
And with this, Scrooge begs for mercy, and swears that he will keep the spirit of Christmas with him all the year long, doing better by his fellow man, embodying kindness and goodness, and he wakes up, first crying in terror, then in pure joy as he realizes he has not missed Christmas day, and he can start right now.
So he sends an urchin to go buy the biggest goose in the market, which he then sends to the Cratchits, before going to his nephews house to enjoy Christmas dinner with everyone. And the next day, when Cratchit comes in, he doubles his salary, and pledges to find a cure for Tiny Tim, who does NOT die. And neither does Scrooge…at least not right then. But he does find joy in life again. Took angry ghosts to make it happen, but hey, whatever works.
This book is timeless for a reason. I know it’s popular on social media to completely miss the point, and use it to denounce capitalism, but that’s not the point at all. Money is not, in fact, the root of all evil. The saying is the LOVE of money is the root of all evil. Money for money’s sake is evil. But the things that Scrooge saw that night helped him to see that he was squandering the resources he had earned by simply hoarding them for the sake of having the money. Voluntarily helping those in need is the best possible thing you can do.
I remember seeing something that was popular awhile back on Instagram I think, it was a meme that said something like I need god to bless my pocket so I can bless others. Basically the implication being when I have more money, I have more to give. Here’s the thing though. You don’t actually need to have money to help others. Scrooge had money, yes, so he was able to help in that material way. But you can help at a local soup kitchen. You can donate household goods to charitable organizations, which make them available for those who can’t afford the newest gadget. You don’t actually need to have money, to be generous in spirit. And that too, is a lesson from this story.
