A Modern Christmas Carol - part two

As a result of my experiences from last Saturday (see my last blog entry) and the fact I now find myself with a little more free time in my schedule (more about that next week), I have taken the opportunity to revisit the classic story of Ebenezer Scrooge, from Charles Dickens' short story "A Christmas Carol". Although the tale set in Victorian England, it still has plenty to say to us in the 21st Century.

Scrooge is so bitter, but why is he so? Dickens paints the picture of someone who has literally had the joy of living sucked out of him, because of a series of acts of circumstance and cruelty. His mother died in childbirth; his father then abandoned young Ebenezer to a boarding school, not even allowing him home for Christmas. The only family member he can even rely on is his sister, Fan.

Lacking the comfort of a strong family unit, Scrooge compensates by throwing himself into his work, however this obsession loses him the love of his fiancee, Belle. Fan then passes away, and these two incidents hurt Scrooge so deeply, he shuts himself off from any love he may have had for the world. Scrooge still has a nephew in the form of Fan's son, but they aren't at all close.

The loss of his business partner, Jacob Marley, some seven years earlier, leaves Scrooge to run the business on his own. Marley's death occurs on Christmas Eve, which is yet another reason for Scrooge to distance himself from the festivities. He drives himself still further into his work, becoming miserly as he strives to hold onto the one thing he has left in this harsh world. The business barely survives. Here is a man who is truly 'In The Bleak Mid-Winter'.

His business (which is never actually specified by Dickens) involves money; some say he was possibly a professional money lender. If this is so, this will doubtless explain his cold reactions to pleas for charity - he has heard it all before, and has probably been taken in just once too often. In fact, Scrooge would far sooner have the poor of London trying to eke out a living in the horrendous Victorian workhouses than have them knock on his door. His experience tells him this - he has been once hurt too often!

Not unsurprisingly, Scrooge dislikes the merriment of Christmas. Dickens has made the word "humbug" into a household word; it is linked inextricably to this work and to Christmas. Why does Scrooge use it? This phrase is chosen especially to highlight analyse Scrooge's hatred of Christmas. He uses it when faced with the charity collectors, who call on him on Christmas Eve to solicit a public donation. When Scrooge calls Christmas a humbug, he states that people only give to charity and therefore show kindness as a show - perhaps to delude others, perhaps to delude themselves. He fails to see why people would help others without an agenda of their own. He thinks that no-one really cares about anyone else (because no-one cares about him).

Scrooge considers every "Merry Christmas" uttered as yet another attempt to fool him. An invitation to share a Christmas meal with his nephew's family is quickly shunned - no doubt, he thinks that they wish to take advantage of him. Scrooge even begrudges Bob Cratchit his sole paid day off for Christmas Day. Scrooge can only see the loss of a day's work, not at the reason for the day itself. He sees this as "having his pocket picked on an annual basis".

Do you know someone like this? They are still about, even in the 21st Century...

More later...